Talk:Cotton picker

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My image is WAY too big. How do I downsize it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Verdad (talk • contribs) 15:18, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Done. Please see Wikipedia:Picture tutorial for a guide on including images in articles. Cheers, Tangotango 15:20, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

Got it!

[edit] Derogatory Term?

I must take issue, purely on the grounds of logic, with the inclusion of the statement in this article that "cotton picker" is somehow a derogatory term for African-American slaves. I can't deny that "cotton picker" could be used in a derogatory manner, and I wouldn't doubt that it has, by someone, somewhere, been used in such a manner before. But:

1.) My parents and grandparents are Caucasians from the American South. Like at least 99% of the Southern families present in the area during and before the Civil War, and seemingly contrary to popular belief throughout the American North and West, our ancestors never owned slaves and worked their comparatively small farms themselves, farms that were passed down through the family as far as my parents (I am 25 years old presently). Although machinery had replaced virtually all hand labor in the enterprise of cotton picking by the time I had come into the world, hand picking cotton before, during, and after school was a big part of life for my immediate ancestors, including my parents. They often speak of picking cotton or of being 'cotton pickers' in a manner that is much more proud that derogatory. To say that someone--black, white, red, or yellow as his skin may be--is a "cotton picker" can hardly be derogatory unless hard labor is something to be made fun of.

2.) While this doesn't mean that 'cotton picker' has never been used as a derogatory term--I'm sure that it has--does the inclusion of this statement really contribute anything other than confusion to an encyclopedic article about cotton pickers?

3.) Furthermore, when the term "cotton picker" is referenced in our modern culture, I find it extremely difficult to believe that most people wouldn't conjure up the image of...well, a cotton picker, a big machine moving through the cotton fields. How does including, in an encyclopedia, the usage of the term as a racial derogative accomplish anything other than encouraging its future use as such?

I am going to remove the statement in question, or at least alter it to indicate that it is academically questionable. --Curtlindsay 23:28, 12 August 2006 (UTC)

I never heard of "cotton picker" being a slur. Is there an article on "cotton pickin'"? I grew up with that as an alternative to "gosh darn." I.e. I wish that cotton pickin truck would either speed up or get out of the way. THough, even in that case, there was never a racial or social classist inflection to be construed. How do you sign your comments? -Verdad

Why are people blanking the page and inserting inflamatory phrases? Verdad 21:55, 2 December 2006 (UTC)