Did you see the Super Bowl commercial by Volkswagen where the cheerful, white guy from Minnesota was talking to everyone in the office with a Jamaican accent? If not, feast your eyes on the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H0xPWAtaa8
I loved the commercial, but a few media outlets and tweeters questioned the content as racist. The expression, “You can’t please all the people all the time” certainly applies. In America, the quote should be re-written as, “No matter what you say or do, somebody will bitch or whine about it.” Don’t these folks know that there are white people from Jamaica too! The last time that a Jamaican accent caused so much controversy was in my book, “1536 Free Waters and Other Blackjack Endeavors.” You don’t believe me? Read on.
The online magazine, Poker Pro (also Poker Pro Canada and Poker Pro Europe), featured an excerpt of my book called, “The Superstition Experiment” in its January 2013 issue. In the story, there is a fictional Jamaican woman named Anisha’keekwa taking part in various blackjack experiments. The first editor of my book thought all the characters in the story were somewhat racist. I thought she was somewhat screwed in the head. I love all the characters. Quoting Jerry Seinfeld, “If I like their race, how can that be racist?”
Poker Pro magazine can only be found online for a subscription fee. However, thanks to kindness of Johnny “Quads” Wenzel, the Editor in Chief of Poker Pro, you can see the story at the following link using the user ID “winzoo@aol.com“ and password “44444444“ :
After you click the link, select “Check out our E-Magazine,” then go to “Back Issues,” then “Jan 01 2013.” After browsing a few pages, you’ll be asked to enter the user ID and password to continue. If you are able to go through this maze of instructions and actually read the article, let me know if you have any racial comments or concerns. By the way, be sure to also check out the magazine cover and table of contents. I got my first call-out on a magazine cover!
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