Prince Harry Racism

Stinkie · 13 Jan 2009, 23:36

I have a friend who I call nigger, and he calls me white nigger, not once have we had a fight.
Yes I am poking fun, but not at my friend, at racism.

That's a good point you got there, Lucy. Try not to call that friend a nigger while riding the bus, though. I once had had an elderly 'gentleman' chime in when I told a Turkish friend of mine to 'sod off back to her own country'. (She wanted to borrow €10 - I had to say something!)

Like Jackson, the 'gentleman' didn't get the joke, though his motives were clearly less noble. Sad. (Not you, J-man.)

pav_3j · 14 Jan 2009, 00:19

ha ha, genius stinkie.
What would you have said if she asked to borrow €100?

Please refrain from calling me Lucy though, where I come from that is highly offensive.

Pav

bellwells · 14 Jan 2009, 01:36

@solo said:

Mr. S, I find myself agreeing with you and Ron on this issue, please do not let this compliance reflect negatively on my 'liberal' status.

LOL...I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself. What happens in the forums, stays in the forums.

Mike Lucey · 14 Jan 2009, 02:03

Nothing like a good debate Fair dues to Jackson he is holding up his side and it is hard to find cracks!

Mick

bellwells · 14 Jan 2009, 02:20

Speaking of cracks...blacks call whites "Cracker" and "White Bread". Who among us takes offense at these terms? I believe it's intended to be offensive but it doesn't work on me.

pbacot · 14 Jan 2009, 03:53

I've never been called that Ron. I think I would be offended. Not in a big way. I'd be saddened mostly, and in the right circumstances SCARED.

It would be a good indication that the speaker only judged me by my skin color. But how can you step out of history and pretend there's no difference? If someone called my father that, and it wouldn't be likely, he'd not have to bow his head and fear lynching in the bargain. Or will we have someone now deny that blacks were ever oppressed in the U.S. It has a different context completely.

If I heard it on TV, for example I would not be incensed, but I would write the person off my list of "people to meet".

But let's be reasonable. I wouldn't expect it from the Prince. What if Obama used "cracker". No one would complain? Would you expect Desmond Tutu to use it and still garner respect?

Jackson · 14 Jan 2009, 07:53

Yet again Google Adsense proves it can get a laugh out of any subject. George Carlin was right!

Jeremy Nicholls · 14 Jan 2009, 13:50

Mick

You Irish are way too subtle!

Jeremy

Mike Lucey · 14 Jan 2009, 15:10

..... say he with tongue in cheek

Mike Lucey · 14 Jan 2009, 15:36

I don't really mind what I'm called although I may 'show' indignation! But as long as I am NEVER called too early in the morning anything else goes over my head.

On a more serious note. Ireland over the past 10 years has seen a huge (proportionally) influx of non Caucasian nationalities. There has been some ups and downs but overall I see little racism. My attitude is simple, as long as they do a day's work and pay their way everyone is welcome to make a home here.

Paul McGrath, a Black Irish international footballer (great character!) was telling his life story on the Late late Show some years ago. He explained that when living in Donegal and had never seen another Black man until one walked down his street while he was playing with other kids.

The other kids started calling the black man various names and Paul joined in but after a while the penny dropped with Paul and he realised that he was much the same colour. He pointed this out to his friends and then the penny dropped with them! The point Paul was making was that his young friends did not actually see his skin colour only him as a person. I suppose the message here is that we should all make the effort to look at people for what they are rather than what shade they are. After all we ALL came from Lucy in Africa many thousands of years ago.

Just a small point! In Gealic a black man is called Duine Gorme which translates directly as Blue Man! I often thought to search for the reasoning behind this.

Mike

sepo · 14 Jan 2009, 15:55

With this depression/recession we will be seeing more and more racism becoming apparent.
It was interesting to see on the news last night that 25 out of 27 companies (interviewed), when seeking reception staff, were refusing people on the basis of different colour/race. The one answer which stuck to my mind was that they wanted "normal" people... So racism is still out there but it is somehow wrapped in denial.

chango70 · 14 Jan 2009, 17:59

I'd say lack of sensitivity to other people's feelings is part of the job description of being in the army and the Royal family. It's rather fitting to his psychological profile. The only mistake he is going to be reprimanded for is the fact that it leaked to the press. I don't expect any better from this national shame of an institution.

Jackson · 30 Sept 2009, 13:44

@mike lucey said:

How can anyone seriously expect any member of the Royal family to be PERFECT 100% of the time. Heck! I don't know how any of them can hold their cool with those newspaper cameramen running around after them 24 hours and day 365 days a year.

I couldn't agree more with your second sentence, I wouldn't switch places with the Royals for all the money in the world and if every party any of us ever attended was documented on film I'm sure we'd all be judged guilty of grand moral turpitude at one time or another.

Nevertheless Harry was not being papped- he was holding the camera, he was narrating the film, technically he was working at the time and he was wearing the uniform of the British Army. If none of those facts were enough to suggest to him that it might not be the best time to use racist terms to refer to his colleagues then the Windsors seriously need to practise their media training.

I looked at the forum you posted a link to, the first poster, a British soldier wrote:

@unknownuser said:

Imagine for instance a group of soldiers airmen or sailors and within the group there are several called John, how would you distinguish them in a time of crisis?
If one is from Ireland he will probably be called Paddy.if one has red hair he will be called Ginge etc.

Well... that argument might have some validity if the guy Harry was referring to had the same name as several of his colleagues, but in what way would it have threatened military efficency to have called him simply Ahmed or Khan? Just out of interest Harry's "little Paki friend" (note the "little" denoting inferiority) won the award for the best overseas cadet at Sandhurst. Maybe Ahmed should be narrating a video describing Harry as "the spoiled little brat who is only playing soldiers because his family make him, who gets more glory in the media for going about his normal duties than colleagues who excel and risk their lives in acts of selfless valour while he flounces around the battlezone, more well protected than any other serviceman or woman".

@jackson said:

I guess it's okay to call a colleague "faggot", "mick", "nigger", "jap" (unfortunately I already know Ron's answer to that one) or "bitch" then? Or do you draw the line somewhere?

@remus said:

I frequently do, as i know it will be taken in jest.

You don't know it will be taken in jest, you assume that it will be taken in jest and one day your assumption will be wrong. Where do you think the expression "children are so cruel" comes from?

@remus said:

Using those rules there would be very little being said.

Huh? Somehow I, my friends and colleagues manage to socialise and work every day without using racist, or sexist or homophobic terms, entire books are written, TV programmes are made, forums buzz along for years without need for these words. What world are you living in where by omitting offensive terms you would find it almost impossible to communicate? It's 15 years ago since I was 17 years old, but even then I probably only heard racist language used in school a handful of times in 6 years at secondary school.

@bellwells said:

Jackson, I don't consider "Jap" to be any more derogatory than "Yank". Political correctness is nothing more than a mechanism to control thought and speech. And as a member of the politically correct crowd, you've been well conditioned.

It's irrelevant what you consider to be offensive to another race. If you told me you didn't want to be called a "yank" as it had negative connotations I'd happily oblige (although it's not a term I use anyway). The fact that "jap" has been used, especially since the Second World War, to insult and intimidate the American descendants of Japanese immigrants should be enough to suggest that it's not a term which should be used in general terms.

I actually hate the term "politically correct"- it's got nothing to do with politics, it's to do with common courtesy, respecting other people and treating them as you expect to be treated. As this thread up to now has been populated by (AFAIK) only well-educated able-bodied caucasian heterosexual males I would suggest that we attempt to put ourselves in someone else's shoes and to realise that we were born into extremely priveleged circumstances, where we would never expect to be publicly abused, assaulted or turned down for a job on the basis of something we can do nothing about. I for one am grateful for that throw of the cosmic/genetic dice, but I'm not going to sit back and think "well, the current setup worked for me, screw everyone else". You're either part of the solution or you're part of the problem.