Thatcher's golliwog comment...

[spacechimp]

Why is everyone condemning her as racist, when nobody knows which player she was talking about and therefore whether the player does in fact bear resemblance to a golliwog?

[Gromit]

Spelling AOG

The Golliwog was a character in a book and passes the offensive word filter.

GolIywog with a y is an offensive english term for a black person and is censored.

[Everhelpful]

I've got more things to worry about,why don't people get a life!!

[anotheoldgit]

Then you in particular, Gromit should not have made such an insensitive remark.

After all this post is all about people making insensitive remarks.

Remarks such as this should be discouraged regardless of the colour of one's skin.

[anotheoldgit]

Blimey, things are worse than I first thought.

Even the single letter 'Y' is now banned.

[anotheoldgit]

Quinlad

Oh! no we don't want anymore wars starting.

[China Doll]

Those arguing free speech is being imposed on seem to be speaking quite freely as far as I can tell so not too sure what the problem is. We are freely allowed to discuss the whole thing and from what I can tell agree to disagree.

You can't sensor peoples thoughts but going out of your way to be offensive or court controversy does seem rather perverse. It occurs to me that there's no such thing as bad publicity and as such, who leaked the story could well be in question.

As to whether ******** is offensive or not... well they're definitely offensive to my eyes being creepy, ugly little critters but depending in what context the word is being used then no, not offensive. However I don't imagine many people being chuffed at being compared to one physically.

It is not PC to treat people with decorum and respect. Just because a word holds no offence or particular meaning to you does not mean it doesn't to other people. You wouldn't walk up to a black man and call him a ****** or a ********, you wouldn't walk up to a fat person and call them blubber guts, you wouldn't walk up to a teenage girl with a baby and call her a chav so why would you do it behind their backs to complete strangers who may well have an issue with this? It seems rather unnecessary to say the least; especially from a supposed educated woman.

[carsonking]

Can we get some input from a black person please, it seems like it's a load of white people moaning about the rights of another race, who don't seem to be moaning.

[China Doll]

Splat's black, Oneyedvic is of asian descent and those are the two we know of. How do you know others who've commented aren't just because they haven't stated it?

[sp1814]

This is my view as a black man.

If Carol was indeed referring to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (a name which has been bandied about, but not confirmed), then she may be suffering if not from dementia, but at the very least, myopia.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga = http://blogs.abc.net.au/photos/tennis_australi an_open/tsonga.jpg

I mean...seriously. He looks like Mohammed Ali. He's a good looking young man. If she said something like that in front of me, I wouldn't report he to management. I wouldn't complain, I would just wouldn't go out of my way to be in her company.

[naomi24]

Very well said, sp. I agree with you wholeheartedly. Nothing beats dignity and self-respect.

As for Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, all I can say is that if he was the subject of Carole's discussion, then she needs to visit her optician without delay. I don't know many who would kick him out of bed! ;o)

[Quinlad]

I don't know if I'd complain either.

But as soon as I got out of the room, I'd mention it in conversation to my mates - it'd be the first thing I'd do. It's Carol Thatcher! And that person might mention it to someone else. And that person might tell someone else. And then word would get around. And management would find out.

Is that the same as telling tales or 'grassing' or being a sneak? Are the people on this thread who complain about dishonour really having us believe they'd keep it buttoned?

[Grizelda43]

I had heard on the Today programme on Radio 4 that Carol Thatcher was actually talking about Andy Murray's hairstyle. If true, how can that be racist? It seems to me that the BBC are applying double standards. Jonathon Ross is not sacked for making grossly offensive remarks which were heard by many hundreds of thousands of listeners, whilst Carol Thatcher is sacked for making remarks in private. This is not justifiable.

[Gormless]

It's simple, and pathetic. Someone has heard the word "goll---g, however spelt, and all the leftie do-gooders have jumped on the holier-than-thou bandwagon, shrieking "RACISM!" from their ivory towers.

It's risible.

[Quinlad]

If you're so thick that you bandy words around like g0lliw0g in the middle of the BBC while stood next to a famously left-wing comedian and the well-known son of an immigrant, you don't deserve to be on the telly. That's dumb.

You'd also have to be intensely ignorant to not grasp that - however pleasantly you mean it - it's a loaded term with a historical meaning that renders it inadvisable at best. That's dumb.

And you'd have to be utterly dunderheaded to understand both of these things but decide that avoiding the word or saying something else or saving it for your mates would really put you out - so you say it anyway. That's dumb.

So she's either dumb, dumb or dumb. Risible is spot on.

[ELVIS68]

Quinlad, the only thing dumb is you spouting all this so called racist hype

Get a life you moron

[Tisha33]

language is relative to the context it is used in....

my 88yr old gran loves the black weans that live next door!

she loves used to love the coloured weans but she was told that was racist

[Velvetee]

Of course Thatcher is a racist. This is a woman from an elitist background, who has probably never mixed with anyone outside of her class or race. I can only imagine how she must refer to people from the North or people who are not of her class and status.

She also needs to sort her bad hair out too. She should have stuck to radio, as she has the face for it too.

[jno]

I'm a bit baffled by it all, since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga doesn't look remotely like a toy. But apparently Thatcher was sacked not because she said it but because, unlike the hastily contrite Jonathan Ross, she refused to apologise. Hence her punishment is much harsher than Ross's, though his offensive remarks were made in public and hers in private. I suspect some of this may be because (a) the BBC doesn't need her as much as it needs Ross and (b) because of who her mother is.

Both of which are entirely inappropriate reasons.

[jno]

oh, and you'll be pleased to hear they've withdrawn gollies from sale at the shop on the Queen's Sandringham estate.