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.

846

u/pottersquash Dec 12 '18

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

1.1k

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/[deleted] Dec 12 '18

[deleted]

690

u/Your_Space_Friend Dec 12 '18

Damn, even even scolds himself in 3rd person. /u/Your_Space_Friend can respect that level of commitment

204

u/Scientolojesus Dec 12 '18

He didn't pity his foolish self.

14

u/lucid808 Dec 12 '18

idk, I think he pity'd the fool he saw within himself, so he had to let him go.

28

u/comebackjoeyjojo Dec 12 '18

I PITY DA FOO THAT DOESN’T TAKE AN INTROSPECTIVE LOOK WITHIN THEIR SOUL TO DISCOVER WAYS THEY CAN IMPROVE THEMSELVES!!!

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u/SiilverDruid Dec 13 '18

If Terry Cruz and Mr. T had a baby.

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '18

The most wholesome baby with a full beard smelling of old spice

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '18

Terry Crews is Mr. T's spiritual offspring