A Black Dog Named "Digger"?

Charlie have you been in the military

No.

Didn’t think so.

Charlie have you been in the military
No.

Didn’t think so.

Wonderful! You demonstrably were in the army!

Wonderful! You demonstrably were in the army!

And you demonstrably don’t know what you’re talking about!

Hang on lads, let me get the popcorn.

I predict EPIC

Wonderful! You demonstrably were in the army!
And you demonstrably don’t know what you’re talking about!

Well, I’m happy to admit my mistake, I’ll assume your wisdom on the topic and accept that I am wrong and that the army is indeed racist.
See, folks on can change their minds.

precise anyone too tired to read all that

Watching the original film these days you are struck and shocked by the very casual and socially acceptable use of a word that is now pretty taboo.

But in the 1940s calling a dog **** was not derogatory so of course it was socially acceptable – it was simply a popular name for dogs at the time.

If, in 70 years time, calling someone ‘fido’ becomes socially unacceptable it doesn’t make people who call their dogs that now racist does it?

precise anyone too tired to read all that

Well the last bit..

CM: The army can’t be institutionally racist
Backhander:You can’t know you were never in it, ypou don’t know what you are talking about
CM: Ok, you sound like you were in the army, I guess i must be wrong, the army is racist.

the army is racist.

AND DON’T YOU FORGET IT.
Hang on…..

Surely the point is simply this, do we want this film to be a record and celebration of the efforts of Guy Gibson and his men, or, do we want the US blacks and the PC brigade to hijack this film for their own cause because it reminds them of the terrible racism that existed in the US during WWII? Don’t forget, when the US military were stationed in England, and much to the shock and horror of the English, the US black forces were segregated, banned from mixing with their non-coloured fellow serviceman.

🙁

It was all going so well…

It was all going so well…

Care to expand, or shall we just play guessing games?

But in the 1940s calling a dog **** was not derogatory so of course it was socially acceptable

Wasn’t it?

Well according to my good friend Wikipedia:

In A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926), H. W. Fowler states that applying the word **** to “others than full or partial negroes” is “felt as an insult by the person described, & betrays in the speaker, if not deliberate insolence, at least a very arrogant inhumanity”

Moreover
The British Abolition of the Slave Trade Act was 1807
“Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was published in 1852
“Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was 1884
American Civil War was 1861–1865

So I suspect that by the 1940s there was at least a slight knowing intention to it, even if it was perfectly socially acceptable at the time.

Did you own a dog in the 1940s GrahamS?

Ah but TuckerUK, were you ever in the PC Brigade?

Drac – Moderator

perhaps a bit like denying the holocaust?

Yes changing the dog’s name is exactly like that.

Hoy mod, go boil yer head will yer? Airbrushing history thats inconvenient to your belief system is exactly what we are talking about here. If you care to read up on the growth of anti semitism in Nazi Germany you will find it started with very small untruths, nurtured over time, so yes exactly like this. You may care to read up on the work of Leni Riefenstahl in this context.

Don’t forget, when the US military were stationed in England, and much to the shock and horror of the English, the US black forces were segregated, banned from mixing with their non-coloured fellow serviceman.

Tucker UK uses the term english when he means UK in a thread about racism
OH THE IRONING

Ah but TuckerUK, were you ever in the PC Brigade?

That’s so funny I had to show it to my partner and son.

If you knew me you’d know why that was funny. It’s probably not possible to be less PC than me, I try to avoid being PC at all costs.

Well done.

Tucker UK uses the term english when he means UK in a thread about racism

Because Tucker’s family were English and living in England, he can’t speak for the rest of the UK.

so if we change the dogs name according to chaos theory and the laws of unintended consequences we will be gassing black people very soon…it seems highly unlikely can you run the logic past me again?

An incidentally, and despite what the US Wikipedia (sic.) says, the English aren’t a race, they’re a nationality. I’m Caucasian by race.

*pulls up a chair*

biscuit anyone?

I’m human by race.

PC overload in your child’s face.

*pulls up a chair*

biscuit anyone?

Oooh yes please,

I think i’ll have some of those …

TUC Crackers

Mmmm

At the end of the day, I doubt our biggest worry with the film will be the dogs renaming (which incidentally I do disagree with, but I understand perfectly why).

The new film will of course somehow change the whole affair to be a major American achievement, with a couple of wonky toothed underfed Brits in the film just for balance. It’ll probably be a raid by B-17s in daylight.

Oooooooh good call. Are they the TUC Cracker sandwich things with the weird cheese-flavoured substance in them. I love them. Even though i know they’re wrong

I’m human by race.

Yeah, but you ended with the consolation prize in that race didn’t you.

dog rest his soul.

Deus sileo suus niger animus

GrahamS

To further quote Wiki…

**** was portrayed in the 1955 British war film The Dam Busters, in which he was mentioned by name frequently. The word ****, which was in general use as a dog’s name at the time

Which goes back to my original point – people didn’t call their dogs **** because they were racist, they called them it because it was simply a popular dog’s name at the time. Racism isn’t inferred, it is deliberate – calling a black person a **** would be deemed racist (then as well as now), calling a dog **** wasn’t deemed racist in the 1940s because it was simply a dog’s name.

Just like a spade is a digging implement, but directed at a black person it is racist as it is meant in a derogatory manner.

Have you noticed that the script on his grave is similar to that of the Waffen SS?

The dog was obviously a Nazi sympathiser.

The new film will of course somehow change the whole affair to be a major American achievement, with a couple of wonky toothed underfed Brits in the film just for balance. It’ll probably be a raid by B-17s in daylight.

Stephen Fry (English) is writing it and Peter Jackson (Kiwi) is producing it – so it may not be entirely Americanised.

The dog also ate his dinner from a upturned hat that Guy Gibson liked to wear aroung the house…

True story.

ah the good old days
homesexuality was ilegal
dogs could be called ****
and the bins were collected on a weekly basis

obviously a Nazi sympathiser

IIRC he even wore an iron cross on his collar.

IIRc he even wore an iron cross on his collar.

This is FACT.

McHamish, have you just invoked Dogwin’s rule?

Bit, bit, he’s blick!