That ridiculous henhouse talk show “The View” has established a new benchmark in liberal stupidity. And hostess Joy Behar has revealed a stunning lack of cultural literacy.

Originally, savvy Americans understood that “black Friday” referred to the stock market crash of 1929.  (In the United States, the sell-off escalated on Thursday, October 24, but due to the time difference, it was called “black Friday” in Europe.) In this context, black refers to emotional despair.

And since America’s small business entrepreneurs began keeping account books, from the early days in hand-written ledgers, they have used black ink to record receipts and red ink to write down their expenses. At the bottom of the page, after everything was summed up, the final result was black if the business made a profit, and red if there was an overall loss. Here black refers to financial solvency. This usage is so much a part of our culture that computerized spreadsheets offer red print as an option for recording negative numbers.

For many businesses, the high-volume sales generated by Christmas shopping on the day after Thanksgiving mark the transition from net loss to net profit in the accounting for the year as a whole. The commitments to lease retail space for a year, to pay for the utilities, and to hire personnel go on the books early in the year in “red ink.” Receipts from items sold during the year gradually chip away at the deficit, and with luck, holiday sales make the business profitable.

The Thanksgiving holiday is a retailer’s dream. The holiday itself always falls on a Thursday, and most employers make it a long weekend. So there is that one day, the Friday after Thanksgiving, when everyone is home from work and needing to shop for presents. Hence, black Friday, i.e., profitable Friday.

But like most loony liberals, black means only one thing to white chick Joy Behar. In yesterday’s show, which she co-hostessed with black chick Whoopi Goldberg, she said:

Isn’t it a little racist to call it Black Friday?

Lest you think she was joking, here’s the whole thing…

GOLDBERG: Oh, hello and welcome to “The View.” Today is Black Friday, all day long. And I’m going to stay black all day because of it.
BEHAR: Isn’t it a little racist to call it Black Friday?
GOLDBERG: Well, I would have called it African American Friday, but that’s taking something away from it.
BEHAR: But there’s a negative connotation to it? Or does it mean something else?
GOLDBERG: No, it’s like when you make all the money – you’re in the black.
BEHAR: So it’s positive?
GOLDBERG: Yeah. It’s in the black, so it’s a huge great thing.
BEHAR: A lot of times, like blackmail is negative, black sheep.
GOLDBERG: Black people.
BEHAR: No, not black people.
GOLDBERG: But it used to be, it used to be.

Will formal attire be the next subject to fall under criticism? What of the “little black dress” or the “black tie”? Just asking…

If you want to listen to henhouse chatter, consider visiting a farm.  At least there, when the hens lay an egg, you have something useful.

Related:

NewsBusters — Joy Behar’s Moral Quandary

Washington DC Examiner — Behar’s Black Friday Racism Comments: Symptom of a Deeper Ignorance

Yid With LID — Joy Behar: Dumber Than a Thanksgiving Turkey