The Racism Handbag Tote

Dear Blob,
One of my Fleet of Gay Men has invested in the gayest thing ever, a line of handbag totes designed by another gay man. At my investorPal's house last night, he invited me to the garage for a preview of the line, which is debuting in Vegas this week. There are 4 handbag totes to choose from, each complete with original art by the Designer. InvestorPal broke into the fresh-from-China boxes of 1000 handbag totes and showed me the first 3, a yellow, the Mao bag, with cutouts of the lovable dictator, and a green one (which I eventually chose to take home); but he was searching for "The Red Bag" and said I would love it! After a few boxes, he finally, gaily exlaimed, "Aha!" and The Red Bag was revealed. Upon first glance, I exhaled a gaspy wow-ish kind of sound and a phrase similar to, "OMG, that's incredibly racist!" was expelled from my awed mouth. The Red Handbag Tote features cutout collage pictures of the Amos & Andy/Mammy Blackface kids of yesteryear, symbols of oppression, racism and slavery.

InvestorPal-of-200-Racism-Tote-Handbags, (which donate a percentage of sales to an AIDS charity) divulged that the Tote-Handbag-Designer had no idea the blackface cartoons were symbols of racism and it was a total Seinfeld/Curb Your Enthusiasm Moment. One of my Fleet Of Gay Men is stuck owning 200 Racist Designer Handbags and is going to try and sell them to the public. Apparently Muhammed Ali's daughter was given one of the Blackface handbags, which she graciously accepted. I like to think I have a great sense of humor, but I wouldn't be caught dead carrying one of those, especially during my upcoming trip to The South., which is not to say I was offended. I was not offended, but amazed that the designer was unaware that Blackface isn't really acceptable in California and I think the rest of the United States & Canada.
Love The Ukulady
ps: When I lived in Holland in 1995 the department store was selling Carnival costumes advertised as - I can't believe I'm going to write this word: Negro!
pps: And during the same time, McDonalds in Germany was selling Asian-themed McNuggets, which came in a red box featuring a buck-toothed slanty-eyed Ching-Chong-Chinaman.
ppps: I think talking about racism is healthy.
pppps: Heal Britney!