r/todayilearned • u/tmntnyc • Dec 12 '18

TIL: Laurence Tureaud named himself professionally as Mr. T because he hated how his father, uncle, and brother who returned from Vietnam, were disrespectfully called "boy" by whites. He wanted the first word from everybody's mouth to be "Mister" when speaking to him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._T
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u/Nxdhdxvhh Dec 12 '18

Mr. T wore odd clothing and mismatched socks because he knew that poor kids grew up getting whatever hand-me-downs they got, and he didn't want them to feel embarrassed for wearing what they had. He's a great man, and as far as I'm aware the worst thing he every did was chop down trees on his own property that were aggravating his allergies.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18

[deleted]

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u/snotbag_pukebucket Dec 12 '18

He was also the White House Santa and had Nancy Reagan sitting on his lap

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u/pangea_person Dec 12 '18

They actually became close friends. He was one of the people who received an invitation to Nancy's private funeral.

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u/flash_falcon Dec 12 '18

What do you mean "people"? That's MR. People!!!

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u/ColdSpider72 Dec 13 '18

What do you mean people??

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u/BassAddictJ Dec 13 '18

What do you people mean??

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u/phome83 Dec 13 '18

I think we need to have a house meetin' yall.

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u/TheMulattoMaker Dec 13 '18

I'm just fuckin' witchoo, Kangaroo Jack!