Sen. Barack Obama - US first black president?

[Rich]

Some choose to not use words because of their derivation, others don't care.

The term 'chinky' to whatever it refers has not dropped out of the sky. It is derived from a term coined by bigots.

Some are concerned with this, others are not. I'd assume anyone interested in history would be.

Really, taking a lesson in racism from American is akin to taking a lesson on world peace from Bush

 

[dan-cat]

I never said it related to one specific term

I was assuming it related to the term in some way. Did it not

 

[dan-cat]

Really, taking a lesson in racism from American is akin to taking a lesson on world peace from Bush

I wasn't calling anyone racist, please try to read my posts more carefully.

 

[Rich]

I wasn't calling anyone racist, please try to read my posts more carefully.

When you do the same for me....

 

[dan-cat]

When you do the same for me....

I'll try and clarify for you...

I don't think you're racist if you use a term like 'chinky' believing it contains no racial/derogatory connotations.

I choose not to use the word. Here's why.

The term is a direct derivative of a racist term. To deny this is to argue that the term 'chinky' is completely unaffiliated with the term 'chink'.

I reiterate: Some choose to take a snapshot of their language and decide to take a word like 'chinky', see how everyone else is using it in their own frame of reference, and follow. This isn't necessarily being racist it's just someone not being aware/sensitive of how words come to be.

 

[dan-cat]

Really, taking a lesson in racism from American is akin to taking a lesson on world peace from Bush

It's interesting that you use one's nationality as a pejorative when it suits.

If you could actually seperate my nationality from my argument you may come across as someone with a little more substance.

 

[Rich]

It's interesting that you use one's nationality as a pejorative when it suits.

.

Since I reckon that I've met more "foreign nationals" than most anyone else on here that argument doesn't hold water. Now answer me this, are you or have you ever been a Republican?

 

[dan-cat]

Since I reckon that I've met more "foreign nationals" than most anyone else on here that argument doesn't hold water. Now answer me this, are you or have you ever been a Republican?

Just another weak attempt to elevate yourself above all others

 

[Pauldohert]

not quite..- but there does seem to be a bit of a problem up in manchester .. went there last year to do a talk at a conference - the city centre look very good .- but the news throws a shadow over this ...

i have walked through most parts of London and I have never felt uneasy -- but being a (soft)southern i would probably scream like a baby if anyone pulled a knife on me..would probably need to change the trousers ..

All the stats I found has London as the most dangerous place in the country for guns and knives. Theres similar problems in areas of any town or city in the UK. Of course stats can be twisted all kinds of ways but ..

To say you could walk most of London safely but nowhere in Manchester is ridiculous.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/28/nknife128.xml

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6960431.stm

 

[Rich]

Just another weak attempt to elevate yourself above all others

No weaker than your attempt at branding me a racist

 

[dan-cat]

No weaker than your attempt at branding me a racist

There is no such attempt

 

[Rich]

There is no such attempt

Some choose to not use words because of their derivation, others don't care.

The term 'chinky' to whatever it refers has not dropped out of the sky. It is derived from a term coined by bigots.

Some are concerned with this, others are not. I'd assume anyone interested in history would be.

I'm either a racist or an ignoramus by your definition

 

[dan-cat]

I'm either a racist or an ignoramus by your definition

You're either concerned with it's derivation or you're not. Either way, it doesn't necessarily make you a racist.

 

[Darth Vodka]

red rag to a bull (for me anyway)
the "******" word

the word used to mean people (slaves from the River Niger)

false etymology

it's from french/spanish nigre/negro and if i remember rightly the latin isn't too dissimililar

it's just a hick's pronunciation of 'negro'

 

[Pauldohert]

Is it OK to call a spade a spade - I never knew there could be any problem with this?

 

[Rich]

Is it OK to call a spade a spade -

Not if it's black, ooops, that word's not allowed either

 

[Alc]

It's common in Essex and also in Bristol area to say chinky when referring to the meal.

It's common in a lot of places, as are various other racial insults, doesn't make any of them acceptable. They were all used back when people didn't worry about it and a lot of them came into existence specifically as a way to dehumanise the people being labelled ('gook' especially springs to mind). My Nan used to talk about the paki shop on the corner. Never meant in a derogatory way, she loved the couple who owned it, it just never occurred to her that people might take offence. That was twenty-five years ago. If she was still alive today she wouldn't dream of doing it.

My advice to those in my country who find it offensive is for them to exercise their democratic right to return home

A good friend had a similar remark made to him (albeit in a less tongue-in-cheek manner than your remark) by a gang outside a club in Swansea. We'd just come out and were walking to my car when one of this group - emboldened by booze and superior numbers - shouted out to ask why my friend didn't go back where he came from? My friend calmly replied that we were about to do just that. They didn't like this and a brief 'debate' followed, wherein the word 'chinky' or various derivations thereof was used more than once, after which they gave up on conversation and tried a more physical approach.

I don't like the word. I was born in the UK and I am as British as anyone else (as is my friend, whose parents are Chinese but who was also born in the UK). I find it as emotinally charged as when I've been out with black friends and heard 'the n-word'. Swearing doesn't bother me in the slightest. Insults don't bother me in the slightest, as a rule. For some reason racial insults do. I'm far from being some left-wing ultra-PC type, I just think that certain words aren't necessary and look forward to the day when people outgrow them.

 

[dan-cat]

I'm far from being some left-wing ultra-PC type, I just think that certain words aren't necessary and look forward to the day when people outgrow them.

and for people to get off their high 'freedom of speech' horse and use the intelligence they do have to improve their articulation beyond that of an ignoramus.

 

[Darth Vodka]

Not if it's black, ooops, that word's not allowed either

who said you weren't allowed to use "black" ?

it certainly wasn't my point

 

[Alc]

who said you weren't allowed to use "black" ?

it certainly wasn't my point

There was that nonsense, some years back, about how 'blackboard' was offensive and they had to be called 'chalk boards'.