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A Couch Don Imus Should Avoid
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ShareApril 11, 2007 10:45 AM
While all of America may be talking about the slurs of radio shock jock Don Imus, Canada is dealing with its own outrageous race scandal. But unlike Imus, no one's taken responsibility for the Canadian fiasco, which introduced a young girl to the "N" word that she had been lucky enough never to have heard before.
ABC News spoke to Doris and Douglas Moore of Toronto about what happened when they purchased a set of dark brown couches for $1300 and were told the couches were high-quality imports from Italy. But when they arrived, her 7-year-old daughter made a startling discovery. On the shipping label, next to "color," it read: Ni**er-Brown.
Doris Moore says she was in the kitchen when her daughter called out, "Mommy, what's ni**er brown?"
Doris, who is originally from Ghana, says she didn't believe her daughter at first and went to look at the label herself to confirm. When her daughter asked her the meaning of the word again, she was forced to explain a painful word that she had hoped to shield her daughter from as long as possible. She says her daughter "had never heard the word before. Never," not even in schoolyard taunts.
Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.
So far, no one has wanted to take responsibility for the slur. Moore immediately called the furniture store, Vanaik, from where she and her husband purchased the couches, but received no response. So she contacted a local television station, Toronto's City News, who tracked down the store manager. He told a reporter from the station he was sorry for the label but blamed the supplier, Paul Kumar of Toronto-based Cosmos Furniture, who also ships furniture to the United States. In media reports, Kumar said that the label was placed by the manufacturer, located in China, not Italy.
Kumar told ABC News that he spoke to the manufacturer and that the mistake was made "out of innocence." The slur was a translation problem with the labeling software, he said, but he declined to name the software used. He also said he didn't know how many other pieces of furniture his company may have sold with the racial epithet on the label.
Doris Moore has filed a formal complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the family is considering suing both the store and the supplier. If the OHRC finds the stores guilty of violating the Moore's civil rights, they could face fines.
Doris Moore says that despite the public apologies, neither the store owner or the supplier have contacted them to offer a refund or even a personal apology, something her husband, Douglass finds completely unacceptable. "People have to be made accountable for this," he says.
He sees a parallel in his family's situation and the fallout from the Don Imus racial controversy here in the U.S. "In this day in age, when is this going to end?" he asks. "It's 2007."
April 11, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (195)
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I'd be willing to bet that "slur" was put there by Ms. Brown herself.
Posted by: arlan | Apr 11, 2007 12:23:08 PM
I too have a bi-racial (black and native american) adopted 8 yr old daughter and definately feel for this family. We live in a small Northern Ontario town which is predominately white (as am I) and "isms" of all kinds are alive and well here. What breaks my heart is that her generation should never have to hear that word or worry about the color of their skin but here we are. As her father said its 2007.
Posted by: Duana Bos | Apr 11, 2007 12:36:28 PM
I demand AL SHARPTON GET ON THE COUCH
He is a bigger racist then Kramer, Mel Gibson, and Don Imus all put together.
The whole world knows it, but the MSM denies it.
I WILL NOT ACCEPT his fake sense of morality, and neither should any other free-thinking american.
His racism is chains. He enslaves his own community through hatred, fear, and veiled threats.
Posted by: JelloBiafra | Apr 11, 2007 12:42:39 PM
It's more amazing that this young girl never heard the "n" word before via rap music or in a random street conversation among other black youths. There are those that consider this word completely taboo in some contexts and allowable in others.
Here is an instance where it likely cannot even be proved who left this comment or why and these people are looking for some sort of personal apology, refund, gain, etc.... If I got a pair of shoes that arrived with the label "honky white," I doubt a) that I'd really care, b) get any help finding the source and c) obtaining some kind of recourse.
If someone is genuinely oppressed via racism, we should fight with all our might against it. A single word on a couch label that may or may not be intentional, that doesn't have any real consequence? Let's move on, people.
Posted by: Tighe | Apr 11, 2007 12:48:35 PM
Having worked in China as an English teacher, we had a list of hilarious translations made by either translation software or incompetent Chinese/English translators. This was not a deliberate attempt to pick on people of colour. Let it go already.
Posted by: Justin Kase | Apr 11, 2007 12:56:19 PM
I think this article is going to cause the next big scandal. I hope the authoer is ready to apologzie to the millions of Canadians offended by the first sentence. "All of America..." is concerned by the Imus Scandal. Canada, on the other hand has its own issue...
Posted by: Mark | Apr 11, 2007 12:58:19 PM
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Posted by: T | Apr 11, 2007 1:02:17 PM
I am a 30 year old African American women with very high standards. I can understand why people may get mad over the talk show host comments because they were directed directly to that group of young ladies. But why should any African American get mad over the word.
Posted by: torian scott | Apr 11, 2007 1:03:03 PM
Why is she going to sue. For what, pain and suffering? So take the couch back but this wasn't targeted at her. It was a translation error.
Posted by: amanda | Apr 11, 2007 1:08:34 PM
Why would the Daughter even question the word if she had never heard it before. GET OVER IT!
We all have to walk around scared to be sued over anything and everything.
The American dream (now)is someone will make a MISTAKE so that we can sue them and be rich or get something for free. ITS HORRIABLE
Posted by: Wendy | Apr 11, 2007 1:10:06 PM
Wow. Very non-pc. BUT, a free sofa out of the deal? Come on! What does getting offended have to do with getting a $1300 couch for $0.
Posted by: jason | Apr 11, 2007 1:14:22 PM
I am a porcelain skinned American who feels sick to her stommach when I hear or read that word. You don't have to be a person of color to be offended by this. I feel very sad that there are people in this world who enjoy trying to take another individual's power away from them by devaluing them. My only word of hope for this family is that they teach their daughter that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. You are beautiful no matter what another individual says or writes... believe in yourself and retain your power. I hope that they find out who did this and moreover I hope that the individual is remorseful and can learn from this nasty act.
Posted by: annonymous | Apr 11, 2007 1:15:00 PM
Personally, I'm sick of hearing about it. Those of African descent call each other by this so-called slur but let anyone else do it and the fur flys. Maybe they should lead by example instead of publicity and litigation.
Posted by: Mike | Apr 11, 2007 1:15:16 PM
Are you kidding me? Who do these people think they are? Ni**er brown? That's sad. Look, this isn't 1860, we're talking 2000's! SUE THEM!!!!!
Posted by: Are You Kidding Me? | Apr 11, 2007 1:15:22 PM
That's sadly hilarious.
racial slurs and other terms rooted in Hate will be the last to be removed from the 'database'.
Posted by: Brenda | Apr 11, 2007 1:15:58 PM
I think that racis people are messed up. I think that the government should try to do something about it!! Thats just messed the heck up!
Posted by: Stefanie Maddalozzo | Apr 11, 2007 1:16:18 PM
Excuse me, isn't the insult spelled with two Ns? One N is a country is Africa.
Posted by: voiceofreason | Apr 11, 2007 1:18:07 PM
Outside of America, it's not commonly known that "***" is such a politically charged word. I'm sure the manufacturers did simply made a translation mistake and did not intentionally mean any slight to African-American's by this.
Posted by: Tim | Apr 11, 2007 1:18:18 PM
Seriously ABC News. did you have to blot out the "N" word on the photo? What are you afraid of? You're supposed to report the news, not censor it. This is 2007.
Posted by: johnny b | Apr 11, 2007 1:19:32 PM
Isn't it possible the word was used in a translation error? The dreaded "N" word was originally "negro," which means "black", and is NOT insulting. The ONLY reason the so-called "N"-word is insulting is because we ALLOW it to be.
I have English background, but the term "Limey" doesn't bother me. Why are black people so hung-up over a word? It's ATTITUDE that matters!
Another "tempest in a teapot".
Posted by: rmberryman | Apr 11, 2007 1:22:14 PM
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