Black Hole is a scientific term.
After viewing the clip, I did not think that the Commissioner used the term as a bigoted reference to blacks.
Personally, I believe the black Commissioners who were offended should get tougher skin.
"Political-Correctness" is a concept and not everyone is obligated to adhere to the same.

Sent by Jeryy | 1:58 PM ET | 07-21-2008

"Black Hole" refers to a concept in physics, not anything racial. To call that racist is about as absurd as saying that the term "White Paper" should be changed. It describes something that has absolutely nothing to do with race or ethnicity. With terms like the "N" word, or similar terms for Mexicans, Italians, Asians and even White folks, it's clear those terms have a racial connection ... but "Black Hole" ... come on, give me a brake. That's "political correctness gone wild" ...

Sent by Lynn | 3:01 PM ET | 07-21-2008

Here we go again with some blacks and their conspiracy theories. All this time I just thought Angel's Food Cake is a cake I can't seem to enjoy with relatively no fat and the same thing goes for Devil's Food cake - too much chocolate in one recipe.

So I wonder what the Dallas County official feels about "Deviled Eggs" - is that reverse racism? Oh, and a sizeable part of my wardrobe is black because I find it chic and not because it's a recommended color for a funeral. Same thing goes for my accounts - great thing to be in BLACK.

Sent by Moji | 3:03 PM ET | 07-21-2008

It just doesn't get any sillier than this.

Sent by Jon | 3:40 PM ET | 07-21-2008

Not in the south end zone on a fall Sunday at the Oakland Coliseum!

Sent by Jon J | 3:54 PM ET | 07-21-2008

Deviled Eggs, reverse racism? That one has me crying right now. Hilarious! Yeah this is so silly. Almost as silly as that grown councilmen with cornrows. I found that much more offensive.

Sent by Melle G | 4:30 PM ET | 07-21-2008

It seems he meant as an astro-physics description, but perhaps the people who objected to his use of words might know more about this guy and his history toward black people. There might just be more to this.

Sent by JC | 4:52 PM ET | 07-21-2008

Maybe Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson should give a quick astronomy lessons to these folks.

Sent by ecotopian | 5:50 PM ET | 07-21-2008

Amgel Food Cake shall henceforth be called "White Devil's Food Cake"

Sent by Tiffany Epiphany | 6:17 PM ET | 07-21-2008

budhha and you wonder how some folks get elected to public office...

there are many times that have racist connotations and if you looked at it hard -- "black hole" could be one such like "blackmail". Why do people let blackmail roll off their tongues when it is usual white males committing the nefarious acts of financial mishap? called it whitemail like it is...

"Black hole" - in terms of funds within a city's general fund budget account being earmarked for a city renewal project like say a low cost housing refurbishment might be considered throwing money down a "black hole" if the residents who are temporary relocated are allowed to move back and the refurbishment becomes urban decay once again...Hence, this could be considered racial.

A bigger 'black hole' is your governance funneling billons in contract of your tax dollars in iraq and the bailout of mortgage institutions of like...no, i am wrong those are "white hole" in the swiss cheese like airy worthly dollar...

in christian parlay, how come devils are depicted black or dark colours and angels white? why is angel food cake yellow or white cake with sugar white icing and devil's food cake dark chocolate with cacao thick icing.

Ms. T Epiphany has flipped this one its head above with her White Devils Food Cake but can we get a high five for some Chocolate Angel's Food triple layer coconut creme dream cake?

Yet, we still must deal with terms like bete noire, blackmail, etc.

In the aid funding dialogue, words like 'white elephant' projects are rampart for infrastructure IMF/World Bank sponsored projects that cost a whole lot in terms of debt to African, Asian and Latin nations and give a whole lot of usually white ex-pat aid workers high employment wages but do little to economically enfranchise the local economies to which the projects are directed.

Conclusion- it all depends on the context and whom is speaking and in the net zone one' never knows who is who...

Sent by K MJUMBE | 8:30 PM ET | 07-21-2008

This makes me want to scream. As a 47 year old black man who has been black all his life, I am frustrated by the lack of knowledge displayed by these politicians. Now, I am the first to admit that our language (American English) has associated white with good things and black with bad things. However, when the comment was made about a black hole it was referring to the space phenomenon. And then to demand an apology, I am sure that there are real problems in their community that need to be addressed. I think the councilman selected the wrong battle to fight. This makes him look silly rather than insightful.

Sent by Curtis Anderson | 12:36 AM ET | 07-24-2008

The video doesn't provide much context to understand why they would find these terms offensive. It seems like making a mountain out of a molehill.

But to be clear, it's not at all a simple matter of saying, "oh that's a scientific term, so it can't be racist." I'm have a linguistics ph.d, and you see this kind of thing all the time once you begin to explore the history of words. Languages evolve over centuries, and for centuries, white europeans have denigrated those of dark skin as inferior. This denigration has simply become part of the language, and it's so incredibly widespread, there's nothing you could possibly do about it at this point. Things that are black or dark, on the whole, tend to be bad things. Things that are light or white are good. You can see it everywhere you look. It's not all that different from the way that the subject is always presumed to be male, unless specified. We say "man" to mean "the human race," and women are supposedly included. But then, if you look historically, they haven't really been included. Medical science begins with the man and considers women as a deviation, despite the fact that there are more women then men in the world.

Of course, on top of that, you have expressions that we have decided are simply too racist or sexist to allow to continue. If you say that someone's "jew-ing you down" if they try to get a lower price, for instance. Teachers used to say that children are acting like "a bunch of wild little indians," and so forth.

It seems like this "Black Hole" story is being circulated because it seems to reassure us that all this worry about words is stupid. And in this case, it probably was. But in many parts of the country, where blacks and whites have used words as weapons and precursors to violence for hundreds of years, the scars and the history of indignation clearly run deep.

Sent by andrew | 4:38 PM ET | 07-28-2008