However, i think that both examples are not us specific so much as just plan ole’ racist – N**** brown was a common name for a brown colour in the 50′s and earlier because of very racist reasons, and it is shocking that it lingered into the 1980s.

The navaho image is different, in that although i agree it is racist, however given that in the UK the priniple image of first nation people is from US media, i.e. disney, etc., this is much less surprising.

Sparkly vampires!

Ruth’s story about the obscene yarn reminds me of other examples in which the British don’t quite get American racial politics. (It’s not just a British problem–I think most outsiders to any culture have a hard time grasping what’s taboo and what’s OK.) Example: a restaurant and bar that used to be (maybe still is?) in Covent Garden called “Navaho Joe’s,” which features as its logo a Navaho male figure tipping back a giant bottle of booze. (But then, whose cultures and histories am I disregarding and/or trashing because I can’t be bothered to learn? A lesson for all, perhaps.)

Indyanna–congrats on the flu shot. Hell, if you can’t get a Band-Aid for a shot, then what’s the point? (Then again, I used to give blood for the juice and cookies). Maybe you should donate several boxes of Barbie or HK Band-Aids to your local flu shot clinic.

I thought that White House party-crasher’s sari was pretty cool the other night. It certainly seemed to light up the Biden team. Maybe they could describe it as “sunburn?” What a bizarre story.

When I was in graduate school, a group of us were discussing Crayola crayons and we decided the “Flesh” color should be renamed “privilege pink.”

Just one more anecdote–in 1980, there was a line of Shetland yarn available in the UK in which one of the colors was called “N***** Brown.” The saleswoman in the shop in Oxford didn’t see anything wrong with it.

The best adhesive bandages I’ve ever used are those NextCare bandages, which don’t come in “flesh” and instead feature clear adhesive and all have cartoon characters or other decorations. Those things will stay on through a week of showers or baths. (If you want them to, that is.) They’re more expensive than Band-Aids, but they really stick.

I’m seriously confused as how anyone could call that color ‘flesh’ though. I have noticed that some bra companies are calling ex-nude ‘buff’.

I was sort of interested in the pic of the elastic bandages from China (or possibly Japan) — considering the relative homogeneity of their populations, it’s not all that surprising, and I wouldn’t really lump them in with the Bandaids because concepts of race are slightly different in Asia.

Also, are the Hello Kitty bandaids latex-free?