would you use the term Oriental.to describe someone from India?
Conversely, in the US they’d say “Asian” to mean people of Chinese (etc) persuasion; indeed, it’s the default meaning of that of that term there rather than what the Brits would understand by it. Is it helpful to lump Eastern and Southern Asia into one conglomerate mass?
It’s not a term I’ve used since 1977, when I witnessed a chinese girl in my class (only ethnic minority in the town at the time) being reduced to tears by some numbskulls screaming it at her. Not cool to use it now imo.
We always have a chino anyway…
YOU can be racist without intent. I see this often. Old folk I work with who use racist stereotyping and terms without meaning it in any derogatory way at all. they don’t realise they are being racist and they don’t mean to be so but they are – just horrendously outdated ideas and language
Which left unchallenged will not change. Historically these terms go back to when discrimination was accepted. Things have moved on so they should no longer be used. Old fashioned racists that refuse to move on are still racist, it is just ingrained that the discrimination is perfectly reasonable. It’s not.
Old fashioned racists that refuse to move on are still racist, it is just ingrained that the discrimination is perfectly reasonable.
Our old next-door neighbour was a very friendly and polite guy in his 70s. When they sold their house he came round to tell us that it was to a ‘single woman, just in case you were worried there would be a family of **** moving in’.
I didn’t challenge him on it as I was so taken aback and it probably wouldn’t have made any difference anyway.
Directly offensive comments (eg, calling someone a chink as opposed to debating whether referring to a “chinky” take-away is racist or not) is similarly forbidden. Would we gain anything by adding “chink” to the swear filter? I doubt it, we’d just repeatedly hit the Scunthorpe problem.
So we can refer to shops owned by black people as **** shops then? And not be racist?
Our old next-door neighbour was a very friendly and polite guy in his 70s. When they sold their house he came round to tell us that it was to a ‘single woman, just in case you were worried there would be a family of **** moving in’.
I didn’t challenge him on it as I was so taken aback and it probably wouldn’t have made any difference anyway
I’m sure many of us would have reacted in the same way (as you, not the old neighbour!), and probably believed that telling him the error of his ways would have little impact. However, consider this scenario: You explain to your old neighbour why the terminology is wrong in a way that he is as ‘taken aback’ as you were by his original statement. Might make him realise that his language is offensive, and no longer acceptable. After all, ignorance is not an excuse.
Poorly, you had to also change another word. Unless you’re suggesting that “light” should also be added to the swear filter, because it’s used in conjunction with chink?
Always think asking for chips / curry sauce in a Chinese takeaway is insulting.
I find that Catholic-grade self-induced guilt neither aids my digestion nor improves the (already excellent) flavour. Although must admit, when ordering from local Cantonese I have this mental image in my mind of a giant Hong Konger chef in the sky. He looks sadly down at me, shaking his tearful face in sorrow at my unnecessary Chinglishness-ness which forces him to continue offering the unholy and evidently racialisticulous and patronisingist menu items.
I similarly insult the Cornish by buying G*nsters. Emmetastic.
Unless you’re suggesting that “light” should also be added to the swear filter, because it’s used in conjunction with chink?
I’m not. I didn’t so much change another word as use another phrase which conveyed the same sentiment.
Trying to demonstrate that adding chink to the swear filter might be a helpful thing and demonstrate some commitment to restrict the use of racist terminology, without limiting our ability to describe certain situations
Unless you’re suggesting that “light” should also be added to the swear filter, because it’s used in conjunction with chink?
I’m not. I didn’t so much change another word as use another phrase which conveyed the same sentiment.
Trying to demonstrate that adding chink to the swear filter might be a helpful thing and demonstrate some commitment to restrict the use of racist terminology, without limiting our ability to describe certain situations
I have fed back to my chinese mate that he is to stop refering to his takeaway as a ‘chinky’ on the advice of the STW majority.
Brilliant, well done. Hopefully in turn he educated you that taking a single example where someone finds something acceptable doesn’t make it universally so.
Trying to demonstrate that adding chink to the swear filter might be a helpful thing
Out of interest, aside from threads specifically talking about racial terms, have you ever seen anyone use the word “chink” as a racial insult on here?
Wouldn’t it be more reasonable if we simply reported a post if it ever comes up, rather than branding people racists for innocently using the word without any intent* to offend?
* there’s that “intent” thing again. Keeps cropping up.
It’s a slippery slope (DYSWIDT?) to start substituting perfectly innocent phrases simply because there is an offensive meaning to one of the words in the phrase when used in a completely different context, particularly when the derivation of the offensive use of the word is completely different to the derivation of the non-offensive use. Though Graham S has helpfully expanded this argument by providing a list of other words you presumably want to add to the swear filter.
The whole swear filter thing… It’s not supposed tob be an exhaustive list of acceptable or unacceptable words, it’s a shortlist of commonly used unacceptable words. It’s not a bloomin whitelist or a set of rules for you to live by. Obvious why **** might be on it when more offensive, rarely used words aren’t.
Out of interest, aside from threads specifically talking about racial terms, have you ever seen anyone use the word “chink” as a racial insult on here?
No, but there are lots of words banned on the basis that they are offensive