Very interesting article on Jezebel today about the now almost-forgotten phrase, once incredibly common in Hollywood movies, “free, white, and 21.” A phrase that was always criticized in the African-American press, but didn’t fade away (in movies or in common parlance) until the U.S. government essentially decided that it made the U.S. look bad internationally – a problem in World War II and the Cold War. Before then, those who criticized the phrase as offensive were faced with the same dismissiveness by those who used it that those who love to attack “political correctness” employ today. http://pictorial.jezebel.com/the-rise-and-fall-of-an-all-american-catchphrase-free-1729621311