Well, just my humble opinion, but please, let's not get *too* politically correct around here. Let's be adults.
Personally, I thought the buttermilk thread was hilarious! IMO, not only was OAP at his 'eccentric' best, but if you actually read what he said, there was nothing 'racist' in it - the mention of ethnicity added a bit of authenticity to his deconstruction of the pronunciation. And he was careful to balance it later with a story of a race that it is apparently OK to describe as obese. I found it encouraging that the PC police didn't jump on it (maybe they have by now).
Now, I don't read every thread anyhow, but I *did* skip over that Mexican/drunk/driving thing. Something about that just screamed 'nothing good can come from this' - but, I didn't read it so maybe I'm wrong. My loss then, but I'll take my chances.
So, bottom line, it's kind of a tough call. But I would agree, a thread started just to rile things up (unless it's a positive type riling up) should be discouraged.
Which probably doesn't help one bit - but there, I said it.
-ERD50
PS - Hey - what happened to the 'A new post has arrived while you were posting feature'!!??