[Prime crotch]

So I finally got around reading Call of Cthulhu and I come across this little gem.

the prisoners all proved to be men of a very low, mixed-blooded, and mentally aberrant type. Most were seamen, and a sprinkling of negroes and mulattos, largely West Indians or Brava Portuguese from the Cape Verde Islands, gave a colouring of voodooism to the heterogeneous cult. But before many questions were asked it became manifest that something far deeper and older than negro fetishism was involved. Degraded and ignorant as they were, the creatures held with surprising consistency to the central idea of their loathsome faith.

I realise back in his day Eugenics were gaining more and more support but wow this caught me off-guard.
Still love his Cthulhu mythos though, even if some of his stories are surprisingly boring.

[Absinthe]

Brilliant, talented people are not exempt from fallibility and shitty traits.

[Fireblend]

Damn, his writing is awesome.

...what is this thread about again?

[Xisiqomelir]

Standard for the era imo. They probably taught it to him in school and he never questioned it because his personal experience never contradicted it.

[ghst]

I hope you didn't enjoy Lord of the Rings.

[Az987]

I was watching an old Hammer horror film last night called Night Creatures and they started talking about mulattos. Kind of caught me off guard

[lopaz]

was it talking from the POV of a character?

Anyhoo. Redwall is racist

[Jacobi]

Standard for the era imo. They probably taught it to him in school and he never questioned it because his personal experience never contradicted it.

Yeah. That. Don't forget despite his awesomeness that he grew up in a totally different time.

I just recently finished the story about a guy who went 500 million (or was it 500.000?) years back in time. Awesome.

[Prime crotch]

I hope you didn't enjoy Lord of the Rings.

Never finished reading the first book. Maybe it was because of the translation or me simply being too caught up with the movies but it didn't "grabbed" me.

[DavidDayton]

Brilliant, talented people

Wait... this is Lovecraft we're talking about, right? Mister "let me foreshadow by taking the story's gimmick ending and BASHING YOU ON THE HEAD WITH IT REPEATEDLY until the ending actually appears, when I'll let the 'secret' whimper out, mildly"? The pulp/hack comic book-style writer with neat ideas but rather poor implementation?

[echoshifting]

That's nothing. Check out his wiki sometime. Lovecraft's work is notorious for elements of racism. And...no...it wasn't standard for the era. Sure, racism was more rampant, but the way Lovecraft portrayed what he felt were 'lesser races' are among the most striking examples of racism in literature.

[Crushed]

His cat was named "Nigger Man!"


no i am not making that up

[Metroidvania]

I realise back in his day Eugenics were gaining more and more support but wow this caught me off-guard. Still love his Cthulhu mythos though, even if some of his stories are surprisingly boring.

As others have said, yep. He was.

no i am not making that up

....really?

[Xisiqomelir]

As others have said, yep. He was. ....really?

Not really.

It's Nigger-Man with a hyphen

[Fireblend]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Lovecraft#Racism

In the short story "The Rats in the Walls," one of the narrator/protagonist's nine cats is named "Nigger-Man". “ As I have said, I moved in on July 16, 1923. My household consisted of seven servants and nine cats, of which latter species I am particularly fond. My eldest cat, "Nigger-Man," was seven years old and had come with me from my home in Bolton, Massachusetts ..."[12]

You sure it was his cat?

[BlueTsunami]

In the back of the Library of America print of Lovecrafts work, it states that he disliked immigrants of all forms. And him calling his cat "Nigger-Man" in "The Rats in the Walls" fully confirms it

Also read "Red Hook" and you can see how he thinks of the immigrant culture alltogether.

[suEcide]

Standard for his time. I'm not holding it against him. He'll always be brilliant in my eyes.

[Crushed]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Lovecraft#Racism You sure it was his cat?

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

The name of the cat, "Nigger-man", has often been cited in discussions of Lovecraft's racial attitudes. Lovecraft himself owned a cat by that name until 1904.[2]

[echoshifting]

Standard for his time. I'm not holding it against him.

No, it wasn't. You're wrong.

[besada]

If that's the most offensive racial text you can find on Lovecraft, simply read deeper. He had a powerful fear of the "negro".

[mac]

You should search for the stuff on the author of Ender's Game.

[bengraven]

I remember reading a short story by one of the greatest writers of the 20th century and had to stop a couple pages in when he said something about donkeys heehawing like a bunch of "n-words".

[firex]

so wait. black people (well, Africa) is where humanity first emerged. perhaps Lovecraft was saying black people are his elder gods?!

[typhonsentra]

:lol He wrote a poem called "On The Creation of Niggers".

[Crushed]

oh my fucking God in Heaven

When, long ago, the gods created Earth In Iove's fair image Man was shaped at birth. The beasts for lesser parts were next designed; Yet were they too remote from humankind. To fill the gap, and join the rest to Man, Th'Olympian host conceiv'd a clever plan. A beast they wrought, in semi-human figure, Filled it with vice, and called the thing a nigger.

-HP Lovecraft, "On the Creation of Niggers," 1912


That shit is not standard.

[echoshifting]

so wait. black people (well, Africa) is where humanity first emerged. perhaps Lovecraft was saying black people are his elder gods?!

Actually he wrote that black people (he hated all non-white peoples but African races with a passion) were created by the elder gods as a link between animal and human. He didn't even view them as fully human.

edit: Beaten. Yeah that's one of the best examples. Anyone who says Lovecraft's racism was 'standard' or forgivable is ignorant or in denial.

[White Man]

:lol He wrote a poem called "On The Creation of Niggers".

Oh come on, everyone was like that back then. Heck, that was the original name of the Constitution, believe it or not, until PC liberals retconned history.

[FoneBone]

Somebody post those Planetary/Authority panels. You know what I'm talking about.

[BlueTsunami]

oh my fucking God in Heaven -HP Lovecraft, "On the Creation of Niggers," 1912 That shit is not standard.

Well that wraps up HP Lovecraft. Wow

I also paused when his racist opinion popped up in his writing.

[Metroidvania]

That's some crazy evolutionary racism right there. Shit.

[MrHicks]

daaaaaaamn

[Forceatowulf]

So basically this guy was a smart jackass.

[No6]

Actually he wrote that black people (he hated all non-white peoples but African races with a passion) were created by the elder gods as a link between animal and human. He didn't even view them as fully human. edit: Beaten. Yeah that's one of the best examples. Anyone who says Lovecraft's racism was 'standard' or forgivable is ignorant or in denial.

Well, pre-Wikipedia it was a lot less obvious, since the main story collections don't include certain things (like the poem). It's kinda like the Narnia books; I can see the religion in it now that I know that it's there, but when I read them as a kid I didn't pick up on any of it because it's integrated enough into the story (which is about crappy people all-around).

But yeah, in the post-wiki world it's pretty obvious.

[Teknoman]

Good lord...I cant even fathom how people can think like this. I mean sure, we've seen it happen throughout the ages...but damn.

[echoshifting]

Well, pre-Wikipedia it was a lot less obvious, since the main story collections don't include certain things (like the poem). It's kinda like the Narnia books; I can see the religion in it now that I know that it's there, but when I read them as a kid I didn't pick up on any of it because it's integrated enough into the story (which is about crappy people all-around). But yeah, in the post-wiki world it's pretty obvious.

Yeah my post came across a bit more accusatory than I meant it to. I certainly can't fault people for being ignorant of his racism, but once you know it's there and how extreme it is, you shouldn't really defend it as 'standard for the time' anymore.

[Fuzzery]

You should search for the stuff on the author of Ender's Game.

If OSC is racist, color me surprised

[Raistlin]

Wow ... I was actually considering reading Cthulhu.



Didn't know about this shit. Think I'll pass.

[Captain Pants]

My Grandpa named his black lab Nigger. I didn't think anything of it as a kid, because I didn't know any better. We'd go camping and the dog would run off, and my Grandpa would stand out there and yell,"Hey Nigger! Get back here!". So terrible.

[Imm0rt4l]

My Grandpa named his black lab Nigger. I didn't think anything of it as a kid, because I didn't know any better. We'd go camping and the dog would run off, and my Grandpa would stand out there and yell,"Hey Nigger! Get back here!". So terrible.

smh

[Captain Pants]

smh

Forgive me, but what does 'smh' mean?

[fistfulofmetal]

What does it matter if he was a racist?

[Captain Pants]

What does it matter if he was a racist?

For me, it changes things. It is hard to respect someone when you find out things like that.

[TylerPwnsYou1986]

Shakes my Head.

[bengraven]

It's hard to forgive the classic writers, despite the cultural changes since then.

But it's possible. It's necessary even.

But Lovecraft was difference. "On the Creation of Niggers" is just plain evil.

[Imm0rt4l]

Forgive me, but what does 'smh' mean?

shaking my head

[John Dunbar]

For me, it changes things. It is hard to respect someone when you find out things like that.

I don't really see why anyone should stop enjoying something just because the person who made it is less than perfect or even a batshit insane racist. I like Mel Gibson's movies.

[Captain Pants]

I don't really see why anyone should stop enjoying something just because the person who made it is less than perfect or even a batshit insane racist. I like Mel Gibson's movies.

:lol

That is a fair point I suppose.

[Ash Sparrow]

I feel sick to my stomach reading of this

[HugBasket]

Wait, is there a chance that some of you people might not read Lovecraft books because they contain racism?

I'm sorry but :lol :lol

[Chichikov]

Brilliant, talented people are not exempt from fallibility and shitty traits.

True, but what does it has to do with HP Lovercraft?

p.s.
holy shit, that some hard core racist crap there.
disgusting.