"garlic nose" is not a slur to Italians, in fact, it's a compliment

[Jersey Devil]

Rev Wright apparently know a lot more about ancient Roman history than most Clinton supporters trying to characterize his description of Romans during the time of Christ as "garlic noses." But about the only thing that Rev Wright was wrong about was calling them "Italians" since there was no "Italy" at the the time of the Roman Empire. Otherwise he was historically correct.

Everyone knows that the Romans were fastidious in their personal hygiene and grooming habits. They constantly washed, bathed and perfumed themselves almost to to the extent that one might call it a neurotic practice. They also commonly wore white robes, cleaned regularly at the many Roman laundries by the many slaves held by Rome. Who hasn't heard or saw the depictions of the Roman Baths that are legendary to this day and still exist and are preserved as a part of antiquity?



Also, who hasn't heard of the Roman practice of using garlic in virtually every prepared food. Garlic was thought of as a miracle drug at that time (and by some today), an elixir, first discovered by the Romans in their forays into Egypt, where the mystical powers of garlic were discovered some 5,000 years ago.

So the Roman Legions occupied the far ends of the Earth (as were known in those times) and in particular the Middle East where water was scarce and the peoples grooming habits were far different due to that fact. The local peoples did not bathe as did the Romans, so, well, frankly, they stunk.

No one knows who started the practice, but the Romans, who had grown accustomed to using garlic in almost all of their cooking, started taking pieces of garlic cloves and inserting them in their nostrils in order to mask the odor of the local peoples, which was repulsive to them. Thus was born the phrase "garlic nose". This practice is mimicked today during autopsies and by forensic surgeons who commonly smear Vicks and other substances right under and sometimes in their nostrils to mask the smell of decaying human flesh.

So far from "garlic nose" being an insult to Italians, many (including myself, since I am of Italian ancestry) consider it a compliment to the cleanliness and high personal hygiene practices of Italians, and by derivation, Romans.























I hope no one believed any of that unadulterated bullshit that I just concocted. But after reading a few of the posts here about Wright saying "garlic nose" at some girl's funeral (I dunno how it's relevant - was Obama supposed to attend all church funerals too?)
it occurred to me: "If faced with this, how would the Clinton's handle this?" and I posted what I thought they would say under the same circumstances. OK, I'm a devil, after all.

[MidwestTransplant]

1. Wow you really made that up?

[Saint in the City]

2. I think everyone agrees it was a terrible thing to say

I think everyone agrees it was a terrible thing to say, but I don't get why you guys keep bringing it up. The man made controversial statements throughout his career. My parents are catholics and the pope has denounced homosexuality and abortion, do they leave the catholic church? No.

You're shooting at your own party here. Friendly fire.

[walldude]

6. Welcome to DU..

Friendly Fire.. yeah there's a lot of that going around... If you get tired of it just try some of the other forums. There's a ton of great information on here that people never see because they are too busy fucking around in GDP...

[niyad]

12. welcome to DU

[anonymous171]

3. I've been saying that since the beginning of this "scandal."

Garlic was used a lot by Ancient Romans.

[theredpen]

4. That was quite a prank... garlic nose!

[ellacott]

5. Thank you for the history lesson

There might be some truth to it. Who knows.

[Teaser]

7. You got mad skillz

that rocked.

[sabra]

8. "at some girl's funeral"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asa_Hilliard

Asa Grant Hilliard, III
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Asa Hilliard)
Jump to: navigation, search
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please improve this article if you can. (August 2007)
Dr. Asa Grant Hilliard, III
Born August 22, 1933
Galveston, Texas
Died August 13, 2007
Egypt
Occupation educator, psychologist, Egyptologist, and professor.
Spouse Patsy Jo Hilliard

Dr. Asa G. Hilliard III (August 22, 1933, Galveston, Texas - August 13, 2007, Cairo, Egypt) was an African American professor of educational psychology who worked on indigenous ancient African history (ancient Egyptian), culture, education and society. He was the Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Urban Education at Georgia State University, with joint appointments in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education.

[Jersey Devil]

10. sorry, no harm meant

I refuse to read through all the bullshit posted about Wright and thought he had spoken at a young girl's funeral.

[sabra]

13. no prob - just wanted you to have the full story - which is the point

MSM is trying to mold the story

[stellanoir]

9. Joy on the View was really funny about this point this morning.

I'd only watched the show a handful of times but wanted to see Obama.

Before he was interviewed she, of Italian ethnicity, said (paraphrasing) that the Roman nose has been celebrated throughout time in art and culture and that she attributed her lovely complexion to her high intake of garlic.

It was a hoot especially when Elizabeth was unsuccessfully trying her best to paint it as a total racial slur.

Joy turned it into a compliment. LOL

[niyad]

11. regardless of how the romans used garlic, jw's use of the term "garlic noses"

was most clearly meant as an insult, not a compliment.

kind of reminds me of the "pimping her out" fracas a while back, and the insistence by some that the term doesn't mean what most of us know it means.

[Jersey Devil]

15. Consider Caesar and render unto him what is his

?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=444ED34A869CB9705D1E7FBFE441A168284831B75F48EF45

I have a nose somewhat like that and am damned proud of it! I thank Rev Wright for bringing attention to the nobility of Italians.

[cliffordu]

14. If I run for office, will you write my position papers for me??

That was awesome!

:headbang:

[Jersey Devil]

17. Well, I have done that

only on a local basis, but yes, I have written lots of campaign literature for candidates in my town and a few in the county. Thanks

[Rosa Luxemburg]

16. I expect the Romans will turn in their graves?

[goletian]

18. garlic is delicious. anyone eat papa john's pizza?

that garlic dipping sauce for the crust... omg.

[liberaldem4ever]

22. Yummy pizza

My family loves the Tuscan meats pizza we got the other day. Love the garlic dipping sauce and peppers they bring with the pizza. Great, now I'm hungry.

[Debi]

25. I always order extra! Yum!! nt

[niyad]

28. years ago, there was a wonderful restaurant in San Diego which served a garlic

pizza--marinara sauce, cheese, and TONS of garlic. Sharing that with friends, with lots of red wine--now THAT was a wonderful way to spend an evening.

[The_Casual_Observer]

19. How far would an Obama supporter go to defend him? The question

now has an answer.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

20. I expect the Romans will turn in their graves?

[Dogmudgeon]

21. They're so clever when they get overconfident.

--p!

[The Night Owl]

23. Considering that Pastor Wright's statement about Italians having "garlic noses" was made...

...in the context of a tirade about what Wright describes as the "Italian style lynching" of Christ, do you honestly believe that he meant the term "garlic noses" as a compliment? If you do, you are lost... or just plain lying.

Anyway, I congratulate you on formulating an intricate, albeit ludicrous, defense of Wright.

Some links which might help you in the future...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delusion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doublethink

[Jersey Devil]

26. Well, look at this lunker!

You didn't read all the way to the bottom of my post, did you?

[The Night Owl]

29. LOL! No. Nicely done. {EOM}

[TheWraith]

24. Actually, a couple things you said were true.

The Romans did have a very high level of hygiene (at least relative to the time) and laundry service, both facilitated by slaves.

And garlic was and is considered by many to be beneficial to health. With reason--in lab experiments it's demonstrated anti-bacterial properties.

[TlalocW]

27. In a 1950s Popeye cartoon

Popeye told his nephews a story about their ancestor Hercules (who of course looked like Popeye) who would get his incredible strength from sniffing garlic until the Bluto of that day took it away from him. Unluckily for him, he knocked Hercules into a field of spinach, and you can probably guess the outcome.

So there you have it - Reverend Wright is vindicated by a Popeye cartoon from the 1950s! :P :)

TlalocW