racism

[milkybarkid]

is it racist to call a black person "coloured"? another ABer said it and i thought that wasn't very politically correct. is this right?

[bill barlow]

corbyloon.........................strictly speaking white is not a colour, but I take your point. My point is we are allowed to say "white" but people find the words "coloured" and "black" offensive.

I resort to profanities because my typing is very slow but still wish to get my point across.

OK??

[Clanad]

Funny how things come full circle... spending summers with my grandparents in the southern U.S., I quickly found that the surest way to be on the receiving end of a disapproving look ar a quick "Shush!" from one of my grandparents was to say something about a "black" man or woman. They were to referred to (respectfully, by the way)as "colored". Later, that went out of style and Negro became the popular choice, followed by African American. Now, it seems, 'person of color' is the most politically concise... hmmm... no wonder I'm confused...

[bill barlow]

clanad....................I think as long as you don't say "black" you should be ok, which is strange because they are black. I can see some cause for confusion there. What about "fellow human"?? That should be safe................for now.

[Drisgirl]

I think that the only time skin colour should be differentiated between is when its an act of crime and a description of the assailant or robber is crucial.O therwise it bugs me that,as I have said before,people come home from the hospital and say I was seen by a nice coloured doctor.A nice doctor would suffice.Thank you.

[madein1978]

I'm just trying to prove that racism is a trait that we are all guilty of at one time or another, regardless of the colour of our skin. The colour of your skin doesn't even matter as far as I'm concerned, the colour bit is actually a clever bit of nature, the blacker you are the hotter the place you originate from and I don't see where people have issue on colour. I could say more but I'm not entering into another firey debate about race!

[Pippa68]

All the black people I either know or got into conversations with prefer to be known as black. To be honest I have never thought of 'black' being a derogatory term (for an example see MOBO awards).

Now, my grandad used to call black people 'darkies' hmmmmmm.

[bill barlow]

Drisgirl......................whats the difference????

A nice Scotish doctor or nurse?? Its a description of somebody, not normally meant in a derogatary manner, just a bloody description!! Why do people get so uptight about it???????? It can only be an inferiority complex.

[THECORBYLOON]

bill barlow would you say you seen a nice West Country doctor? As for fcalling folk "uptight," you use profanities because you are a very slow typist. A case of the pot calling the kettle coloured perhaps.........

[Drisgirl]

bill - just unneccessary IMO.

[Englishbird]

milkybarkid, in my humble opinion, and ignoring yet another row about this, words come in and out of fashion. These days black is generally preferable to coloured, although this hasn't always been the way as Clanad so rightly and calmly has said.

However, there are the 'cape coloured's' from South Africa, which are a mix between black and indian. As far as I know, it is not offensive to refer to them as coloured.

My friend's mum is black, her dad white, I referred to her 'half caste' for years as when we were kids that is how it was known. It is now more fashionable to say mixed race, so I do, although it took me quite a while to remember.

The long and the short of it is that attitudes matter, not words, it can be very hard to keep up with changing fashions, but as long as you have the right intention, I don't think it's all that important.....

unless you're my grandmother who still uses the term 'darkies'! She's not racist in the slightest, but if you can explain to her that she shouldn't use it, then be my guest.

[bill barlow]

corbyloon..............what are you trying to say???

[bill barlow]

drisgirl............unneccesary maybe but do you object to "nice female doctor" Whats the difference??

[Drisgirl]

equally unneccessary.

[Drisgirl]

Englishbird - laughing at your comment re your grandmother:)

It is a generation thing at times!!.

[bill barlow]

drisgirl.........................why say "nice" and "doctor"...............why not just "I was seen by a person"???

[Drisgirl]

bill - google pedantic for the definition.Plenty others have given their opinion - have you ran out of people?

Dont answer on second thoughts:)

[bill barlow]

ok

[joko]

this "evidence" came from a site not entirely unlike this one, in the sense that ANYONE can submit a definition for a word - so hardly conclusive proof!!

"booyakasha is an african term that means, 'all death to the whites,' that is the literal translation of it, and dont bother contesting it because you are wrong"

It also had an addition immediately after it -

"there is no example for the use of this word"

Sounds like an intelligent and well thought out entry from a mature individual - not!

No one said you made it up, just that you were wrong in rather smugly claiming was a fact.

Yet more garbled, off topic, ranting - yawn...

[sp1814]

madein1978 - "They call us honkies"? What's the weather like back there in 1978?

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you're playing devil's advocate, because if you're not then you have to be without doubt, the most ill-educated person I've come across in my adult life.

For the record, I'm black, and I accept that there are members of the older generation who genuinely think of that term as offensive. If they have to refer to my racial background (and there are occasions when that's required everyone), then I have no problem with them using the term 'coloured'. It's almost sweetly nostalgic in a way.

If someone my age used the term 'coloured', I would find that strange, as the term has fallen out of general use. It would be like referring to a woman as a 'bird'. You may as well put on flares and listen to ELO - it's that old fashioned.

[sp1814]

madein1978

I've just read your post about 'Micks' and 'Jocks' and realise that you're not playing devil's advocate, and that this is really what you think.

If only you could see the look in my face. Don't you realise that it's technically impossible for one white Northern European to be 'racist' to another.

Go on...let's see if you can work it out.

I'll give you 24 hours...and perhaps some crayons and a stack of white paper.

Or should I call that 'honky paper'.