When my daughter was two years old, an elderly relative decided to entertain her with a rhyme when we visited one day…
“Eeny, meeny, miny, Mo,
Catch a Nigger by his toe…”
My son, who was a teenager at this stage , looked at me in horror , and we were both thinking the same thing…should we make a fuss or ignore it and hope it goes away? Toddlers are particularly good at picking up on the wrong words, and either strategy had its dangers. We elected to go for the “ignore it and change the subject” route, and thankfully nothing was heard of it again.
But here’s the thing – this relative isn’t racist in any way, but she is of a generation where that was a word you could use in normal conversation and nothing would be thought of it. And you don’t have to go too far back in our history to a time when that was the case for everyone. I clearly remember comedians of the 1970’s freely using words of that nature on prime time TV, and as late as the mid 1980’s Del Boy was still referring to his local off license as the ‘Paki shop’ in ‘Only Fools and Horses’.
Today, of course, none of this is even close to acceptable, and I got thinking about this whole subject of offensive words while reading about (no I didn’t watch it!) the expulsion of Ken Morley from The Celebrity Big Brother House this week. Apparently there were over 200 complaints from people who were offended by his use of the word ‘negro’. When I read that, I started to feel that I may be entering the territory of the elderly relative I told you about earlier.
Now I don’t recall using that word, or having cause to use it. It’s not a word I would use when describing a black person – it somehow feels of a bygone age. But, I genuinely wouldn’t have known that I would cause offence by using it. The people at Channel 5 clearly did though, and that leads to an interesting question…
Why did they choose to air the comments if they knew they were offensive?
At the time that Morley uttered the word there were only a handful of people who could have possibly been offended by it – those within earshot. But then Channel 5 chose to expose two million viewers to the ‘offence’ and then national newspapers and other media chose to open it up to an even wider audience. So who really caused people to be offended – Ken Morley or the various media organisations that chose to broadcast what he said.
This isn’t an isolated case, it happens all the time. A celebrity makes a comment in private which may be deemed offensive by some people (although not necessarily by the intended recipients) and then the media choose to expose this message to an unintended audience, some of whom may be offended by it.
So again, who created the offence…the speaker or the media that broadcast his words? If they were genuinely concerned that offence might be caused, surely the right course of action would be to avoid any further exposure.
There’s a wider issue here as well though – what is ‘offence’, and are we really offended as often as the media would suggest? When was the last time you were offended to the extent of being genuinely upset by the words of a celebrity or media personality? I don’t mean when was the last time you disagreed strongly with something someone in the public eye said, or thought “What a tosser!”, I mean when was the last time you were offended to the point of personal distress? I’ve given it some thought myself, and come up with an answer…
Never!
It’s true…the words of a third party with whom I have no relationship do not have the capacity to cause me personal distress and I suspect it’s the same for you. So why does the world assume that they do?
Well it’s a further example of how the media seeks to boost its ratings to our collective detriment. The natural reaction to most things of this nature…so what?…doesn’t sell newspapers or gain viewers, and so we are treated as though we should be upset. And guess what? Some of us start to believe that we really are? I suspect some of us have lost sight of what being ‘upset’, ‘distressed’ or ‘offended’ really feels like.
Ken Morley may be an unpleasant character, but were more than 200 people really distressed by the fact that he used a word of which they didn’t approve? Or were they simply reacting in a way they’d been conditioned to do by a manipulative media? I believe it’s the latter and we’d all do well to think about what really matters rather than being railroaded into the emotions that help them sell newspapers and gain viewers.
Don’t think for one moment that I am defending or condoning the use of offensive language – racist or otherwise. It is quite rightly, being confined to the dustbin of history, But don’t think for one moment that the media’s obsession with the slightest or least audible transgression is anything other than what it is – a self-serving phenomenon with a cynical, and completely commercial, motivation.
John Harrison
As a footnote to this, I did a little research and found two interesting points.
1. As recently as November 2014, official US army policy documents relating to racism stated clearly that the term ‘Negro’ was acceptable., so I’m maybe not as out of touch as I thought.
2. Ken Morley allegedly also made ‘offensive’ comments of an Islamic nature which Channel 5 chose NOT to broadcast. The words hypocritical and cowardly come to mind.
John, I agree with you.
But what can we, comparatively few, do about this nonsense ? I’d love to know.
I was at school and uni with many foreigners of many colours, admittedly many years ago, and was
routinely called ‘honky’ and ‘whitey’ and several variants, but was never offended. Nor was I meant to be. We simply acknowledged each others’ differences. It was all open and accepted by all at all levels.
What is so pathetic about this modern mindset that insists on ‘taking offence’ all the time ?
hi John who decides all these changes ? paki is short for pakistani , have you ever taken offence at being called a brit ? i have never heard of any american being offended at being called a yank. or australian referred to as aussie .
what is the difference ?
As I explained to Martyn Pitt below, the term ‘paki’ is unacceptable, because of the context it has been used in historically. Traditionally, ‘paki’ is a term used by white racists to insult people of Asian appearance. The terms ‘Brit’ and ‘Aussie’ have never been used in a comparably racist, derogatory manner, so they are not insulting. If you had been on the receiving end of racist taunts of ‘paki’, as I have, I’m sure you would have a different opinion.
I agree with you John, the media is manipulative trying to create a story out of nothing to boost ratings of a rubbish show with so called celebrities. Personally, most of the real news happening in the World we don’t hear in the UK its all controlled by big business, politicians and those with power in the media. Truth takes third place never mind second as we are fed moral panics to keep the vast majority of this country who care not a jot about real news or truth under manipulative control.
I could go on but its not worth it as only the few, listen.
John McLelland
Hi John,
Had to respond as your comment refreshingly stood out. The vast majority of people (sheeple) are so dumbed down by the system to actually see who are pulling the strings. The masses are fed a constant diet of crap TV and crap fast food just as the Roman elite did 2,000 years back; “bread and circuses'” to keep them in a state of mind numbing stupor so the owners of the world (not the puppet politicians) can siphon of all the wealth of the nations. Check out the “Armageddon conspiracy” and the Meritocratic party manifesto online. We may be few but the tipping point for any change is maybe 10%
Best regards
John, the whole matter can easily be summed up as ‘self-indulgent media interference’. The reason for their decision to air this was purely based on audience numbers, we all know that news is news, good or bad is irrelevant. I have a sneaking suspicion that they were fully aware that the word ‘negro’ is an ethnic description, and is present as such in pretty much every dictionary, so they knew the ground was safe from litigation and therefore they decided to expel the individual, merely to present the appearance of a good PC broadcaster. Hah1 You are absolutely right, hypocrisy is the name of the game and safe ground permitted it to pass generally unobserved by those sensitive folks constantly looking to be upset.
I don’t watch BB so I don’t know the context in which the word was used. To describe someone as a negro is no worse than describing someone as caucasian, asian, melanesian, polynesian or any other racial description. I agree with you. Usually the offence is taken by some pumped up sad nobody, self serving, self appointed vigilante, trying to give him/herself some self importance. Not the person so described.
Offcomer
it is not usu
Political Correctness is an unwelcome phenomenon. I agree that deliberate broadcasting of views which may upset some people is undesireable. Where old established rhymes or sayings are broadcast for show, the motives of the broadcaster can rightfully be questioned. I feel particularly offended when well established words such as “gay” are misused as euphemisms to avoid the long established term of “homosexual”. George Orwell couldn’t have predicted these particular linguistic foibles.
Still, on the positive side, it’s still only 0.01% of viewers that complained… statistically insignificant. Perhaps we’re not as offended as they would like us to be?
A couple of comments. First, 200 viewers made a complaint. That means that 1 million, nine hundred and ninety nine thousand eight hundred people didn’t. Why did Channel 5 pander to the opinions of .01% of its audience? Second, you mention use of the term “Paki” as being unacceptable. Why are we allowed to say that we play cricket against the Aussies or the Windies but not the Pakis? (I have a Pakistani friend who has spent most of his life in Birmingham. Is it alright to call him a Brummie?) Political correctness has a lot to answer for.
It comes down to the historical connotations of the word. The term ‘paki’ is unacceptable, because it has traditionally been used as a derogatory racial insult towards Asian people. Same with the term ‘nigger’, which was the term used to refer to black slaves. The terms ‘Aussie’ and ‘Brummie’ do not carry those same negative historical connotations. I’m half Asian and have been subject to racist taunts of ‘paki’ in the past. If you had experienced that yourself, you would not need to ask why it is unacceptable.
Personally I think this whole scenario has got out of hand,including the radicals.
The world has gone mad, .and it started to stem from homosexuals calling themselves ‘Gay’, that word used to mean ‘happy’, then there was the crowd who tried to get man holes called ‘person holes’, and the best one was trying to get the Isle of Man changed to the ‘Isle of Person’.
I very often say to coloured brethren ” Your Looking Browned Off” without any comeback, one of my neighbours is Black and I hadn’t seen them since before Christmas, until yesterday, I remarked “where have you been, hiding in a dark corner? ” This brought a howl of roaring laughter from them, no offence meant and none taken.
The bulk of the p.c. screamers are not our coloured friends, but unintentional ‘would be trouble makers’.
In my work as a housing official, in interviews I have been called a ‘t..t’ a ‘b…..d ‘ and my usual response is ” It takes one to know one” and that more often than not calms the atmosphere.
John, you are right in your thinking, and if the media in general left well alone, and reported on proper news, the world could be a happier place.
I completely agree with you John. I went to school in Manchester and the pupils were a complete and utter mix of races, sexes, religions who all got along without any problems. Name calling based on any of these differences were unheard of except for very close friends who used them to each other in one-to-one fun with no malicious or harmful intent whatsoever. There would be the rare occasion where a pupil might use offensive comments to bully someone but this would be jumped on by the majority of other pupils. The school did not have a ‘policy’ to deal with offensive comments because the problem was so isolated and was self-policed by the pupils themselves.
It is true that in modern days some individuals will use offensive terminology simply to cause offense but in doing so will often only highlight their own ignorance or bad manners. Unfortunately, they will continue to do so as long as people tolerate them-not wishing to get involved.
Yes John, I can agree with all of that. I think it’s time we started a non PC party? If the media put in as much effort to tackle the real problems that we have, rather than wittering on about certain names, that most people couldn’t give a toss about, then we might have a chance. The Latin word for black …”niger” started it all and then became negro in Portugal and Spain and still is. Our Non PC Party chant could be” Sticks and stones may break my bones etc etc.”after all it’s just a word, as is “redskin” and all the other words that are still used around the world to describe various races. People need to get a sense of humour and stop complaining, Maybe the Muslims could start a “mexican wave” around the world of having a laugh rather than getting a “cob on” the next time someone does or say something they don’t like. Cheers ….White Honky from Burnley.
I completely agree, but this might merely be a single symptom of a much larger process that aims to divide and conquer the population. It appears that the media and, indeed, many government policies, are intended to set people at each others throats and to create ‘victims’ where there might not actually be any. A population that fights itself rather heavily over relatively trivial and manufactured issues, e.g. indigenous populations against foreigners, against islam, straight against gay, women against men in a gender war, issues relating to political correctness or national identity, etc, etc, is perhaps distracted and less likely to be unified and less capable of posing any real questions to government policy – including the larger foreign\geopolitical policies or issues. It is very worthwhile watching one of Brian Gerrish’s videos on youtube on the issue of ‘Common Purpose’, and the damage that is being caused to the various social systems in the UK. Brian is an ex naval office in Plymouth who has identified an insidious policy that appears to be leaching in to most systems, including the media, with the aim of deliberately causing damage. It’s quite an eye-opener.
The Media love creating a so called Racist scenario to sell papers they dont give a shit about Ken Morley personally i like the bloke ,look at Corrie with that Boring Lloyd someone said play the White man we always used to say that back in the 60s that must have been one of the most boring storylines on Corrie no ones interested in listening to a few sensitive poor little souls ,we even had a coloured m8 can you even say that anymore !!!! we used to tell him to play the White man and he wasnt offended at all
The word negro was never acceptable not to black people or their descendants. It was a white man’s word intended to humiliate, subjugate and offend black people. I have grown up with racism of all kinds, seen truly awful programs acceptable in the eras they were shown but never acceptable to black people, programs like Love thy neighbour and Til death us do part and attitudes have not from my experience changed that much. I have seen where so called leaders have acted in public as though they embrace multicultural society but in the next breath have come out with something very offensive against the same, which shows that they have underlying racist tendencies. I really don’t think that white people quite understand the nastiness, deep rooted hurt and anger that they cause to black people when they speak offensively to them especially when they are at an impressionable age. I used to try to scrub my colour off until blood poured from me because of racial taunts and other offensive behaviour. I was told to use Omo by my antagonists, because the slogan for Omo was ” It washes whiter than white”. There was so much that I was made to hate about being black and it was made worse by the things that advertisers used to get away with e.g the Omo add and Robertson’s Jams whose trademark was a golliwog, something else I was called by my antagonists.
Take a look at the Uncle Ben’s Rice advertisement, I’m not going to say what I find offensive about it, but just take a look and see what you think I would find offensive about it. If you are in a position of power/leadership then you must chose your words carefully because people look up to you and will follow what you say and do. I live by the mantra “treat others as you would like to be treated.” If people are deliberately offensive to me, they have let themselves down, but I still treat them with respect in the hope that they will see the error of their ways.
The school systems are prejudiced as well in the way that they teach the rudiments of language and history in England. Black people which have changed conditions or made a mark in British history have been ignored e.g. look up Mary Seacole who nursed soldiers in the Crimean war or Olaudah Equiano who tried to end slavery by giving an account of what life was like on a Liverpool Slave Ship called the Brookes.
I don’t think that you do condone such offensive language or racist behaviour, but there is still a long way to go.
Many thanks for your reply. It’s good to have a response from someone who has clearly been affected by these issues more than most. Your experience is what it is. If that’s how you see and feel it then nobody can say you’re wrong. It’s how it’s perceived and received that’s important.
I did look up ‘Uncle Bens Rice advertisement’ and there are many. I’m not sure which one offends you, but the one I saw offended me because it involved a woman telling a man to set the table. Clearly unacceptable! I am joking by the way. Almost!
Very interested to read your comments about Till Death Us Do Part and Love Thy Neighbour. I always took the view while watching those, that the joke was on the bigoted white characters, but you clearly saw it differently. Before he died, I got to know Vince Powell a little bit, the guy who wrote Love Thy Neighbour. He was a lovely man with no racist inclinations at all. He confirmed to me what I perceived myself…that the show was intended to poke fun at racists and bigots. It reflected the views of some in society and then ridiculed them. It saddened him that some people saw it differently.
Hi Juanito,
You obviously have had an unfortunate life, but are you not now looking to take offence at the wrong things, where no real offence was intended?
Love Thy Neighbour was a comedy show which poked fun at racism. It starred a black man and a white man, names escape me. Do you think the coloured actor would have taken part if he had thought it was racist or offensive? Likewise OMO was a popular brand of washing powder back then. It had no links to the term homosexual and neither was its ad meant to be racist. The ad promoted the fact that it got your washing, ie White shirts, white hankies (remember them?) and white towels and bedding and school PE kits, whiter than other washing powders. I fail to see why you think that was racist! No doubt if you set out to look for apparent “racist” comments you can find them. But that still doesn’t mean that the people who made them whilst meaning something purely innocent are racist.
I don’t know what is offensive and what isn’t anymore. However, if we keep this up people will not talk to each other anymore.
I was brought up in a small village in Scotland and although I never saw a coloured person until I was in my teens and went to Glasgow to be a student nurse our milkman had a dog called nigger. I can remember my gran sending me to buy nigger brown wool for her knitting. It certainly wasn’t to offend people of any colour as we had never met any!
Some people may take offence at things said where others just shrug it off.
Another example ; last week my friend and I were shopping when we were wolf whistled at ( by another friend) I shouted back..”ha ha save your breath, you should be so lucky mate!” But the friend with me was horrified and told him that was abuse!! I was totally gobsmacked by her attitude. I just think life is too short to be worried about being offended. I am disgusted by the media as they whip up hysteria and think it’s good television.
I agree with you but however, I’m NOT surprised. This is ‘The Mainstream Media’ this is what they’re paid for. Mainstream media, politics, religions and unfortunately more and more frequently mainstream science all have united behind the scenes to cause chaos, fear, manipulation, etc. and destabilize. The EU is based on the experiences gained behind the ‘Iron Curtain’ era, telling the masses HOW TO and WHAT TO THINK and this will affect ‘Freedom of Speech’. Basically it is about education or it should be. Just look at the ‘Human Rights’ institution, deliberately chaotic, it is used where normally it shouldn’t be and where it should be it’s ignored. This is no accident; the problem is 9 out 10 people are also forgetting to use their head for thinking as they let the media do it for them and they’ll accept everything without a second thought. I just wonder when will Nigeria be called upon by the UN to change the country’s name as it may insult present western ‘cultures’? At the same time just look at the quality of the same mainstream media’s TV programmes for instance ITV 2, ITV Bee and of course ‘good old’ Big Brother and the kind, etc. Unfortunately we don’t have to go far back in time to experience how dangerous the media’s effect can become – last week’s outrageous French massacre for instance and its ongoing aftermath.
What is distressing is the curtailment of free intellectual thought which the imposition of the doctrine of “political correctness” is imposing. Plato and Aristotle enquired into what form of political structures and aims might be desirable and which not. They would not have suffered others to impose predetermined conclusions upon them.
I would be offended by mockery of, as opposed to serious intellectual disagreement with, the doctrines arising from the life, death and resurrection of Our Blessed Lord and I refuse to see either “Jesus Christ Superstar” or “Life of Brian”, but I have no objection to the coherent statement of atheistical views by Bertrand Russell or A.C. Grayling and those who think like them.
in my day, the version I learned was not “nigger” but “tiger” ?
ps. that was” a tiger by the tail” not “a nigger by the toe”.
It doesn’t ryme!
or rhyme
Either (a) people these days have very thin skins or (b) we are being conditioned and manipulated by The Powers That Be.
Totally agree.
The whole episode is an utter nonsense but unfortunately these are the consequences of a vicious politically correct agenda to which our broadcasters now uniformly subscribe, the trailblazer being the BBC.
Hi John Harrison,
You’ve certainly opened a can of worm can I say giving away my age that when I went to school all the school children were white it was the times not anything else. Immigration was only just starting and the newcomers stayed in the cities. People find that hard to believe but its the truth. Much of the offences of today are encouraged by the PC brigade who would have no other justification for their existence. It is a case of division and fear a well known device to keep people mentally immobolised. The little red book of Mao in China proved that way back in the 60s.
Do whites think it is unnaceptable to be called Caucasian???
Then certain dark skinned people are negros – thats what they are – how can that be offensive in anyway???
Who doesn’t say “we’re all going for a chinkies” I do. Do I hate the Chinese ?- of course not!
It’s all got out of hand if you ask me.
At the risk of upsetting some people and the hand of the left wing over the last 4 decades we had a result of all this kow-tow-ing just last week –
“Je suis Charlie!”
Duncan, Please see my responses to Martyn Pitt and Dave Knowles above. The term ‘Caucasian’ does not carry the same negative historical connotations as the term ‘negro’. ‘Chink’ is also a commonly used racial insult. In contrast, the term ‘Caucasian’ is never used as an insult. In fact, there is no comparable term for a white person that carries those same sorts of derogatory meanings. This is why words like ‘negro’ and ‘chink’ are unacceptable.
I agree with John the PC crowd have got quiet out of hand. I was taught that sticks and stones can break your bones but words can never hurt you. My only regret was teasing the fat kid in the class. I now realise that was hurtful. In fact the use of names such as Itie or scouser or chink was a sign that you were accepted in the group and could accept a bit of teasing. It is not words themselves that are harmful but the attitude of the speaker. I was at first a bit offended by Australians calling me a “Pomey Bastard” but soon realised no offense was meant so took it in my stride. I have never been offended by being called a”goy” a “honkey” or a “roast beef”. Many of the now non PC words are purely descriptive and it is a shame that people can lose there jobs for using them.
Sadly I have been known to use many of these terms which I am now being told are offensive. I dont intend offence, nor have I perceived any being taken. Except by non-invited third parties.
Generally the people to whom such terms are supposedly offensive do not seem to be offended, but just in case, I now watch how I phrase things as I have no wish to cause any offence to anyone – WITH ONE EXCEPTION. And that is…..
If I use the term “politically correct” or PC Brigade – you can assume it IS intended as an insult, to be derogatory and to imply that I think very little of someone. Lowest of the low!!
It may be preceded by expletives or unpleasant adjectives, and this would be deliberate and designed to cause as much offence as possible. So if you are reading this and it applies to you – “xxxx xxx you PC tosser” – you know who you are.
Hopefully I am speaking for a large part of the normal populace, who have no intention of offending anyone, but still seem to get tarred with this PC whiney criticism from the PC Brigade who spend so much time dreaming up imagined slights, when they could be out fixing some of the REAL crap and injustices in the world. .
Of course PC has got out of hand, don’t they teach it at Eton? Blair by the way was a MASSIVE supporter of PC and I thought we’d got past the worst. If everyone on this discussion does as I do (ignore PC) then might it not go away?
Fact:- Nigger is an official colour, as one lady said here she used to have nigger brown wool. Negro is the correct word ethnically and anthropologically for those people born South of the Sahara and Sahel in Africa, also north of the Congo basin except Ethiopia and Somalia who are a different race altogether. It was given mainly to those born around the Niger River and especially in today’s Niger and Nigeria countries.
Fact: I have not bought a British national newspaper for over 30 years. Perhaps if all correspondents here were to do the same and encourage their friends and family to do the same it would hasten the demise of a bunch of slime balls. Similarly I refuse to watch junk TV, if there is a night without good quality TV I read a book.
Fact: NEVER trust ANY politician……EVER!
I was beginning to think that we need a dictionary of words with a rating as to whether they are offensive or not, but realise that it is a combination of what is in the mind of the person saying it was well as what is in the mind of the person hearing it – there is no solution!
In the majority of cases I have encounted, the people who complain do so simply because of the prevailing PC culture and not because they were personally offended. The people who may have had cause to be offended were bemused and in many instances, amused, by the fuss others made.
I would like the term “Racist” to be defined as I think it is a very offensive label to put on someone who simply uses a word without any intention of causing insult or distress to anybody.
I was accused of causing offence to a female work colleague simply because I held a door open for her to pass through!!!! She said I was displaying male dominance!!!
I come from Liverpool and am frequently on the receiving end of comments like ” Check your cars. The Scouser’s here” !!! i usually reply by saying, “If you keep that up, I’ll move in next door!” It’s all just a bit of funfilled banter and no offence is taken.
I’m of the generation where we used to have Robertson’s Jam with the Jolly Nigger Boy as their logo and a nigger boy rag doll was a popular children’s toy. Neither was considered offensive then.
I find it difficult to keep up with changes in what is considered offensive nowadays and what isn’t. For example are the old Irish jokes offensive nowadays? I recall Northern Irish comedian Jimmy Cricket making fun of himself in the ’70s — wearing wellies on the wrong feet with ‘right’ and ‘left’ painted on them to ensure everyone saw the joke. At that time there were lots of comedians made fun of the ‘thick’ Irish.
In the Netherlands then, similar jokes were made about Belgians. When he had some Dutch guests staying at his home, my brother-in-law had them in stitches by telling popular Irish jokes but substituting ‘Belgian’ for ‘Irish.’
Then we have the word ‘gay.’ Gay of course is really an alternative to happy. Phrases like ‘carefree and gay’ used to appear in popular songs. Why not ‘homo’ as an abbreviation of homosexual? Or is ‘homosexual’ another word considered offensive today?
How many folk are offended by ‘Mrs Brown’s Boys?’ Apparently the show drew nearly as many viewers on Christmas Day as the Queen’s message did. And Mrs Brown is totally irreverent.
Eleanor Roosevelt said ‘No-one can insult you without your permission’. Think about it.
How come Muslim hate preachers are permitted to preach openly and freely on the streets of our cities
inciting wars and death to the infidels (is this word racist?) yet we have all this uproar over a word?
Could you imagine what would happen if I stood on a soapbox and preached hate to muslims?
I think we should make a stand against all this rubbish, what happened to freedom of speech? I can tell you
it now belongs entirely to the minority groups.
I’m glad you wrote this blog post John. The comments it has received have brought to light the bigoted mentality of some of your readers. I agree with you that the whole Ken Morely debacle was handled wrongly. What is disappointing though, is that blog posts like yours provide a flawed justification for people with racist tendencies, and encourage them to espouse their ignorant nonsense. If you are not a racist yourself, I hope you will make a future blog post soon, condemning those who have made comments above defending the use of blatantly racist language.
Yes, I have noticed before that this subject inevitably results in a drift away from my point – which was the role of the media in inflating the scope of what is deemed offensive and then widely distributing and broadcasting material which could be construed as such. There are many words and phrases which do not fall into any kind of grey area though, and I wouldn’t want anyone to be under any illusion that the article was in any way a defence or justification of the use of that sort of language.
Sticks stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me… why don.t we all treat it this as we used to?
Jim.
On the degree of racism, you are right, of course. However, there is much more profit to be made of this; how about people taken to court through saying things deemed racist. This also keeps the court system going and, alas, the world going around. Racism provides plenty of jobs to lawyers whether intentional or not and can also cost the state in legal fees.
On the racist matter itself – if I accidentally call a Jewish person an Arab, or an Arabian person a Jew then all hell lets loose. This is similar to calling a South African black person a Zulu when he is a Xhosa or vise versa, or even a Newcastle supporter a Sunderland supporter or calling a Liverpool supporter an Everton supporter. Football hooliganism seems to follow the same phemonema although it is not as bad as it used to be.
The problem seems to be on how the mind divides itself – I’m not that. When I was younger, black people were “darkies”, Chinese people were “chinks”. It wasn’t meant as racist, however, underneath it does make these people separate as we.ve given them a different name. They are now seoarate from us. Language can be as much to blame for racism as hatred. And I think that this is what the PC groups want to get at, but theybdo it all wrong. Their programmes breed more racism than they are trying to avoid. Who likes being told what to think – and people may not show it on the outside but underneath they are angry. A plea in court would go I have said what I’ve said in years (no racisn meant) but the PC brigade seeming to be deleting out culture for the benefit of minorities. As I recall, Germany was in a similar although not identical position before world war 2.
Also Britain had an influx of South African Whites when the white government of South Africa broke down. I’ve heard, but not verified stories of racism occurring there the opposite way around., when control of the country was handed to the blacks (NB in South Africa a coloured person is someone of mixed race – they had a caste system similar to India but went completely pro-white in the 1940s) , and coloureds were targeted also by South African blacks. Also Hottentots and Bushmen who are considered to be a different race altogether.
There is also th fact that people of the same race will gravitate towards people of their race or close cultures when they move abroad – not 100% , but his is how we get communities in large cities like “Chinatown” or “little Italy” come together.
So i all it would seem like people choose what to like based on themselves and their upbringing with a little bit of “foreign culture” mixed in. for example “I’m from Bangladesh and I’m gay – I’ve got a choice of 2 communities to go to if I move to Britain”
As British, there is no problem with that. The problem comes when foreigners use their home laws in our country which are not against British law – that is when the separatism starts and where racism rages. If foreign people want to use their birth country laws then they should have stayed at home.
What a lot of twaddle. Negro means Blackness. Negroid means Ethnic. These ignorant 200 plus the C5 folk should check the dictionary before they blacken – (oh good what have I said) – some ones character .
We had this debate as a family only a couple of weeks ago.
My daughters were talking to my mother-in-law about her youth and her upbringing. It came out in a conversation that she had a dog and a cat and both were called ‘Nigger’, this was back in the 1930’s. Living in a sheltered village in the heart of Hampshire she had no idea then that the name might be offensive, and still struggles with why the name is deemed offensive now.
My daughter’s are of course appalled, but she is no way racist and as you point out John it was a word that was entirely acceptable at the time.
Language is a strange thing. In some ways we are more tolerant now. I hear both of my girls use the ‘F word occasionally, but they are both adults and it is part of the vernacular (particularly when under stress). However I would never have dreamed of swearing in front of my parents, I never heard either of them use anything worse than ‘bloody.