Dear Group, When I read David's note yesterday morning, I figured it was sure to trigger an avalanche of reproach and recrimination discussion, and I'm delighted to see that you did not disappoint. Here in New York, a youth group caused quite a stir last summer by selling some T-shirts with the slogan "Intifada NYC." The group, Arab Women Active in Arts and Media, or AWAAM, tried to explain that "intifada" literally means "shaking off," and the shirts represented nothing more offensive than women "shaking off" oppression. Needless to say, this was way too nuanced for our local pundits, and the ensuing media sh__storm was something to behold. What I want to call your attention to, though, is this statement from AWAAM a few days later. Their members were "shocked" (according to their news release) "shocked to find themselves at the receiving end of attacks by anti-Arab bloggers and press who are using a T-shirt to try to aggravate hysteria against Arab and Muslim communities." Fair enough. As far as I know, AWAAM are a fine and well-intentioned group -- but "shocked"? They had no inkling that people might react angrily to a word that’s been used incessantly in the media -- rightly or wrongly -- as a virtual synonym for terrorism? Were they really that naïve? Maybe. Or maybe they're being just a tad disingenuous, and using that word was a way to get attention. (Old PR saw: "There's no such thing as 'bad' publicity.") As for "white enough," I pretty much share Kevin's take on it. Seems to me, expressions like "mighty white of you," "as white as you or me" etc. are clearly racist in origin, though not necessarily always racist in intent, and there’s a good chance that using them will stir up trouble, whatever the phrase happens to mean to you, personally. Anyone hip enough to subscribe to this forum must know that certain words carry deep emotional, moral, and social connotations for many people. There's a useful -- and also very pleasant and civil -- discussion of this online at www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/28/messages/841.html.* My guess is that David meant his "white enough" as mild tongue-in-cheek humor, and he assumed the Forum would take it in that spirit. His vast Twain project has probably had him marinating for months in 19th-century culture, and that can throw you off. I once spent several weeks immersed in early 20th-century popular music, & was startled at the profusion of gratuitous racism in such harmless old favorites as "Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider," "Under the Bamboo Tree," "Kentucky Babe," "Throw Him Down McCloskey" and "Mighty 'Lak a Rose" (no surprise there, actually). But what also was startling was how quickly that stuff can lose its shock value. Or, maybe David just likes to live dangerously. Either way, may I suggest that it's not really a hanging offense? -- and possibly not even a censurable one. Pete Salwen