We would have thought some wiseass was making this up if we hadn’t seen it with our own eyes: According to Fox 26 News, Houston Councilman Jarvis Johnson is demanding that City Controller Annise Parker cease and desist from using the acronym “CAFR” when referring to the city’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.
Johnson tells Isiah Carey, the reporter who drummed this one up on what must have been an especially slow news day, that he was “taken aback” when he first heard this bureaucratese escape from Parker’s lips. And why is that? Because it sounds just like kaffir, a word not much heard on the streets of Houston but which has a wide variety of meanings in other cultures, including its use as a slur against blacks in South Africa and Jamaica.
“In short, it’s similar to the N-word,” Carey helpfully explained.
We can only assume he means “nitwit.”
“It’s just too close to a mean and hateful term, according to Johnson,” Carey further explained.
Johnson has “fired off” a memo to the controller asking that she refrain from using the acronym. In public and private.
According to Carey, a spokesperson for Parker said she was too busy to comment on the matter.
As we hope she’ll remain.
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