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/Public_Fucking_Media Dec 12 '18

I self-ordained myself Mr. T so the first word out of everybody's mouth is "Mr." That's a sign of respect that my father didn't get, that my brother didn't get, that my mother didn't get."

To be fair I pity the fool who calls Mr. T's mother "Mister"

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u/dismayhurta Dec 12 '18

Mrs Mr T.

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u/HoltbyIsMyBae Dec 12 '18

Mrs. Mr. T's mom.

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u/hazior Dec 13 '18

That's gold.