While we discuss about how the Shirley Sherrod story once again exposes our inability to articulate the complexities of racial relations in the United States, sometimes we need a little nudge, a little something that makes us say, "Oh, goddamnit. Really?"
For the Rude Pundit, while home in Lafayette, Louisiana, it was this sign on Pinhook Road, a main drag in town. Lafayette is not some podunk rural burg. It's a city of over 200,000 people. It's the heart of the oil industry in South Louisiana. People from all over the world visit and study there.
But there it was, this billboard for Eddie's BBQ, which reads "Ah likes da ribs." The Rude Pundit doesn't know how good the ribs are at Eddie's because, well, the restaurant's motto is born of either racism or stupidity or, as usual, the piquant sauce of both mixed together, and he'd rather give his money to the Southern Poverty Law Center or something.
By the way, the Rude Pundit pointed the billboard out to others, locals, who all said, "Oh, huh. Never noticed."
