- Sun Jun 22, 2008 1:36 am
#347692
Oh how I love it when people start getting offended about a subject that really doesn't affect them.
The term 'racist' is a word which is used far too frequently and rarely in the correct situation. It is a very very strong word which can carry serious implications so personally, I avoid using it as much as possible. My dad will refer to going to a Chinese takeaways as a 'Chinkys' and he never goes to the newsagents, he goes to the 'Pakkies' for his pint of milk. Yes, these terms are deemed as offensive and are words that make me shudder when I hear them - but do they make him racist? Does that mean you can lump him in the same category as the people that believe they are better than someone else because of their skin colour?
I don't think so.
People should think very carefully before using 'racist' to describe someones behaviour.
As has already been argued, I can see why the term "coloured" could be taken in a derogatary way, however I would like to assume that the majority of people are intelligent enough to realise that it generally isn't meant like that.
It is natural to pick out specific characteristics about someone in order to describe them - be them tall, small, fat, thin, blonde, ginger, Scottish or even Welsh! If a distinguishing feature of someone is their skin colour, I can't see what the problem is with using that as part of a description.
With regards to the argument specific to Big Brother... I cannot understand why someone would watch a programme like that, hear a word and then be offended by it?!? How can the opinion / slip of the tounge / arrogance of one person possibly be offensive to someone? Fair enough, if it is serious enough then Channel 4 should take the appropriate steps at the time - obviously kids watching should learn that there is right and wrong behaviour etc and that the person who did something wrong got punished for it. But I still can't see how someone sitting on their couch watching it could find it offensive.
Viv - reporting DevilsDuck makes you a muppet. *tuts*