Apparently the Kentucky Derby is racist

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Dunbar

It's a balancing act, Rupert. To you, the objections were frivolous. To the people objecting, the issue is not frivolous. What needs to be balanced is how important is it to have a Derby-themed party when some people obviously find the idea offensive. (and to give the protesters some credit, let's at a minimum assume that people traditionally dress up for this party trying to look like Old South.) What are the sorority organizers giving up by switching the theme to Woodstock? Yes, they are "caving", but what are they giving up?

If this were a college course being dropped by the college administration for similar "reasons", I'd almost certainly agree with you. But changing a party theme to avoid hard feelings? Different story.

Just because someone complains about something, it doesn't make their complaint legitimate. Their thinking that it is legitimate does not make it legitimate. I'll give you another real life example. A friend of mine lives in a high-rise condominium building. The building puts up a Christmas tree every year in the lobby. Anyway, one of the homeowners wrote a letter to the HOA saying that the Christmas tree was very offensive to her (because she is not Christian). She claimed that when she got home every day and walked into the lobby and had to see the Christmas tree, that is was "very upsetting" to her. Do you think the HOA should have caved in to her and taken the Christmas tree down? Your argument with regard to the Derby party was, "What are they giving up?" I guess you could make the same argument here. I mean it wouldn't be that big of a deal to not have a Christmas tree. But the bottom line is that the vast majority of the people in that building like having a nice Christmas tree in the lobby. In addition, there is hardly a rational person that would find it offensive. I would say the same for the Ky Derby party.

By the way, the HOA did not cave in to that woman. They did not take the Christmas tree down.

What if someone finds the Woodstock theme offensive? That was kind of a culture sex and drugs. If someone found that theme offensive, would that be a legitimate complaint? You seem to have made the assertion that just because a person complains about something, that there must be some legitimacy to the complaint. I would disagree with that.