Prince Harry Racism
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Remus, I don't know about "paki", but in the U.S. the words "nigger","faggot", and "wetback" have only derogatory meanings. Anyone overhearing them even when used in jest would be offended. If someone's banter relies on such terms, then I think it's important for them to ask why.
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That isnt the case though, have you never heard a black man call a friend "nigger"?
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Yes, one black person to another, but that doesn't mean it's acceptable. But a more closer analogy would be a white person calling his/her black friend a nigger, and that I have not heard (and it ending peacefully).
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The point i was trying to make is that these words dont have "only derogatory meanings." In certain situations they are perfectly acceptable.
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I would say they are extraodinarily acceptable only in very few situations...like my friend and comrade in Thailand: it's never been appropriate again. I'd say it's about a certain view, a dark acceptance and poking fun, of the negative words.
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The POM always started those meetings with a cheery "Morning chaps." After three meetings one of the attendees approached and said "Please do not call us Japs, we are Japanese." The resultant embarrassment all round lead to a strong and respectful relationship thereafter.
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Jackson wrote
@unknownuser said:a friend of mine when she returned home after an otherwise ordinary day at work in floods of tears and very shaken because some little racist grunt shouted "paki!" at her while she sat on a packed stationary bus
A few days after the London tube bombings an asian friend of mine was subjected to sustained verbal abuse on a tube train from a group of office lads that he saw on the tube daily. They were shouting, "Don't sit near him, he might blow up!" When he got off at the station these idiots got off too and were threatening to attack him. As he saw them daily, he did the right thing in my opinion and punched the ringleader. Otherwise they would have made his life a misery from then on. It shut them up instantly. An underground security guard who was also asian intervened and told my friend to make himself scarce as even though the whole incident was on CCTV, the metropolitan police would most likely side against him because he is asian. Not that it should make any difference but he, like his father, was born in the UK, has a British passport and has a brilliant job so he probably pays more in tax than any one of those morons. But he can't rely on the police.
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@jackson said:
@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?
When the day comes i will apologise, although i like to think i know my friends well enough to know what is acceptable.
@unknownuser said:
@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.
The point i was trying to make is that if you aim not to offend you wont get very far. People take offense at a lot of things.
@unknownuser said:
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.
This is another case of misunderstanding, in my opinion. The listener takes the speakers words to have a meaning other than what was intended.
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Hi Jackson
You really should submit your piece to The Grauniard.
I think you'll find that is your natural home.Name calling may be unpleasant, but in the context of men in the armed forces, its safe to assume that they will have to deal with slightly more scary issues in their careers.
Have we really reached a point were fighting men are to be regarded as such sensitive souls that we can't hurt their feelings? Perhaps we should prevent officers from shouting orders in their faces? It must be so upsetting!
It may come as a shock to discover that Metro-males are not what the armed forces need. Men who don't cry when called names might make better soldiers don't you think?
I can't believe I am having to state the bleeding obvious!@unknownuser said:
It's funny how I only ever hear the "political correctness gone mad" cliché rolling out of caucasian (usually male) mouths.
Are you as critical of the lyrics produced by black rappers with the same outrage and passion as you condemn white racism?
I was born in Liverpool (something I had no choice in) and we are refered to as Scousers. There are thousands of insulting jokes about us. Do I want anyone locked up for telling these jokes? Do I want anyone to lose their jobs for telling these jokes? Do I want anyone punished in any way for telling these jokes? No, No, No!
Yet again, it is the so-called "liberals" who want to dictate to us how we should live our lives.
God help us from guilt-ridden white liberals!
(And I'm an atheist!)Regards
Mr S -
@daniel said:
Yes, one black person to another, but that doesn't mean it's acceptable. But a more closer analogy would be a white person calling his/her black friend a nigger, and that I have not heard (and it ending peacefully).
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.
Like Remus said, if you're not meaning it as an insult, then what's the problem?
I refuse to refrain from saying what I feel I can say just for the fear of upsetting people to whom the comment was not directed.Oh and Mr S, you took the words right out of my mouth. Well said.
Pav
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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.
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Mr S,
Yes, soldiers experience scarier things than "name calling", but how much better do you think they would cope with them if they also knew that their commanding officer thought of them as an equal (or rather a lower-ranking equal) rather than dismissed them as "little Pakis"?
If only it was name-calling- a childhood friend of mine joined the British Army when he was 17. He had always been a bit antagonistic, but not to the point of really offending anyone (and never racist). He came back just one year later with an anecdote about how he and his fellow trainees beat up a fellow pakistani trainee for "a laugh". Of everyone at his "welcome home party" I was the only one who told him what I thought of him, everyone else just shifted uncomfortably in their chairs and changed the subject. In what way is being racially abused, in any form, a valuable part of the training of a modern professional soldier? Even the army itself has, over the last 20 years, recognised the need for soldiers (and especially officers) to have basic diplomatic skills as a means of winning the battle of propaganda in modern warfare. Not much point if the Queen's grandson is walking around airports recording himself on video calling his better-qualified colleague his "little Paki friend". I'm sure that really won the "hearts and minds" in the Middle East battlezones. For the same reason I would agree with some that the person who sold the video is as guilty (if not more than) as Harry of endangering his colleague's lives.
@mr s said:
Are you as critical of the lyrics produced by black rappers with the same outrage and passion as you condemn white racism?
Yes and no. I am critical of gangster rap lyrics as they perpetuate the oppression and violence of African-American communities. But I'm not as critical of an uneducated black guy from a bad neighbourhood writing lyrics referring to his cohorts as "niggers" as I am of the third in line to the British throne who has benefited from the best education tax-payers' money can buy referring to his colleagues by racist terms. As Harry himself is the third generation descendant of an immigrant (whose parents changed their surname to avoid racism, how cowardly!) maybe we should come up with a new name for him.
As far as "liberals" dictating how people should live their lives in my experience it's generally been the more right-wing people I've met who are lacking in empathy and overflowing with the desire to inform everyone else why they're right and everyone else is wrong.
This thread will obviously descend into troll territory soon, right-wingers and left-wingers digging themselves into opposing trenches and lobbing Molotov cocktails back and forth , but neither budging an inch.
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Pav,
Yep, so we've established that thanks to gangsta rap it's ok for everyone to go around calling each other "nigger" all the time, but judging by your listed name, would you be as happy if your friend turned round and called you by a racist term for Italians?
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I am constantly called wop, Hairy I ty, dago, greaseball, and of course guido.
It's affectionate 99% of the time, and the 1% that it isn't, i'd like to think i'm smart enough to let it go.
Sometimes people say offensive things, whether intentionally or not.Big deal.
With regards to "Gangsta rap", lets not forget that the word nigger originated as a term used in a neutral context to refer to black people, as a variation of the Spanish/Portuguese noun negro. (courtesy of wikipedia he he)
If however someone EVER called me sicilian, then i'd really have to open up a can of whoopass.
Pav
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@pav_3j said:
I am constantly called wop, Hairy I ty, dago, greaseball, and of course guido.
Sounds unlikely, but if that's true remind me never to visit Canterbury School of Architecture. BTW, how does your black friend respond when you call him "darkie", or is even that not beyond the pale in your social circle?@pav_3j said:
With regards to "Gangsta rap", lets not forget that the word nigger originated as a term used in a neutral context to refer to black people, as a variation of the Spanish/Portuguese noun negro. (courtesy of wikipedia he he)
Historical use is irrelevant (I thought only the very elderly still clung to that argument), it's what it means now that matters. Using your logic calling someone a "berk" today is akin to calling them a "c*nt" as that is it's origin (rhyming slang).... whicever way you look at it, it's not the same. -
Hi Jackson,
@unknownuser said:
Yes, soldiers experience scarier things than "name calling", but how much better do you think they would cope with them if they also knew that their commanding officer thought of them as an equal (or rather a lower-ranking equal) rather than dismissed them as "little Pakis"?
This is a good example of how liberals perform mental somersaults!
How can you be a "lower-ranking equal"?
That is pure George Orwell 1984 doublespeak.Nowhere in the entire history of mankind have military forces ever embraced "equality". It has always been based on the ranking system.
Even the communists figured that one out.
I'm sure lots of peoples feelings got hurt, but winning the battle or the war usually took priority.In your mind he dismissed him as a "little Paki"
I heard him say "little Paki friend".
If you look at the pictures he is little. (Is that Littleism?)
He is of Pakistani origin.
And, perhaps, to help support your point you missed out the important "friend" bit.@unknownuser said:
Even the army itself has, over the last 20 years, recognised the need for soldiers (and especially officers) to have basic diplomatic skills as a means of winning the battle of propaganda in modern warfare.
Please provide just one example where these "skills" won anything. Propaganda or otherwise.
Superior firepower is usually what wins.@unknownuser said:
Yes and no. I am critical of gangster rap lyrics as they perpetuate the oppression and violence of African-American communities. But I'm not as critical of an uneducated black guy from a bad neighbourhood writing lyrics referring to his cohorts as "niggers" as I am of the third in line to the British throne who has benefited from the best education tax-payers' money can buy referring to his colleagues by racist terms.
Yes and no? You mean you find it difficult to condemn black racists to the same degree as white racists. So, uneducated black racists can be understood. Uneducated white racists are just ignorant bigoted thugs. Correct? That's not really treating everyone as equal is it.
Also, I think you'll find that blacks refer to themselves as "niggas"
This spelling distinction is regarded (by todays standards) as acceptable
You, or I, using the word "nigger" is regarded as racist (Oh dear, how will you sleep tonight?)@unknownuser said:
As Harry himself is the third generation descendant of an immigrant (whose parents changed their surname to avoid racism, how cowardly!) maybe we should come up with a new name for him.
This is were the liberal mask starts to slip.
We can read between the lines.
You would just love to call him an upper class toffee-nosed kraut.
Also, you shouldn't really be calling people cowards.
Thats name calling. Tsk.@unknownuser said:
This thread will obviously descend into troll territory soon, right-wingers and left-wingers digging themselves into opposing trenches and lobbing Molotov cocktails back and forth , but neither budging an inch.
On this we agree. Never the twain shall meet.
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Solo...
@unknownuser 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.
Never fear, your liberal credentials remain 100% intact
Regards
Mr S=======
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@mr s said:
How can you be a "lower-ranking equal"?
That is pure George Orwell 1984 doublespeak.Because he is a fellow human being so he is EQUAL, but his position in the army is subordinate so he is LOWER RANKING... that is why I put it in brackets.
@mr s said:
And, perhaps, to help support your point you missed out the important "friend" bit.
I left it out because it's irrelevant. When a Scotman says to a guy in a pub fight "you're dead pal!" the "pal" part hardly negates the meaning of the sentence.@jackson said:
Even the army itself has, over the last 20 years, recognised the need for soldiers (and especially officers) to have basic diplomatic skills as a means of winning the battle of propaganda in modern warfare.
@mr s said:
Please provide just one example where these "skills" won anything. Propaganda or otherwise.
Superior firepower is usually what wins.
Well, in modern times it certainly wasn't decades of bombs and bullets which brought peace to Northern Ireland and in ancient times the Roman Empire expanded rapidly largely through diplomacy and propaganda rather than killing everyone they encountered. The Vietnam and Iraq Wars show you how far superior firepower alone gets you... not very.@jackson said:
Yes and no. I am critical of gangster rap lyrics as they perpetuate the oppression and violence of African-American communities. But I'm not as critical of an uneducated black guy from a bad neighbourhood writing lyrics referring to his cohorts as "niggers" as I am of the third in line to the British throne who has benefited from the best education tax-payers' money can buy referring to his colleagues by racist terms.
@mr s said:
Yes and no? You mean you find it difficult to condemn black racists to the same degree as white racists. So, uneducated black racists can be understood. Uneducated white racists are just ignorant bigoted thugs. Correct? That's not really treating everyone as equal is it.
Now who is misinterpreting what people say? I compared an uneducated black guy from a bad neighbourhood to the the third in line to the British throne who has benefited from the best education and you pull "uneducated white racists" out of thin air. Read before you reply.
I can understand the housing schemes of Britain producing white uneducated racists just as easily as the projects of America producing black uneducated racists. Either way it's a sorry state of affairs.@mr s said:
Also, I think you'll find that blacks refer to themselves as "niggas"
This spelling distinction is regarded (by todays standards) as acceptable
Do they? All your black friends do that do they? I've never heard any of my black friends call each other that, whichever way it was spelled.@jackson said:
As Harry himself is the third generation descendant of an immigrant (whose parents changed their surname to avoid racism, how cowardly!) maybe we should come up with a new name for him.
@mr s said:
This is were the liberal mask starts to slip.
We can read between the lines.
You would just love to call him an upper class toffee-nosed kraut.
Also, you shouldn't really be calling people cowards.
Thats name calling. Tsk.
Wow, sorry should I have put that in parenthesis with "SARCASTIC" on either side so everyone got it? I thought it was obvious enough. It was a dig at you implying that a soldier who doesn't like being racially abused shouldn't be in the army when Harry's own family went out of their way to avoid exactly that. Or maybe he'd be happy to change his name back to Henry Charles Albert David Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg? -
Clearly this thread has gone waaaaay to far.
Can't see anyone really changing their stance, but it's fun trying!
Personally I don't see a problem with harry's remarks given the circumstances.
Good thread!
Pav
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How to get a black eye from an Indian, call him a Paki, it's the ultimate insult.
Sorry, but if as a result of being of British I have to accept being called a "Brit" (a contraction of Britain) then what's the difference with someone of Pakistani origin being called a "Paki". In both cases it's the first four letters of the name of a country!Bottom line, it's all a scam for a court case where "no win no fee" lawyers are out to get rich quick through "com pen say shun".
And I'm still more concerned about next weeks redundancies, for being White, Male, Married and Christian I am automatically placed at the back of any queue for assistance, this being decided by public service workers, those overblown wages are paid by my taxes, doing "non-jobs" as advertised weekly in The Gruaniad.
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What's next a person of the Jewish persuation from Isreal to be called what? A Jew, Isreali? which one is right?
I really see nothing wrong with 'Paki' if indeed the person is Pakistani, I see more wrong in calling black folk here in the states 'African Americans' when they are many generations American and really have to search for any reminants of their African heritage.What's in a word?, I say grow a chin to those that bitch about such trivial matters.
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