Mixed Message

[vernonk]

pop star JAMELIA, on the Loose Women panel today, said "You're not supposed to say Mixed Race anymore -the correct term is Dual Heritage". We're you aware of this?

[Prudie]

No but the list mustn't stagnate or we'll all end up with nothing to get offended by

[Orderlimit]

The name is changed every so often without warning to keep the 'im offended' industry alive and give those who talk nonsense something to do. Just ignore it all & remember we need idiots to make the world go round.

[Orderlimit]

I think it was bi-racial then mixed / dual parentage before dual-heritage but apparently some people found the label dual heritage given to them offensive as it only suggested two backgrounds.

[trt]

*** ridiculous,

What about He/She is Non-White?

Removed swearyness :-)
auntie xxx

[Francis Asis]

No wonder we all get confused and say the wrong thing.

[agchristie]

Can we call her a 'pop star'?

[baza]

I am offended at her being called a pop star, a Z list celeb maybe.

[Mick-the-Miller]

I've never watched it since Carl Vorderman disappeared and even when she was on it I had the sound off!!

[janbee]

No !! We're not allowed to say anything to anyone any more, lest somebody somewhere will be offended. Best to stay buttoned up and say nowt!

[Svejk]

Or start fighting back. Anyone?

[janbee]

I'm with you svejk. Let the fight begin... round one...

[Svejk]

Ding! Ding! ;o)

[Hypognosis]

If I am telling a story about person A and the person listening to the story has not met them (and lives in the wrong part of the world to do so), I am quite fond of NOT mentioning that person A was non-white.

Reason being, I want to see their reaction purely to the events in the story and not have the listener, mistakenly, think that my focus is on their heritage and I am setting out my opinions on an entire group of people.

If you tell a story and feel the need to mention the colour or nationality of one of the protagonists, think carefully about why you feel the need to do that. (Unless you are the ail MilaDy and this is your stock-in-trade). :-P

Personally, I cannot think of any definition of 'race' which doesn't fall over, when subjected to scientific scrutiny, except the one which asserts that there is only the 'human race'.

There is a curious thing about Herring Gulls and Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, whereby the north American Herring gulls get darker the further west you go, darker still, as you go further west across the Russian steppes, until you get Lesser Black-Backed ones in western Europe. They've recently found that they are 100% genetically compatible but simply *choose* not to interbreed, on the whole (unusual hybrids sometimes crop up).

This is sexual selection in action and also a case of choosing a mate based on external looks. I can easily see how the human race became so divergent for similar reasons.

It's unfortunate that we get so hung up about where people come from. More unfortunate that some 19th century gits had to dream up a concept to set us apart from (and 'above') people who were not like them and more unfortunate still that those on the receiving end of the prejudice it engendered still (have to) perpetuate this concept and find it necessary to tell us how much certain nametags offend them as well as when yesteryear's 'more acceptable' tag is this year's unacceptable tag.

Has anyone referenced Cumberbatch's 'senior moment' yet?

[naomi24]

Benedict Cumberbatch when talking on US television recently about racial inequality felt obliged to issue a grovelling apology after referring to black people as ‘coloured’ – despite the fact that an organisation that goes under the title ‘National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’ exists there. Personally I’m sick of all this nonsense. Rather than seeking offence where very clearly none is intended those who bristle at the slightest perceived insult need to get over themselves and join the human race – and the rest of us need to stop pandering to them. They are not a special case.

[Svejk]

I came back to this to give Hypno both barrels. But on reflection, not wanting to get banned, I'll just say I heartily agree with you Naomi.

[Orderlimit]

Looks like France is having a dose of it today:

"We need to stop massacring the symbols of our history in the name of ‘multiculturalism"

http://rt.com/news/226563-france-black-marianne-removed/

[naomi24]

Thank you, Svejk.

[anotheoldgit]

Svejk

/// I came back to this to give Hypno both barrels. But on reflection, not wanting to get banned, ///

Didn't you hear the bell go, I thought that the 'fight' had begun. :0).

[anotheoldgit]

/// -the correct term is Dual Heritage". We're you aware of this? ///

No I wasn't but i will enter it into my dictionary of offensive words volume 10.

I always thought that the correct term was 'half caste'.

[andy-hughes]

If someone said to me - "You're not supposed to say ..." - my instant response would be - says who?

Society belongs to all of us.

We all put our trousers on one leg at a time.

If someone(s) want to set themselves up as dictionary guardians, I would be inclined to ignore them.

I would deal with any issue regarding perceived stereotyping on an individual basis - if someone is offended by a term I use to them, we can disucss it - otherwise, life is just too short to spend watching out for advance imagined perceived offence.

Some people have a dual dose of too much self-importance and too much imagined sensitivity.