Originally Posted by
vagabond
The author of the thread did have an avatar of someone or something depicting a black face. I had never seen it before and it did not appear to be one of the more common stereotypical ones seen in the media. That avatar has since been removed, but I do not know when. A320's post did not make clear that it was the avatar he found offensive. I read his post to indicate he did not like the fact that Papa L is a permanent resident (green card holder). It is obvious I misunderstood you, A320, and for that I apologize. Like fbh, I find stereotypes and caricatures highly offensive, and they have no place in the forums.
Googling his screen name found me this:
Papa Lazarou is a wildly popular character (especially in Australia!) from the British comedy series The League of Gentlemen. The League of Gents aired on the BBC in the UK and (briefly) on Comedy Central in the US. The show is set in the mythical town of Royston Vasey. (It was filmed mostly on location in Hadfield, a village near Glossop in the High Peak district of Derbyshire, England). It brought us such memorable characters as the Dentons, Pauline, Edward and Tubbs, Bernice, and of course Papa Lazarou. If you want to learn more about Royston Vasey look here. If you want to know more about the Gents (Jeremy Dyson, Steve Pemberton, Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith) go here. Papa Lazarou's Pandemonium Carnival was my tribute to one of the most memorable characters ever created, and a lot of people must agree.
http://www.papalazarou.co.uk/index2.html
My wild guess is that the initiator of this thread is probably from either the UK or Australia, a fan of that show and choose this screenname and the avatar. I don't think it was meant to be offensive. It's just that british humour tends to be offending at times. Just go and google Monty Python... or watch some BBC America
Maybe this puts this into some kind of perspective.