The Meaning of being a racist

[duncan bulgaria]

I honestly don't want to add fuel to the already sensitive issue in previous threads , but there is a tendency for people to keep calling someone a racist on this board .

Now call me stupid but what is the actual definition of a ' racist' as i really think it gets said all to often without any thought , and i for one think its a really strong word to use and call someone.

I mean if you say the word ' **** ' for instance does that automaticly mean your racist ???

Someone please explain .

 

[OldBlueLady]

You could be racist or you could be very insensitive.
That's the way I see it anyway.

 

[duncan bulgaria]

someone who takes offense to the colour of someone's skin,

and not someone who thinks that dirty **** **** mandela is a terrorist.

Fair play , but in a sentence like ' i'm just popping down the **** shop' does that actually mean the person saying it actually is offended by the shopkeeper himself ??

 

[Crabby Shrimper]

I'd say that the definition of a racist is someone who discriminates against over grounds of race.

These days, with political correctness gone mad, it's far too easy to just finish a debate by shouting "racist" without actually looking at the arguements.

Calling someone a **** is deemed racist, in the same way that ******, Chink, or Wop would be. Really there's no difference between calling a Pakistani a ****, and someone British a Brit. However, the word **** has been used as a general insult for anybody of Asian extraction, and so has become deemed a racist word (if someone was happy, you wouldn't call them gay now, as that's taken on a new meaning too, same kinda thing)

The one thing, however, that the PC enforcers seem to forget is it works both ways. It's as bad to discriminate against someone for not being black as it it to discriminate against a black person.

Another problem is that some people are scared of being accused of being racist, so wont even consider reasoned debate on the issue (whilst others revel in the chance to be controversial) This means that whilst there are problems in this country with regards to immigration and the like, it's nigh on impossible to have a reasoned debate on the matter. This just builds up bad feelings, and exacerbates the general problem.

People have fought wars, and died, to give us freedom of speech, let us not lose it now!

 

[J]

Fair play , but in a sentence like ' i'm just popping down the **** shop' does that actually mean the person saying it actually is offended by the shopkeeper himself ??

Depends if he smells - that's one thing that really gets me, is the smell of those shops.

Anyway, how many people use the word "Chinky" when getting a takeaway?

I've always said - **** is short for pakistani. But people assume it's racist.

 

[loz]

on the original point, i'd say pretty simply that racism is discriminating against someone on the basis of their race or ethnicity. In answer to the question about language ('does saying '****' make somebody a racist?') i'd say it pushes them towards it. Terms like that have been, and continue to be, used as derogatory racial insults. Assuming that the person who says it is aware of that fact, I think they're implicitly endorsing the insult by using it.

 

[duncan bulgaria]

I'd say that the definition of a racist is someone who discriminates against over grounds of race.

These days, with political correctness gone mad, it's far too easy to just finish a debate by shouting "racist" without actually looking at the arguements.

Calling someone a **** is deemed racist, in the same way that ******, Chink, or Wop would be. Really there's no difference between calling a Pakistani a ****, and someone British a Brit. However, the word **** has been used as a general insult for anybody of Asian extraction, and so has become deemed a racist word (if someone was happy, you wouldn't call them gay now, as that's taken on a new meaning too, same kinda thing)

The one thing, however, that the PC enforcers seem to forget is it works both ways. It's as bad to discriminate against someone for not being black as it it to discriminate against a black person.

Another problem is that some people are scared of being accused of being racist, so wont even consider reasoned debate on the issue (whilst others revel in the chance to be controversial) This means that whilst there are problems in this country with regards to immigration and the like, it's nigh on impossible to have a reasoned debate on the matter. This just builds up bad feelings, and exacerbates the general problem.

People have fought wars, and died, to give us freedom of speech, let us not lose it now!

So i'm a 'white hetrosexual male' , what and how would someone be racist towards me to cause me offence , as i can't think of anything that would upset me about someone commenting on either one of them three things. ???

 

[loz]

So i'm a 'white hetrosexual male' , what and how would someone be racist towards me to cause me offence , as i can't think of anything that would upset me about someone commenting on either one of them three things. ???

well err... if someone thinks all white people are stupid, or ugly, or whatever, that would be racist. whether you get offended by it is up to you. Perhaps you get offended by it less because like the rest of us in the UK, you live in a society where power has been dominated by white heterosexual males- we don't tend to feel so oppressed for some reason! :whistling:

 

[J]

you live in a society where power has been dominated by white heterosexual males- we don't tend to feel so oppressed for some reason! :whistling:

you sound rather angry about this. Do you want to be run by thousands of gay black people called Mogando?

 

[loz]

you sound rather angry about this. Do you want to be run by thousands of gay black people called Mogando?

very droll- not angry about anything, just stating a fact.

 

[J]

very droll- not angry about anything, just stating a fact.

Well answer the question then? Would you live in a country with thousands of Black Gay men?

Because if it's a no, surely you're a racist or homophobe? or both?

 

[adam3811]

errm
its strange that..
but I like to have a little joke which could be considered mild racism i guess..
and i do find it funny

but i never (seriously) judge someone or treat someone differently because of their different race..

i really dont think about it ever seriously

 

[Uncle Leo]

Well answer the question then? Would you live in a country with thousands of Black Gay men?

Because if it's a no, surely you're a racist or homophobe? or both?

Well there are about 2,000,000 black people living in the UK, roughly 1,000,000 of whom we can assume are male. Of which, statistically, we can expect about 100,000 to be gay.

So I guess if you live in the UK, you already do live in a country with thousands of black gay men.

 

[J]

Well there are about 2,000,000 black people living in the UK, roughly 1,000,000 of whom we can assume are male. Of which, statistically, we can expect about 100,000 to be gay.

So I guess if you live in the UK, you already do live in a country with thousands of black gay men.

I'm talking about a country of a population of 3,000 and 1 is him the rest are gay and black did i not make that clear? ;)

What i am trying to prove to Loz, is that he isn't the messiah of tollerance he is saying he is.

 

[Benfleet A1]

No you didn't make that clear. I'll answer the question. I would prefer to live in a country where the indigious population are not forever told to change their ways to accommadate those coming in. I fail to see why I should accept other cultures that do not accept mine and that includes traditions of others that don't embrace mine. I dislike being told that my flag offends, our patron saint shouldn't be celebrated, our past glories should be forgotten and our history retaught to applease those that find it offensive. It doesn't, wouldn't and shouldn't happen in other countries where there is a large influx of immigration and I find it offensive that it happens here.

Now change the ****ing tune J and stop looking for a raise.

 

[OldBlueLady]

No you didn't make that clear. I'll answer the question. I would prefer to live in a country where the indigious population are not forever told to change their ways to accommadate those coming in. I fail to see why I should accept other cultures that do not accept mine and that includes traditions of others that don't embrace mine. I dislike being told that my flag offends, our patron saint shouldn't be celebrated, our past glories should be forgotten and our history retaught to applease those that find it offensive. It doesn't, wouldn't and shouldn't happen in other countries where there is a large influx of immigration and I find it offensive that it happens here.

Now change the ****ing tune J and stop looking for a raise.

Obviously we are singing from identical song sheets here.

 

[loz]

I'm talking about a country of a population of 3,000 and 1 is him the rest are gay and black did i not make that clear? ;)

What i am trying to prove to Loz, is that he isn't the messiah of tollerance he is saying he is.

well, i admit i'd miss boobs.

hang on, does that make me sexist? ;)

 

[Benfleet A1]

well, i admit i'd miss boobs.

hang on, does that make me sexist? ;)

Nope, just male.

 

[Forever A Shrimper]

Race is not religion.

 

[bertiebigbanana]

Race is not religion.

No, but as muslims appear to think of themselves as from 'the nation of islam' the boundry's are some what blurred. Anyway, inadvertantly you may have stumbled upon what is the real problem. Religion. I never thought i would see the day in this country where religion would be taken so seriously that one can be prosecuted for offending it? Lets not kid ourselves, this law was not bought in to appease christians who had been the but of many a joke over the years ala Dave Allen. But to satisfy radical muslims who see fit to throw around fatwas at anyone who does not agree with thier side of the story.