Why Isn't It Considered Racist

[lankeela]

when news stories point out that people are black or people of colour - twice this week stories have centred on someone's ethnicity. The woman who trekked to the South Pole was the 'first woman of colour' to do so and now Sidney Poitier is being hailed as the first black actor to win an Oscar for Best Actor. Surely that is being racist by pointing it out?

[davebro]

//AB craziness and gormlessness runs out of control//

I know - I don't know why we bother with it Peter!

[bobbinwales]

I have no issues with poitier... he overcame discrimination or lack of belief in black people.
But the artic explorer one seemed patronising to me... as if 'she did well for a non white person'.

[sp1814]

lankeela

"Surely that is being racist by pointing it out?"

Not really.

Just like when people refer to Margaret Thatcher being the UK first female PM. It's notable because it's a first.

When someone is the first to achieve something of merit, it's natural to refer to it.

[archibaldy]

// People have been trekking to the South Pole for over 100 years, so how come it's taken this long for a woman of colour to do so? //

I don’t know, but the South Pole is just ‘there’ isn’t it.. Nobody is stopping anybody going there if they have the motivation.

She isn’t the first woman of colour to go there but she was the first to make a solo trek, of which the first woman (of no colour) to do that was in 1994. I just can’t imagine that there was some massive racial inequality in solo skiing that has somehow recently been sorted out.

[vulcan42]

As far as I know, Margaret Thatcher was never referred to as the first white woman to become prime Minister because the media assumed nearly everybody knew who she was. The same applies to Sidney Poitier, there was no need to refer to him being black because the majority knew that. I agree with naomi, stop talking about colour and treat people as people.

[douglas9401]

Archibaldy, could it be then that women as a whole and black women in particular have more sense than to go traipsing off into the jaws of death for no real reason?

[DTCwordfan]

Blimey, Countryfile had an interview with Molly Hughes who retraced hackleton's steps and solo-crossed the Antarctic - she wasn't black or coloured and hinted that she was of Devonian extraction but lived in Edinburgh....

[archibaldy]

That could well be the case Doug, it’s certainly the ‘barrier’ that’s stopped me from doing it.

[sp1814]

vulcan42

Sidney Poitier was the first black man to win an Oscar.

It was notable because he was the first black man to win an Oscar during a time when role for black actors and actresses were extremely limited.

Margaret Thatcher was the first woman to become PM. Th comparison is not race here but the fact that they were the first 'of their kind' to achieve a notable position.

It's not racist to mention Mr Potier's race in the same way that it's not sexist to refer or Mrs Thatcher's gender. The comparison you make isn't right because it's not Margaret Thatcher's race that was novel, but her gender.

It wasn't Sidney Potier's gender that was novel, but his race.

It's laudable to celebrate those who have broken through.

[Cloverjo]

I agree with sp1814, but I was surprised about the newspapers’ celebration of the woman who trekked to the South Pole being ‘of colour’.

[10ClarionSt]

The Black & White Minstrel Show is viewed as racist now, but it wasn't back then. It was very popular and enjoyed by millions. It wouldn't even be given a thought these days due to the country being overtaken by whingeing BLM hypocrites.

[1ozzy]

It's not considered racist because black lives matter.
If it were published as a first white person then that would be racist.

[sp1814]

10ClarionSt

Not sure how your post fits in to the thread.

[naomi24]

If you want a level playing field stop insisting on defining people - and their achievements - by their colour. Gender, fine - men and women ARE different - but colour? How does that make a difference to anything?

[Togo]

// men and women ARE different - but colour? How does that make a difference to anything?//

Is it because we expect less from "people of colour" ... and are being influenced to take that view, even today, by making a bit of a fuss over any notable effort from them?

[vulcan42]

sp1814,Why did Sidney Poitier win an Oscar? It was because he was a brilliant actor, mentioning his colour wasn't necessary.

[andy-hughes]

naomi - // - ... but colour? How does that make a difference to anything? //

The difference in physiology between races is clear in sport.

The vast majority of running athletes are black, the vast majority, in fact I think all, the swimming athletes are not.

[naomi24]

In that case when a white man wins a race against a black man, shouldn’t we be lauding that as a special achievement?

[andy-hughes]

naomi - // In that case when a white man wins a race against a black man, shouldn’t we be lauding that as a special achievement? //

Clearly it happens with sufficient frequency not to be worthy of mention.

Just because physiology is different does not guarantee an outcome in a physical contest.

[naomi24]

//Just because physiology is different does not guarantee an outcome in a physical contest. //

Even more reason to applaud it when the 'underdog' wins.