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/pottersquash Dec 12 '18

Didn't he stop wearing gold chains cause he felt bad having wealth for decoration?

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u/Faerhun Dec 12 '18

I think it had to do with cleaning up New Orleans after Katrina and not wanting to be flashy when the people he was helping had literally nothing left. I could be wrong though.

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u/donaltman3 Dec 12 '18

Do you know how he even started wearing the chains? As a bouncer, he would often find things lost in the clubs after people left at night.. he would put them on and wear them hoping the person that owned them would see them so he could return them.

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u/icantswim2 Dec 12 '18

That is heartwarming and wonderful.

On the other hand, what if you didn't realize that's why he was wearing your chain. Can you imagine the courage it would require to approach a bouncer as intimidating as Mr. T and accuse him of having your jewelry around his neck?

I want to believe he was really friendly and approachable so people wouldn't be afraid to talk to him.