Can't We Use This Anymore?

Status
Not open for further replies.
durhamplumber said:
And how on Earth do you tell the difference?.. You must have had a sheltered life not knowing P,,I was offensive!!!Anybody could use that defence.
Click to expand...
we have all lead a sheltered life as in our level off knowledge is only as good as what we learn ??
the only people that can "use that defence " are people that simply do not realize any one else would be a liar as they are informed but choose to carry on
 
big-all said:
years ago when worked on the railway as a driver [about early eighties then] i used the term packies not realizing it was in any way derogatory indeed if i knew it was in the least negative i would be horrified as i dont do negative to any great extent never mind in an evil way ??
any way the people concerned understood i had zero negative intent so was taken in the way ment as it should be
in that respect i was Nieve and wrongly informed so iff your intentions are to be offensive or possibly evil your words are wrong and need correcting including a penalty or punishment
iff you intentions are misguided with no ill intent or upset meant then no penality should be applied if a correct heart felt genuine apology is given when you realise it can be wrong and upsetting even if it takes several times till you remember:eek:
any way the point i am making if your "free speech "is being offensive or possibly evil it deserves being rained in with a heavy hand
if it is nieve or well ment a lighter hand should be used
Click to expand...

I find this really helpful - partly because you say clearly about the undercurrent of blame and punishment - I wonder if it might indeed be more helpful to be curious rather than fearful of being blamed or shamed.

I know for myself, for example that I'm racist - I was brought up in a white racist culture, with subtle and not-so-subtle messages all around to see people different than myself as stupid, bad, dangerous, dirty, other - how could I not be racist? I'm not so interested in not being racist - I'm more interested in how I might be helpful, and not harmful, to all those people whose lives are massively impacted on a daily basis by racist structures, thinking and language.
 
StephenStephen said:
I was brought up in a white racist culture, with subtle and not-so-subtle messages all around to see people different than myself as stupid, bad, dangerous, dirty, other - how could I not be racist?
Click to expand...
I suspect the majority of the white population were raised in such circumstances.
I assume it was education and the inculcation of an enquiring mind that caused you to re-appraise, thanks to enlightened teachers.
 
Bobby Dazzler said:
I suspect the majority of the white population were raised in such circumstances.
I assume it was education and the inculcation of an enquiring mind that caused you to re-appraise, thanks to enlightened teachers.
Click to expand...

no i was raised to treat everyone regardless of skin colour equal.

i went to a public school where there were many different nationalities and not once did anyone abuse someone for the colour of their skin. there were many things people were bullied for skin colour was not one of them, no one was called pak i, or gollywogg, insert any other racial slur.

the reason for this is we were brought up to be equal, there was none of this divide of colours.

i was on a business trip earlier int he year and my client was a black guy, he brought his 2 customers with him whom were both white, we were awaiting the arrival of a frequency vibration specialist and when he arrived i went to greet him (the specialist), after greeting him i said "i need to nip the the loo, go and see Patrick and he'll feel you in" the response i got was who's Patrick, i said the one in the purple shirt (as i didnt want to cause offence, it is drummed into us to make no distinction of skin colour), the specialist looked at me and said the black bloke then, my response was me saying i was trying to not be racist, though in fact in trying not to recognise his skin colour could also be seen a racist.

so this is where we are, we dont know what the right term is any more, should i have described him as "the black bloke"?
 
Last edited:
sxturbo said:
no i was raised to treat everyone regardless of skin colour equal.

i went to a public school where there were many different nationalities and not once did anyone abuse someone for the colour of their skin. there were many things people were bullied for skin colour was one of them, no one was called pak i, or gollywogg, insert any other racial slur.

the reason for this is we were brought up to be equal, there was none of this divide of colours.

i was on a business trip earlier int he year and my client was a black guy, he brought his 2 customers with him whom were both white, we were awaiting the arrival of a frequency vibration specialist and when he arrived i went to greet him (the specialist), after greeting him i said "i need to nip the the loo, go and see Patrick and he'll feel you in" the response i got was who's Patrick, i said the one in the purple shirt (as i didnt want to cause offence, it is drummed into us to make no distinction of skin colour), the specialist looked at me and said the black bloke then, my response was me saying i was trying to not be racist, though in fact in trying not to recognise his skin colour could also be seen a racist.

so this is where we are, we dont know what the right term is any more, should i have described him as "the black bloke"?
Click to expand...
Thanks for sharing that with us, sxturbo.
Do you not think it strange that anyone would feel the need to recant one experience, one incidence, to demonstrate that they are not racist?
Structural inequality and institutional racism does not have individual actors. It is the culture, the prevalence of incidents with the refusal to address those issues, and the denial of such incidences that prevent the acknowledgement of such issues.
Boris Johnson says we must do more to combat racism, and he has commissioned a report (another in a long line of reports). Let's see if this one gets buried along with the others.

Meanwhile thousands of football hooligans, and far right supporters march, looking for violent confrontations.
 
sxturbo said:
i went to a public school where there were many different nationalities and not once did anyone abuse someone for the colour of their skin. there were many things people were bullied for skin colour was one of them,
Click to expand...
You seem to be contradicting yourself.

People are missing the point.
If 'coloured people' is considered offensive then so must 'people of colour'; it means the same - but somehow it isn't.

no one was called pak i, or gollywogg, insert any other racial slur.
Click to expand...
Can you name the country to the west of India without using what you call a racial slur?

If in fact they actually do, they must be the only people in the world who think the name of their country is a racial slur - not that they are a separate race, of course.
I wonder what Afghani people think about it, not to mention the Scots or Finns and all the others.


so this is where we are, we dont know what the right term is any more, should i have described him as "the black bloke"?
Click to expand...
If it were the other way round, would you have worried about describing the person as 'the white bloke'?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

M
BT phone bill
2
Replies
23
Views
4K
AdamW
A
B
What goes around comes around
Replies
4
Views
776
Brigadier
B
R
White horse
Replies
3
Views
524
^woody^
^woody^
Zampa
actual call centre phone conversations....
Replies
12
Views
2K
eggplant
E
bernardgreen
Help Desk Conversation
Replies
4
Views
817
Stulz
S
Back
Top