Racism

how many Bobs were there?

how many Bobs were there?

Ka-pow! Nice one Junks!

Junkyard – Member
how many Bobs were there?

So one for racist then.

I saw a film which had English Bob in. He was white, so that’s possibly two living there.
Then I saw a telly programme that had a Bob in, who turned out to be a girl!!!.
So I don’t know if that counts.

So one for racist then.

I think that was one for “stupid question”. That’s two including me.

Then I saw a telly programme that had a Bob in, who turned out to be a girl!!!.

WOOOOF!

😉

Then I saw a telly programme that had a Bob in, who turned out to be a girl!!!.

WOOOOF!

😉

Then I saw a telly programme that had a Bob in, who turned out to be a girl!!!.

WOOOOF!

😉

Oh, FFS…

That’s never happened before, honest… 😳

zimbo – Member

So one for racist then.

I think that was one for “stupid question”. That’s two including me.
surely it was a reasonable question? He was Black and his house was referred to as Black Bobs house. The amount of Bobs in the village is irrelevant. is it racist was the question. You both appear to be unable to answer. just like everyone has chosen to ignore this

A bit like the police and the Social workers denying that the raping disproportionately of white Christian children by Muslims of Pakistani origin was not racism or sectarianism. And nor was the Muslims elders statement racist or sectarian that the cause was a lack of self-respect by the children.

just like everyone has chosen to ignore this

Fish ain’t biting, eh?

I think we can cut the Poles/Ukrainians etc. a tiny bit of slack. They’re societies in transformation, lurching from communism to capitalism in a very short space of time

+1

Scotland in the 80s wasnt exactly a liberal paradise. Shops were **** and going for fish and chips was going to the Chinky. We had exactly one black guy in Perth. Nickname? Nig. I think anywhere with a black population close to zero is a bit like that.

And I’m with Ernie, come to this country you have to live and let live, otherwise please bugger off back to Poland/Ukraine/Pakistan/wherever. We can all rub long just fine……

zimbo – Member

just like everyone has chosen to ignore this

Fish ain’t biting, eh?

Doesn’t look like it……..or are you liberal middle class having difficulty finding an excuse for it.

Regarding : “Black Bobs House”

Presumably he was Black.
And called Bob.
And it was his House.

So it is an accurate description, and not derogatory.

If there were no other Bobs in the village, then it was overly descriptive and pointless.

But as there was no derogatory words or intent, then it’s not racist no.

Pointless possibly, but not racist.

(that doesn’t mean the people who used that term weren’t racist, just that the description itself isn’t.)

Police found one “cultural differences”

nealglover – Member
Regarding : “Black Bobs House”

Pointless possibly, but not racist.
Hardly pointless it was very good way of describing a route as everyone knew black Bob as like the gay he was the only one in the village or any village that I can think of on the Wolds

(that doesn’t mean the people who used that term weren’t racist, just that the description itself isn’t.)

I will put you down as a don’t know so 2 for racist and one don’t know?

I will put you down as a don’t know so 2 for racist and one don’t know?

That’s two for “stupid question” and one for “stupid question, but let me explain…”

Wot he said

I can’t believe all the negativity on this thread.
Yes, isolated racist incidents happened. But they are not more common than anywhere else. The piss-poor BBC documentary is very misleading and caused considerable grief and disgust in Poland.
I am Polish living in UK and have been a subject to racist insults, got the windscreen of my car smashed, eggs thrown at my windows because I am Polish and allegedly take the jobs away from good British people (I don’t I am a PhD student). So should I advocate that Olympics should not be happening in London? That’s ridiculous.
Marcin

It’s easy not being racist in countries where racism is disapproved of by the majority and tolerance is the norm. Now visit anywhere in North Africa as an independant traveller where streetwise = racist = safety. I think some people on this thread might realise they are perfectly capable of being racist when the circumstances demand it.

Yes, isolated racist incidents happened. But they are not more common than anywhere else

Yeah sorry Marcin, I should have added to my post that I was in Krakow recently, and I saw no signs whatsoever of overt racism. I was referring only to the football-based racism, and I don’t for a minute imagine that’s representative of most fans, and certainly not of the general population of Poland. Apologies.

Travelled across north Africa about 10 years ago and tbh I am not sure what you mean – not attacking you whatever you think.
I have spoken to people about their behaviour and been really really rude to them and threatening [ insulting their mum gets their attention IME] but never felt the need or urge to be racist.

I think some people on this thread might realise they are perfectly capable of being racist when the circumstances demand it.

I travel the world for work. I go to all manner of places where racism is the “norm”. Russia and China as a couple of examples in recent months.

Just because it’s the “norm” there, doesn’t mean I have to or will stoop to such a low level as to be a racist.

marcinski – Member

a reasonable arguement………may I suggest you are on the wrong site? This site is for the Po faced Liberal middle class who spend there days driving big petrol guzzling cars while telling everyone how they are saving the world by riding a bike……….once a month

That’s me he’s talking about. 16 times a month though.

zimbo – Member

Yes, isolated racist incidents happened. But they are not more common than anywhere else

Yeah sorry Marcin, I should have added to my post that I was in Krakow recently, and I saw no signs whatsoever of overt racism. I was referring only to the football-based racism, and I don’t for a minute imagine that’s representative of most fans, and certainly not of the general population of Poland. Apologies.

Opps look whose bottled out? What is the difference in your words/behaviour and that of a racist?

This site is for the Po faced Liberal middle class

Oh dear. Do you have any idea how wrong you are?

that is true flashy is many things but LIBERAL – yee gods he hates how those **** are watering down the tories 😉
and middle class how very dare you belittle him like that. 😀

I love you, Junky. You know that, don’t you?

😉

SD-253

Nice try mate. Finding that chip on your shoulder a bit heavy?

Go on, you’ve got an axe to grind. Tell us what you think.

Opps look whose bottled out? What is the difference in your words/behaviour and that of a racist?

Have you been eating too much cheese? WTF are you talking about? Your racist delusions are addling your brain, son.

Bullsh*t ernie. What’s wrong with “shop”??

Because **** shop is something specific, ie, it’s a shop which sells everything, including shoelaces – which is more than poxy Waitrose does, and it’s open very late. Yes, people use it between themselves without a shred of racist intent. But no, you wouldn’t use it when talking to an asian shop owner as it would be seen as impolite – it’s not rocket science, just commonsense.

Likewise I probably wouldn’t refer to someone as being “as bent as a nine bob note” when talking to a gay person, because they might feel insulted, despite the fact that I’m not in the least homophobic. Similarly I have never used the term ‘carpet muncher’ when talking to my lesbian sister, because I don’t want to offend her, but it’s a term which I otherwise freely use.

Of course if you or JY were to use the term **** then that would be completely unacceptable, because you both very clearly see it as a racist insult, whatever the circumstances. But it can be used without any racist intent, as it was famously in the film East is East when the young boy comes running announcing “the **** are coming”, despite the fact that his father is Pakistani.

Some people just speak like that, it doesn’t make them racists. And calling them racists really doesn’t help. Although I don’t expect you to agree of course.

I agree ernie you can use coarse and vulgar and racist language without being any of these things…I am not sure why anyone would choose to but you could.

I note even you would not use the terms to someone who you refer to by those terms….if only you could be polite about them when they cannot hear you but its your choice.

I remember leaving the North and the term love is used by everyone to everyone. It took me some time to stop saying it to female strangers as it was not taken in the way it was meant. I managed to adapt as I was not a sexist and did not want to be viewed as one. I see little way in which **** or carpet muncher can be interpreted as anything other than derogatry terms and I would not want to use them.

ernie_lynch – Member
If a Pole starts whingeing to me about black people then it is highly likely that I will tell them to **** off back to Poland. Makes sense after all, doesn’t it ?

Really?
First, and more important than what follows, fair play for standing up to it.
But what would you say to a “native” racist? and why respond differently to a Polish racist?

I’m also surprised you chose to use Eastern Europeans in construction as a example. IME (London construction), they suffer far more racist abuse in this country than other groups. And not just talk and attitude but actual discrimination that causes their lives to be harder than they would be otherwise.
Really sh1te jobs on site are solved with “Get an ‘Ian on it.” – Romanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Albanian, Ukrainian, Pole. Doesn’t matter where they come from, “They’re all the same” is a common attitude.
And if they object they get told: “If you don’t like it, **** off back to Poland?”
So the chances are, they’ve heard your quip before. Could that be reinforcing racism?

Going on to your “**** point”. You’re right there. In two years on site in Stratford, I heard it on a daily basis. Between three Pakistani lads from Newham as a term of endearment. It’s as if its been “reclaimed”, a little like N in America. If you got on with them they’d call you **** too. A little weird at first to a suburban white boy, but it takes all the aggression out of the term.

When Australia beat Pakistan in 1990 I was surprised that the sports headline was “we bash the ****.”
Seems it’s just an abbreviation in Australia.
My friend always calls it going down the ‘Stani’s when referring to the local shop. To be honest it’s a foregone conclusion that any corner shop will be run by Asians.
From what I can see of this thread no one is saying racism is a good thing , yet we still seem to be able to have a good barney whilst not actually disagreeing.

It was only 1988 when I went to a Wolves match and the home fans all chanted ‘Bruno’ when Floyd Wright took to the pitch…. not exactly champions of the cause here

Junkyard – Member

I agree ernie you can use coarse and vulgar and racist language without being any of these things…I am not sure why anyone would choose to but you could.

I note even you would not use the terms to someone who you refer to by those terms….if only you could be polite about them when they cannot hear you but its your choice.

I remember leaving the North and the term love is used by everyone to everyone. It took me some time to stop saying it to female strangers as it was not taken in the way it was meant. I managed to adapt as I was not a sexist and did not want to be viewed as one. I see little way in which **** or carpet muncher can be interpreted as anything other than derogatry terms and I would not want to use them.

Well that’s where we differ JY. I would say something along the lines of “that guy over there next to the fat bastard”, but I wouldn’t dream of calling the bloke a fat bastard to his face, not necessarily because I might get a smack in the teeth, but because to do so would be clearly very rude.

I’ve got to say JK, you must be a nightmare to hold a conversation with in real life, if you pull people up or get offended so easily by the innocent use of words. Talking to you must be like walking on eggshells 😐

IME (London construction), they suffer far more racist abuse in this country than other groups.

Hahaha, what a load of bollox. Racism is pretty much non-existent on London building sites. It would be total chaos if there was.

I’ve read all 5 pages of this post and have a few questions.

@zimbo, you went to Krakov and didn’t see any racism. Can I ask what colour your skin is?

@earnie
What if there’s more than one ‘****’ shop, how do you further distinguish?

If your local shop was owned by an african/west Indian would you say **** shop?

But offence is taken when a foreigner (of the same race as you) Caucasian I’m guessing, refers to black people as monkeys. Maybe like you he was using the term ‘monkeys’ as a descriptive term.

If your local shop was owned by an african/west Indian would you say **** shop?

No I wouldn’t. Does that surprise you then ?

I never use the word **** under any circumstances. It is pretty much always used with racist intent by some white people.

I’m starting to think that either I live on another planet to some of the people on this thread, or they want to play silly bollox by pretending that they don’t understand commonsense.