A comment in another post reminded me of this Ta-Nehisi Coates post about Michelle and Obama giving each other “dap” last night. I wasn’t even aware it was considered a “black thing” (nor did I know the name), since I remember my thoroughly white lacrosse team doing it in undergrad, and as one of Ta-Nehisi’s commenters noted, “Is that really “so black”? Howie Mandel does it on his show, for heaven’s sake.”
Again, I didn’t know there was an ethnic/racial component to this, since it seems to be something pretty widely dispersed in American culture, but this just may be more evidence that I have no idea what is going on in the larger world around me. However, this post at Slate describes the difficulty that reporters had describing the event:
The presidential campaign—well, one in particular—has introduced a new greeting to the political world: the fist pound (also known as daps). Last night, we saw perhaps the most high-profile pound of all time, as Michelle and Barack Obama bumped fists on national television before he took the stage. (Video here.)
What’s hilarious is watching the formal, AP Stylebook-loving media trying to figure out what to call it. In an article about Obama’s body man Reggie Love, the New York Times called Love’s preferred greeting a “closed-fisted high-five.” Last night produced other assorted references…
He then goes on to list numerous reactions, my favorite of which is this comment (since scrubbed) from this Cal Thomas Human Events piece:
Michelle is not as “refined” as Obama at hiding her TRUE feelings about America–etc. Her “Hezbollah” style fist-jabbing–mouth-twisted anti-American speeches is STRAIGHT from ISLAM!
It is going to be a long election year.
*** Update ***
I wonder what people think of this COMMUNIST-STYLE CHEST BUMP.
*** Update #2 **
Due to the unbearable whiteness of being me, I have been mistakenly calling this fist-bump as “daps,” when it is more accurately referred to as “dap.” Duly noted.
Zifnab
I think this ranks – as a political moment – right below that time Al Gore kissed his wife and right above that time Dick Cheney shot a 72 year old man in the face.
These are cultural phenomena people. Just things that ordinary Americans do every day. No need to open a criminal investigation into the affair. Just acknowledge it and get on with your lives.
Punchy
This reads like a gay porno.
Tim (The Other One)
It is going to be a long ( “boogah-boogah”) election year.
rerun
Go to Vegas and play some craps – You’ll see 60 year old white dudes from Nebraska fist bumping all night. It is 10x better than someone slapping you with their clammy hands that they’ve been rubbing their nose with.
Ripley
I’ll be they went home and knocked boots.
COMMIES!!!!
Cyrus
That’s it, I’m never going hunting drunk with you again.
Ugh
Do these people not watch any team sports on TV at all?
montysano
I for one welcome the Gangsta Caliphate that will be instituted by Ayatollah Hussein Obama X. 72 virgins doing some serious booty-poppin’. The best of both worlds, bitchez!1!
sunny
OT-
Caroline Kennedy to lead Obama’s veep search.
I don’t know about you guys, but I just heaved a huge sigh of relief. Somehow, I just don’t think Ms. Schlossburgh (sp???)will allow Clinton to be the second in line to the presidency. You know, in case something “happens”. The kind of thing with which she is woefully familiar…
tBone
A useful primer for reporters unfamiliar with the fistpound.
cleek
Hezbollah-style fist-pumping ?
is that some kind of strange sandy fetish thing ?
Genine
I could be totally wrong, but I do think “daps” started out in the AA community and then spread to the mainstream. But its been part of the mainstream so long, no one pays attention to its origins.
AkaDad
It would have been more Presidential if they bumped chests.
sunny
And to add to my previous comment, I think by picking her Obama is very nearly explicitly telling Ms. Clinton that he’s not about to turn his back on her.
Halteclere
WTF? Baseball players have been doing this for at least a decade. Over three years ago I used to work with a white, old sales guy who greeted everyone this way. Hell, my wife and I always end our viewings of Ghost Hunters episodes with “dabs” (never knew what it was called before) in solidarity with how Jason and Grant close the “case”.
Zifnab
I heard it started in a small cave on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan as a secret way of certain religious groups to praise their favored deity.
I also heard its secret black-people sign language for indicating where da white womens at.
RSA
I like this observation:
Brett
Come on, that has to be one of the funniest f#@!ing statements I have yet to come across. Sure, it’s the product of a depressing ignorance and desperation, but god is it awfully amusing. “Hezbollah” style fist-jabbing? I am apalled, I am bemused
taoless
i don’t know why everyone is so upset. they were just activating their wonder-twin powers.
rob!
that fist bump was my favorite moment last night.
we’re gonna have one cool-ass President.
libarbarian
Lets not start pounding each others fists just yet
Andrew
I think they should have krump vs pop n’ lock dance battle.
D.N. Nation
Man, that Cal Thomas dropping was all kinds of awful. Even for him.
James F. Elliott
Fuck, my MMA gym is filled with terrorists? Come to think of it, shouting “Death to America!” after each burpee did feel a bit weird…
Pooh
The pound is so black that my (white) girlfriend and my (very very VERY white) father gave each other a pound over dinner after agreeing on a point with which they could mock me…
Matt
I love that pound.
And no, this is not a “black” thing at all, despite what 50 something journalists might think.
Davis X. Machina
Damn colored people — it should have just been a laurel, and hearty handshake…..
Mel Brooks stands to make a fortune out of this campaign, still more out of of any Obama presidency.
Krista
Form of…President!
AkaDad
Everyone in the intelligence community knows “daps” is a ritual for Islamofascists, mostly before launching an attack.
4tehlulz
BIG BLACK MAN PUTS JEW UP AGAINST THE WALL
/media
Pooh
Cue Sadly, No’s Wingnut Voltron?
Halteclere
Ah, Cal Thomas, always on the lookout for the insidious work of The B.R.O.T.H.E.R.H.O.O.D.
ArtB
Yeah, I think we can consider the dap “appropriated” at this point. Slightly more threatening than jazz, slightly less threatening than “Da Bomb.”
calipygian
I thought the whole 50 Cent shoulder brush off thing Obama did a few weeks ago was pretty fuckin’ cool. Now THAT is definitely a kind of cultural signifier, and not necessarily a black one, but more a youth one.
Bush and the chest bump is sophmore pledge “oh, Ive had too much to drink” stooopid.
Andrew
The sooner we have people like Cal Thomas locked in cages at the Oldfogeytarium to keep them safe from decades old popular culture, the better off all of us will be. I fear his future columns ranting about disco music making his head hurt and how Teen Wolf features too many black basketball players.
Sasha
Truth. Basically, we’ve just finished the long arduous climb up Mt. Everest, paused to savor the moment, then realized we have a long, arduous climb back down the damn thing.
Dork
Just wait to see what these wrinklies write when they catch wind of Obama stuffing a basketball or drinking 8-ball. Expect a resurgence in monogramed outfits with “Dragon”, and “Grand”, and not necessarily in that order.
jibeaux
I call it the pound, too, but I probably wouldn’t write “Barack pounded Michelle on stage…” Still, that’s gotta be better than “closed-fisted high five”.
mantooth
I work in NASCAR and I cannot escape the fist bump. I got one the other day after loaning a guy a pen.
Jon H
I think Cal’s talking about a different fist-jabbing gesture.
Ninerdave
Why did I know this would become an issue when I saw them do it last night. I suppose he could have also repeated the “brush off” too.
Blue Raven
Aw, and here I thought my doing the dap with a fellow MA Irish co-worker was reinforcing the meme that the Irish are the blacks of Europe. Back to the drawing board, especially since we chucked “McShizzle” as making no sense at all.
JC
Clearly, we all know that particular congrats fist move, the dap – it’s been around for at least 20 years, since I was in high school.
But I did – briefly – consider it strange that he didn’t just give her a kiss and a hug.
But then I went on to watch his great speech, and thought nothing of it, until I read this.
Clutch414
That’s it, you owe me a new monitor. My current one is soaked with spat coffee. Damn you….
JC
Funny enough, got one today in the work elevator, a white tech guy, being greeted that way by the white security guard.
RSA
Apparently the leaping chest bump was invented by a black basketball player. I guess a celebratory exchange that may have roots in black culture isn’t as scary when an old white guy does it.
4tehlulz
It would be a better visual than that Al-Tipper slobber in 2000.
cleek
he did that just before.
they fisted while she was walking off the stage. she snuck in a little thumbs-up action, too.
yowza
Just Some Fuckhead
Did they lock it? Because if they didn’t lock it, they probably aren’t black enough.
yet another jeff
Was it a nice pen?
4tehlulz
>>they fisted while she was walking off the stage.
>>they fisted while she was walking
>>they fisted
Clutch414
This thread’s comments have been consitently bringing “teh funny”. Thankfully I’m the only one in my office today or else I would be having to explain all the laughter.
chaosmod91
3 things:
1) It’s called “dap.” No one gives each other “daps” and there are multiple ways to give someone dap, fist pounding, a certain type of handshape, etc. Even Ta-Nahisi didn’t call it “daps,” I have no idea where that came from.
2) It’s very heavy in the black community but whether or not it was spawned from there, it’s fairly mainstream nowadays. The anecdotal evidence is heavy whether or not you agree it originated from black people.
3) lol @ hezbollah fist-jabbing
Bubblegum Tate
Man, you ain’t lying.
So did that bringer of crazy explain exactly how dap is a Hezbollah thing, or are we supposed to just take his (clearly quite measured) word for it?
(PS: It was Jay-Z who did “Dirt off Your Shoulder,” not 50 Cent. And Obama likes Jay-Z’s music–prepare for that to be a part of the “boogah boogah!” strategy.)
SmilingPolitely
OMG! Somebody tell John McCain that Arizona is harboring a terrorist!
Phoenix Suns’ two-time MVP, Steve Nash, gives “daps” to members of the floor-media before every basketball game he plays.
Snaporaz
Jay-Z, dumbass.
White people…
Dreggas
Man all this talk about fists and pounding, should I go have a cigarette or masturbate?
4tehlulz
Well, in his defense, he probably feels that he needs to placate the cameraman from Hezbollah TV.
4tehlulz
Why does it have to be one or the other?
Svensker
Are we sure ol’ Cal isn’t in a bunker somewhere in the wilds of Idaho watching a scratchy VHS of Dirty Harry? Who else would write this?
Just Some Fuckhead
Both, you got two hands.
Mr.Nobody
Howie Mandel is germ-phobic so that’s probably why he prefers the pound (as me and my friends call it) to a handshake. I remember him talking about it on Howard Stern many years back, how he’s one of those guys who needs a handkerchief to open a doors in public places.
Should also add that me and all my white friends have been greeting each other with fist pounds for years.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
can we please now have the SNL skit where some consultant is teaching John McCain how to “do the dap” and wear his baseball cap backwards so he can earn some street cred with the young-ins.
Clutch414
I’m both a huge Jay-Z and Obama fan.
Does anyone have a link to a picture of Obama doing the “Dirt Off Your Shoulder” gesture? I’d like it as my desktop background.
mantooth
Not particularly. It was an old Cale Yarborough promo and the guy and I talked about the time Cale was on Dukes Of Hazzard and fought Mr. Belding from Saved By The Bell. The conversation was held in the infield at the Coca-Cola 600. I don’t know if it gets any whiter than that.
eric
I think dap qualifies as one of the things black people made up that white people stole (see Jazz). Probably a good idea though, as it prevents the microbiological orgy that is palm-to-palm contact.
Keith
SHAKE N BAKE!
Clutch414
Only if there was Pat Boone playing in the background.
AkaDad
I can multitask. Just don’t drop the cigarette.
Dreggas
I’m at work and have to go outside to smoke and do not intend to do an solo immitation of Larry Craig.
Fwiffo
That’s an extremely high standard of whiteness. I’m concerned we may be in for another round of “Is Barack Obama black enough?” and “Is Barack Obama a secret honkey?” stories.
Zifnab
If you’re not using both hands, you’re doing it wrong.
T. Scheisskopf
Uhh…John? How did you ever countenance people who wrote piffle like that, back during your…ahem…”lost years”.
Yer’ a far better man than I.
Just Some Fuckhead
Can’t solve for collards joke.
Overflow error.
r€nato
I’m pretty white and I’ve been doing the dap for about 10 years.
OriGuy
I read about this over at Ta-Nehisi’s joint and had to look up “dap” in urbandictionary.com. I’ve seen it for ages, but didn’t know that was what it was called.
Cal Thomas is a level 15 Bozo. One more trip into the Cave of Wingnuttery and he can be a level 1 Kristol.
r€nato
He’s gonna be a baaaaaaad muthaWATCHYOURMOUTH!
JR
I’m pretty sure it means that Michelle hates Whitey.
Just Some Fuckhead
lolz
r€nato
LOL! Cal Thomas is whiter than his KKK sheet and his scrawlings have made him immune to satire since… well, since he started scrawling.
The fist bump is a secret Hezbollah handshake? Well, there’s all the proof you need to throw those uppity Negroes in Gitmo.
Otto Man
My wife and I do this all the time, and if we were any whiter, we’d be translucent.
r€nato
One more trip into the Cave of Wingnuttery and he can be a level 1 Kristol.
someone here plays Kingdom of Loathing…
jake
That’s what I thought when I saw the photo. However, my vanilla, chocolate and vc swirl friends frequently tell me I am the most vanilla non-vanilla they know.
Shape of: A Magical Unity Pony!
Form of: A giant wave to flush McCane into the Potomac!
Carol
Clutch414 – Here’s a link for you. Obama’s just so cool.
50 Cent?? I’m a 50+ white woman and even I knew it was Jay-Z =P
Anyway. Linky:
http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/04/obamas_jayz_moment.html
r€nato
He’s a fucking Canadian so while he may not be a terrorist per se, he surely gives them aid and comfort what with his nation’s universal health care and civilized international behavior and legalized pot and…
…hey, are there any Canadian cuties out there?
carsick
My family had a neighbor when I was growing up who would brush off her shoulder in a dramatic fashion when she heard neighborhood gossip. I grew up in a largely white suburb in Ohio and she was an older white woman originally from Tennessee or Southern Kentucky. I thought it was a Southern thing finding new relevance with Jay Z’s usage. Our neighbor was a bit of the old Southern Belle type and married to a doctor.
Of course I may not be a good judge because my son high fives his team mates and we dap after he gets a good hit. Plus, I listen to music that used to be defined as “race music” though today is called Rock’n’Roll or Popular Music.
tBone
Which pro-Hillary blog will be the first to claim that the dap was actually an obscene gesture aimed at Hillary? Assuming it hasn’t happened already, I mean.
ThymeZone
Sorry, I just came in from eating chitlins, fried chicken and watermelon and had all this grease and stuff all over my face.
{ mops up }
Uh, what?
Cal Thomas? That man is one of the biggest fucking lunatics on the planet. He is absolutely insane, and he is also mean and vile. Why are we talking about him?
r€nato
Nash looks very white but the way he plays the game, his unbelievable passing, he ought to be an honorary African-American.
Please, Stevie, have enough gas in the tank next season to finally give the Suns that title we’ve waited all our lives for…
mantooth
Nope. Bocephus.
west coast
Now easy on Bocephus. What other country figure covers Ludacris?
w vincentz
So clueless. That’s not a “negro” thing. It’s how the evolved “aliens” that have been visiting this planet in their UFO’s for so long transfer “cosmic power”.
Yes, their home planet is more evolved than ours, but I’m speculating that they think WE NEED THEIR HELP.
Heck, it was either them or the “rapture”.
Take your pick, as long as it’s not Hillary (Satan sent her).
So, it’s out now. Barack and Michelle are visitors from a different planet that had pity on the Earth that they had watched for so long. Note the hand bump and the transferance of “cosmic power”.
It’s a give away every time.
AkaDad
Ancient texts say the “dap” is a custom dating back centuries, mainly used by Satan worshipers.
Scrutinizer
So, you’re going to get help? Have you practiced the foot-tap?
Scrutinizer
Wait. We’re going to elect a President that likes hip-hop? But they cuss, and say the n-word, and talk about drugs and stuff. Prolly sex, too. Racist and misogynist.
OH NOEZ! Does Larry know?
Krista
Ahem…
Scrutinizer
With a great rack?
Otto Man
This is a “black thing” in the same sense jazz is.
Krista
You’re fighting a Mouth-Flapping Pundit
This is one of the self-important political commentators of Douchebag News. He may look harmless, but if you hit him, he will refuse to accept that reality and will insist that HE hit YOU.
You get the jump on him.
Clutch414
ROLL FOR INITIATIVE!!!
Delia
Hey, maybe this was the thing that Larry J was ranting about for weeks. Oh noes. It’s very scary.
Clutch414
Thx Carol for the link!!
calipygian
Im going to curl up into a ball, get a four pack of Zima and crank the Pat Boone now….
Should Know Better
Oh, for fuck’s sake. Is he an elitist out-of-touch Ivy League snob or a scary black panther islamo-fascist? Pick one!
jagorev
I didn’t know fist bumps were a black thing either. I work with an old white VP who does the same thing every day.
Bubblegum Tate
He’s the former moonlighting as the latter. Sort of a Bruce Wayne/Batman thing, if Batman were an alleged Islamocommienazi hell-bent on instituting Sharia law in order to legalize gay marriage
Andrew
Shit for brains at the Corner (redundant, generalization) writes:
I’m reminded of this video by those America-hating black Irish scallywags. No Americans write music that Americans like?
Yeah, FUCK YOU, Greg Pollowitz.
montysano
I just bounced over to Oliver Willis’ place, then linked over for a short stroll through the swamp at Free Republic. The Freepers’ “McCain’s Speech” thread was hilarious:
Multiple commenters agreed: “we need that “Whitey Tape”, STAT!!”
Oregon Guy
@ Dreggas
So you masturbate at work then?
Blue Raven
By which you mean it was a greeting used by neolithic Wiccans as a means of mimicking the vagina with their hands as a symbol of female power.
MNPundit
Um, my girlfriend and I do this all the time. Sometimes she initiates it, sometimes I do. Sometimes we (mostly me) finish it off with the thumbs up, but not always.
I feel a little closer to the Obamas today.
The Grand Panjandrum
It sure is nice to know at least someone is whiter than me. I’m still laughing so damn hard I can barely type this out. Just for effect.
… the unbearable whiteness of being … me.
Thanks John I needed a good laugh today. Self-deprecation is a good thing.
Dreggas
No, I don’t. Work is like mental salt peter.
w vincentz
Blue Raven,
Exactly who do you think levitated those huge rocks at Stonehenge? It all came from “cosmic power”. The Druids gained their knowledge from our alien visitors. The Wiccans picked up on it, but I disagree that it’s a symbol of “female power” anymore than the Easter Bunny is a symbol of the blessed Saviour’s Resurrection.
“Cosmic power” is transfered in several ways (as I’ve been taught by Nalldor). It can come through the fists, or even the face.
Look at the Shroud of Turin for evidence.
The Obama’s have obviously been speaking with Nalldor, as he has shown them the secrets of fist transferance of “cosmic power”.
Cyrus
I’ve heard this phrase before, but what is a chitlin, anyway?
It seems like some people are so proud of their ignorance that anything “other” can be safely lumped together as “scary.”
I remember reading that the pro-life criticism of Kerry in 2004 actually backfired a bit, because Republicans talked so much about him being denied communion that it made people realize he was a churchgoing Christian who might not have otherwise noticed. I foresee something similar happens when McCain mentions Jeremiah Wright in a debate or yet another video of Wright surfaces or something. All but the very dumbest people will probably realize that Obama probably didn’t belong to a whitey-hating black church and a mosque, and as for the people who don’t notice the contradiction, let’s face it, they probably weren’t going to vote for a Democrat anyway.
Should Know Better
Hmmm… Barack Obama = Ollie Queen?
ImJohnGalt
This particular post and comment thread is so full of win I can hardly stand it.
Dreggas
you pound each other with your fists and sometimes finish with “thumbs up” eh? *snicker*
I just can’t help it, this thread is soooooo easy.
Brachiator
Howie Mandell does it because he is a germaphobe. His fist bump is a concession to otherwise shouting “Oh God! Please don’t touch me!”
And the NBA is a well-known hotbed of stealth Muslim terrorists.
This is going to be a fun election cycle. What is obvious, and cannot be emphasized enough, is that reporters, pundits and the GOP are … wait for it … out of touch with American culture. Go figure.
Nikki
Hell, I didn’t know it even had a name!
*SIGH* looks like I’m gonna have to turn in my “black” card.
w vincentz
“And the NBA is a well-known hotbed of stealth Muslim terrorists.” Brach,
Wrong again. The NBA is a “front” organization from the visitors that came from a small planet in a galaxy we call Andromeda. Their planet’s name is Africanopolis.
They communicate with eyebrow twitches and transfer their anti-gravity “cosmic power” with chest bumps.
Did you ever see how easy and Africanopian dunks the fuckin’ basketball after getting a “cosmic power” boost from one of his “alien” teammates?
Geesh, you Earthlings have SO much to learn!
“cosmic power” boost from one of his “alien” teammates?
JC
I think OriGuy got it right.
It’s not like we’re cool, right? Commenting on a blog like this? About as uncool as you can get.
But the history of us white guys is, we see people doing this, in various sports venues, or even at a Green Tea Party – and we do it ourselves, without having a clue what it is called.
By the way – this is the f**king funniest thread in a long time, I gotta say…
b. hussein canuckistani
Nothing but cuties up here. We’re all smart, and we’re all good looking, and we have better beer.
The Populist
Being a former lily white conservative in his late 30s I have no problem with this. I am a big baseball nut. When my guys score, I fist bump with friends, wife whoever is there!
Also, the Cal Thomas’ and Pat Buchanans are over the top on this hatred of Michelle. Is it because they see her as a black woman stereotype (chickenhead, etc)? So she hates America according to them YET John Hagee and all the assholes they support don’t?
Dreggas
They hate Michelle not just because she is a strong woman but she is a strong black woman. It’s a twofer, especially with Buchanan.
steve davis
Would you believe that Cal Thomas not only regularly shows up in my “metropolitan” paper, but often is on the left hand side of the editorial spread which, as I’ve tried to explain to the editors a couple of times, is usually a strong indication that a paper agrees with a particular stance? Would it help you believe it if I told you my “metropolitan” paper is the Greenville News? That was rhetorical, wasn’t it? As was that.
Jon H
renato wrote: “The fist bump is a secret Hezbollah handshake? Well, there’s all the proof you need to throw those uppity Negroes in Gitmo.”
I think Cal was referring to some kind of gesture Michelle made while speaking at a rally, not the dap…
Cal’s still stupid.
Buck B.
I always thought the fist bump thing was called “the rock.”
“Awesome speech, dear. Give me the rock.”
Mr. Dave
That it is a “black thing” is news to me. I thought it was more generational. I’m 38, and this late 20s guy who works at one of my clients came at me w/ the fist, but I thought it was going to be standard high five, so I was left w/ the awkward moment when I grabbed his fist. I felt like a total gaper. It was the first time I really felt “old” in a not so hip way. Now we dap whenever we see each other. I feel like a tool when I do it, but he seems to dig it, so why now? Moral of the story is I don’t think you should offer to dap unless the dapee knows it’s coming.
Jinxi
Exactly. It’s pitiful. Even worse is that certain radical feminists sites are aiming their guns at her in same way Buchanan and Thomas are.
Also, I had no idea the brushing of the shoulders was considered a Jay-Z thing. I remember in the 80’s we would use that particular gesture as a way of saying we overcame a particularly hard struggle. It symbolized (at least to us) fighting a battle (getting down and dirty), triumphing and finally brushing off the dust of the battle (not literally a “battle”- usually). But I guess it could be called “dirt”. I still had no idea who Jay-Z was back in 1985 though. We were a rough bunch though and usually did that after we made the other girl cry or won at snaps.
Jinxi
I did too. Or was that the sideways fist pound?
*I can’t even write that with a straight face. Mwahaha!*
Bubblegum Tate
Well, in pop culture it’s considered a Jay-Z thing because of “Dirt Off Your SHoulder.” He didn’t originate it, but his song is the first a lot of people heard of it.
Mentis Fugit
Republicans seem to be more into an entirely different kind of “fist pounding”, IYKWIMAITYD.
Fucking idiot.
Dreggas
Jinxi,
It is even worse to see supposed feminists who supported Hillary turn their sites on Michelle and rip her to shreds. Then again I shouldn’t be so surprised, after all Hillary was all about tearing down the women Bill was having affairs with. It’s par for the course, anyone not with them is the enemy. Another parallel to the bush’s.
As for brushing the shoulders off, that’s been around forever, kinda one of those no sweat things. It would have been better had he waved his hand in front of his face and said “You can’t see me”.
Jack H.
I’d always thought this started with lacrosse and hockey. Since you can’t very well shake hands with gloves on you often end up tapping gloves with teammates after a goal or save or opponents after a game. It was there to some extent back in ’69-’70 when I started playing.
Krista
That’s where I recall first seeing it too — my stepdad played hockey, and after the game when they’d “shake hands” with their opponents, they usually all still had their gloves on, so they’d just sort of bump their knuckles together.
Just Some Fuckhead
It’s an insane theory. Black folks don’t watch hockey and lacrosse so how in the world could they be dapping almost universally as a people if it originated there?
Krista
Well, they do it in boxing, too. That has a pretty broad audience.
Big E
re: “Michelle is not as “refined” as Obama at hiding her TRUE feelings about America—etc. Her “Hezbollah” style fist-jabbing—mouth-twisted anti-American speeches is STRAIGHT from ISLAM!”
When Obama is president I hope all of these morons are sent to Gitmo for re-education.
Genine
Chitlins are pig intestines. My family is black and from the South. They make them all the time. They smell horrible. I don’t eat them.
They took mine away.
Desert Rat
The fist-bump is representational about what this campaign will really be about, and what the Dem primary was about. Forget black vs. white (though the GOPers will try to make it about this). It’s about Boomers vs. Gen-X.
Most of the folks commenting on these things as part of African-American culture are Boomers who are totally out of touch with the lives their children and grandchildren are living. In the under-40 crowd (and particularly under-30), there really is no such thing as “white” or “black” culture.” It’s all so intermixed as to be indistinguishable.
I’m a little old (44) to have seen some of this first hand. But I see this all the time with my teenage boys. As a diehard liberal, it gives me pride and faith in my fundamental belief that each generation, taken as a whole, is better than their parents when I see the lives my children are living and espousing with regard to matters of race.
And the fist bump is everywhere these days. Has been for a while. I thought it was a neat, genuine moment of affection and pride between he and his wife last night.
loquacious mute
CIA refers to this as the ‘terrorist high five’, which is not to be confused with the ‘islamo fascists up-top’.
Big E
re: Desert Rat “It’s about Boomers vs. Gen-X”
disagree with you a lil bit about that…
It’s about someone like Obama who says what most folks feel and know but never talk about in public, it’s about him being able to speak with a clarity not heard in America since I don’t know when, it’s about one man who sounds so different from the rest of the body politic that his appeal and reasoned words seem to transcend the fear and class warfare that has been crushing America for years.
re:”there really is no such thing as “white” or “black” culture.” It’s all so intermixed as to be indistinguishable.”
well I’m in the music biz and black and white culture is spoken about, both on the funny and serious side, the same way one could talk about Italian, Irish or Jewish culture.
The cool thing is that is is NOT racial, it’s cultural in a very positive way.
Darkrose
My mother would make them once or twice a year. She took the crock pot out into the garage because my dad insisted that she not cook them in the house.
I’ve always figured that since we can actually have other meat these days, I don’t really need to continue eating pig intestines.
I think mine got lost in the mail, along with my copy of the Gay Agenda.
jake
Next up: How “high fives” are ruining this country’s morals.
Ed Drone
That reminds me of a theory I have as to why we have swear words. Essentially, it’s so people can learn self-control. Societies need for their members to have self-control, and teaching the young involves teaching this as well. So “bad” words were developed when the subject was something the society as a whole felt should not be discussed “in the open,” and learning to “watch your mouth” became a societal value.
We have cuss words because if we didn’t, someone might just blurt out any fucking thing they felt like, and we can’t have that, now, can we?
Ed
John C
OH, MY GOD!!!! Doesn’t ANYBODY have a life anymore? What the heck is wrong with all you people? Psychoanalyzing a playful gesture between an excited couple? Pretending it is some insidious herald of political radicalism? No wonder our media is in the crapper and the right-wing is a shallow parody of its former glory. Geez…