Shocked at my friend.

suki1964

blimey, you want to live here, anyone who is neither "white" or Chinese - is a darky - and theres not one who will say theu aare racist - its just the words they use - still

Killed me when the stepdaughter moved to live with us. The EA decided to put her in a school that was predominately children who were non Caucasian. I had to explain it really wasnt the best choice of school for a lass who had never known a non Caucasian in her life before because she would use the term darkie

Her dad ( hubby) isnt really much better. Hes a lot better then he was but because he too was bought up in a caucasion area, he too sees colour. I remember I invited a friend round to have dinner and stay the night. Hubby walks in from work, comes says hello, passes himself, has a good time. Later in bed he turns and says " you never told me she was black" !!:(

Neither my step daughter nor hubby are racist, they have just never lived or worked in a mixed race society and they have grown up where "darkie" is still a term freely used, People of colour are still an oddity here. We have had friends staying with us and been in bars where it seemed like half the bar took a detour to come gawk at the "darkies"

Gonna be great fun when my niece and BIL comes visit - she wears a hijab and he wears a thawb

PasturesNew

Feral_Moon wrote: »

Are you so dim that you can't think of a hundred or more redeeming features a person might have other than their skin colour??? I'm truly shocked at these responses.

In a crowd of Caucasian people, how would you distinguish one from another? Is everyone identical other than skin colour!?

In a crowd of white people .... (not caucasian as that's American TV cop-speak in my eyes) .... there might not be anything specific that's different enough to be an identifier. "Ginger one, one with glasses, fat one, tall one..." in a crowd it might also be apparel "red jacket, hat...."

You use the most quickly noticeable difference as a descriptor, in a crowd/stranger situation where names/roles etc aren't known.

Is it sexist to refer to the television morning news presenters by the descriptors "the bloke" or "the woman"? And if they were both of the same sex and different colours, you'd then use a colour to describe which one you meant. "The bloke on the news this morning said....."

Pollycat

Feral_Moon wrote: »

I'm sure you're quite able to educate her against using such offensive terms. Unless you share them, of course!

It's not always easy to 'educate' older people who grew up in a 'white' Britain.

My Mum is the same and no amount of 'educating' will ever get her to change.
That doesn't mean I haven't tried, I've hushed her when she's said something that I think of as offensive and no, I don't share her views.

But what was his excuse?

Prince Harry's racist remark about a Pakistani member of his army platoon has prompted widespread criticism.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7822883.stm

stclair

Feral_Moon wrote: »

I'm sure you're quite able to educate her against using such offensive terms. Unless you share them, of course!

I personally don't find them offensive its political correctness gone mad. Just to elaborate my mother is white and my father is black Afro Caribbean so she or myself is far from untoward in any way.

Person_one

suki1964 wrote: »

blimey, you want to live here, anyone who is neither "white" or Chinese - is a darky - and theres not one who will say theu aare racist - its just the words they use - still

Killed me when the stepdaughter moved to live with us. The EA decided to put her in a school that was predominately children who were non Caucasian. I had to explain it really wasnt the best choice of school for a lass who had never known a non Caucasian in her life before because she would use the term darkie

Her dad ( hubby) isnt really much better. Hes a lot better then he was but because he too was bought up in a caucasion area, he too sees colour. I remember I invited a friend round to have dinner and stay the night. Hubby walks in from work, comes says hello, passes himself, has a good time. Later in bed he turns and says " you never told me she was black" !!:(

Neither my step daughter nor hubby are racist, they have just never lived or worked in a mixed race society and they have grown up where "darkie" is still a term freely used, People of colour are still an oddity here. We have had friends staying with us and been in bars where it seemed like half the bar took a detour to come gawk at the "darkies"

Gonna be great fun when my niece and BIL comes visit - she wears a hijab and he wears a thawb

Jeez, where the hell do you live, 1955? :eek:

How can people of colour be an oddity if there are enough living in your area that there is a school that is 'predominantly non white'?

Petra_70

Good grief there are some over-sensitive and politically correct people on here. I am pleased that I live in an area where people are not so ridiculously over sensitive. I would hate to be afraid to speak for fear of being jumped on! As many have said, this terminology snobbery is just stupid.

barbarawright

suki1964 wrote: »

blimey, you want to live here, anyone who is neither "white" or Chinese - is a darky - and theres not one who will say theu aare racist - its just the words they use - still

Killed me when the stepdaughter moved to live with us. The EA decided to put her in a school that was predominately children who were non Caucasian. I had to explain it really wasnt the best choice of school for a lass who had never known a non Caucasian in her life before because she would use the term darkie

Her dad ( hubby) isnt really much better. Hes a lot better then he was but because he too was bought up in a caucasion area, he too sees colour. I remember I invited a friend round to have dinner and stay the night. Hubby walks in from work, comes says hello, passes himself, has a good time. Later in bed he turns and says " you never told me she was black" !!:(

Neither my step daughter nor hubby are racist, they have just never lived or worked in a mixed race society and they have grown up where "darkie" is still a term freely used, People of colour are still an oddity here. We have had friends staying with us and been in bars where it seemed like half the bar took a detour to come gawk at the "darkies"

Gonna be great fun when my niece and BIL comes visit - she wears a hijab and he wears a thawb

I went to an all-white school. I can honestly say I have never in my life used the term 'darkie' because it's completely offensive and I am genuinely stunned that anyone can think otherwise in 2015. I bet it's not been used as a normal term on telly or in a film since the days of Love Thy Neighbour. Seriously, how can anyone think it's not racist?

missbiggles1

Feral_Moon wrote: »

Are you so dim that you can't think of a hundred or more redeeming features a person might have other than their skin colour??? I'm truly shocked at these responses.

In a crowd of Caucasian people, how would you distinguish one from another? Is everyone identical other than skin colour!?

Personally (if I were black) I'd rather be described as the black one rather than the fat one, the ugly one or the one with the awful haircut! Apart from anything else, those are subjecctive rather than objective descriptors.

suki1964

Person_one wrote: »

Jeez, where the hell do you live, 1955? :eek:

How can people of colour be an oddity if there are enough living in your area that there is a school that is 'predominantly non white'?

Nope I live in NI and outside of Belfast it's rare to see anyone who is black other then tourists

My step daughter has lived here all her life other then the two years she lived with me in London. Hence the schooling problem

Believe me when I moved here I would cringe at the terms used. However I'm now used to it, I don't see everyone as racist, just this is how it is

barbarawright

suki1964 wrote: »

Nope I live in NI and outside of Belfast it's rare to see anyone who is black other then tourists

My step daughter has lived here all her life other then the two years she lived with me in London. Hence the schooling problem

Believe me when I moved here I would cringe at the terms used. However I'm now used to it, I don't see everyone as racist, just this is how it is

I still don't get how there is a whole school full of black people who are apparently not seen on the streets. And there are plenty of parts of the country where black people a rarity - East Anglia for example - but I doubt all the locals talk like they were in a 19th century boys adventure story.