Political Correctness

[ríomhaire]

Political correctness realy gets my goat, sorry, I mean male sheep.
You cannot call black people black or negro
You cannot call Japanese Japs even though it is short for Japanese
You cannot call gay people gay
You must call you girlfirend / boyfriend / husband / wife your partner

Pizza day is now Italian American sauce bread day

 

[CptStern]

japs is a derogatory term from ww2 ..negro is also a derogatory word held over from slavery. Gay people dont mind being called gay. And I call my wife "my wife"

btw you can blame the religious right for the "partner" moniker ...they dont want gay marriage so they'd prefer to leave it at "partner"

 

[Naudian]

I think calling someone black is better than calling them African American or something :\

You must call you girlfirend / boyfriend / husband / wife your partner

WTF?

 

[ríomhaire]

negro is also a derogatory word held over from slavery

That's niger, negro is the correct term and corcasian(spelling?) is the correct term for white people.

 

[Nofuture]

Negro is not quite OK, I think.

But what from these two is correct:

Black or African American (German etc.)? Or smth. else...??

 

[short recoil]

I'll just start off by saying that i am not racist in any way.......

I think it is wrong for the level of political correctness to be at the level it is, people treat a black person with more "respect" or differently because they are afraid of not being racist.
I hate the idea of companies saying "we are equal oppurtunities employers" and then you find out it is in their policy to aim for at least 5 new ethnic minority groups a year.

If i was black and i was given "special treatment" i would feel offended..........people shoud be treated equally and on skill/behaivour not on race.

An example is what my friend had at paintball recently, there was a black player there and when they were in the "safe zone" everyone is meant to have a barrel plug in and safety catch on (everyone has goggles off so for saftey reasons)......while standing the black person discharged a shot into the ground, normally the response would be "what the hell are you playing at!!!!!......whatch what your doing" e.t.c

The marshall looked over and didn't say anything, then quietly walked over and made the gun safe.
He was white and i believe he felt too awkward to "shout at him" ......its the same everywhere i go, people treat people diffrently depending on the colour of their skin, not what they have done.

There are plenty of examples of this and its wrong.

 

[CptStern]

That's niger, negro is the correct term and corcasian(spelling?) is the correct term for white people.

yes but no one refers to themselves anymore by that word ..negro was used extensively before the black-pride movement of the 60's when they started referring to themselves as black

 

[kirovman]

I don't know where the word Caucasian comes from, but everytime I hear it, in my mind I think of terribly inaccuracies.

If you've been to Russia, you will notice Caucasians come from the South of Russia, (The Caucus region, near Georgia I suppose).
It is an official nationality of Russia.

http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/ru-ske.html

Now, this nationality tends to be quite dark skinned.

So I just don't see how white European types started calling themselves Caucasians? It's a case of mistaken identity, IMO.

As for political correctness, I thought black, white and asian, chinese, etc were the commonly accepted norms? There's nothing wrong, immoral, racist or offensive with those descriptions, I feel.

It does get a little annoying when the dress it up with words like "Caucasian" (see above), "African-American" "English-American" "Estonian-American", to try to appear culturally sensitive, on face value.

But did anyone ever ask these cultures and people what they want to be called? Probably not. They'd probably be offended by the ignorance shown when you took it upon yourself to label them yourselves.

Actually making a big deal out of it to try and (pretend to) be sensitive, to save your own face, is still racism, and I believe both positive and negative discrimination are bad things.

 

[KoreBolteR]

cant we just call them black...?
i wud find calling them negro as offensive..

we are all the same.. its just some names are harsh to indvidualize races from other races. (if you catch my drift)

 

[CptStern]

Caucasian like the other races is just a set of physical characteristics ..it's really quite meaningless because I could be from sweden, blond and blue-eyed and be considered caucasian or I could be from India, very dark skinned and still be considered caucasian

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

Edit: Thought this was better.
"Negro means the color black in both Spanish and Portuguese languages, being derived from the Latin word niger of the same meaning.

The term "negro", literally "black," was used by the Spanish and Portuguese to refer to black Africans and people with that heritage. From the 18th century to the mid-20th century, "negro" (later capitalized) was considered the correct and proper term for African Americans. It fell out of favor by the 1970s in the United States. In current English language usage, "Negro" generally is considered acceptable only in a historical context or in the name of older organizations, as in the United Negro College Fund, and is in more common use among those born before the post World War II baby boom."

Just go on wikipedia to find stuff out about this. I wodner how long it will be until African American is considered a racist term.

I couldn't care less if someone calls me a Brit. Yet saying Paki, instead of Pakistani is racist :| Its just easier to say but apparently its racist.

 

[Nofuture]

Actually making a big deal out of it to try and (pretend to) be sensitive, to save your own face, is still racism, and I believe both positive and negative discrimination are bad things.

I don´t see how it is racism if I want to use a proper term not to offend somebody.

 

[Razor]

Edit: Thought this was better. "Negro means the color black in both Spanish and Portuguese languages, being derived from the Latin word niger of the same meaning."

I couldn't care less if someone calls me a Brit. Yet saying Paki, instead of Pakistani is racist :| Its just easier to say but apparently its racist.

I think the derogatory term for a Brit is a "Limey", bonus points for whomever can explain why the yanks call us limeys :hmph:

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

I know thats what it is. I was making the comparison though that Brit isn't a racist term, yet Paki is. Even though its the exact same thing happening.

 

[kirovman]

I think the derogatory term for a Brit is a "Limey", bonus points for whomever can explain why the yanks call us limeys :hmph:

Because of our vitamin C obsessions.

Anyway, whatever word you use there's always going to be someone who will be able to use it for derogatory meanings.

I don´t see how it is racism if I want to use a proper term not to offend somebody.

Yes, but did you ask these people to see if they found it acceptable?

 

[short recoil]

I think the derogatory term for a Brit is a "Limey", bonus points for whomever can explain why the yanks call us limeys :hmph:

May be completely off track with this but is it anything to do with early british maratime travel to the americas (independance war)
The british navy carrying limes to provide vitamin C....limes being a fruit that happens to keep for a longer time because of citric acid?

As i said, thats probably completely wrong.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

"In Argentina and Cuba, negro is a word commonly usually used to refer to friends or people in general, and does not have blatantly racist connotation. For example, one may say to a friend, "Oye, negrito. Como estás?" Literally, that translates as, "Listen (or "Hey"), little negro, how are you?" Here, "negro" is used in its diminutive form, as a term of endearment meaning "pal", or "buddy" or "friend." "Negrito" has come to be used to refer to a person of any ethnicity or color, and also can have a sentimental or romantic connotation similar to "sweetheart," or "dear" in English."

Though that was interesting as well. Funny how words that some people take so hard, mean something completely innocent somewhere else...It helps put it in perspective really. Words are powerful, but at the same time they can mean very little and we shouldn't take them to heart without first thinking about them.

 

[CptStern]

I couldn't care less if someone calls me a Brit. Yet saying Paki, instead of Pakistani is racist :| Its just easier to say but apparently its racist.

some people dont know that paki is an offensive word

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

I really don't see what difference it makes. He wasn't trying to insult them, so who cares.

 

[kirovman]

Imagine travelling to the future.

All the terms you use now will have become derogatory and frowned upon. You will be shunned as culturally insensitive.

Just like a lot of old people today, who can't keep up with today's slang/vocabulary, and they get accused of being racist (which, admittedly sometimes they are).

 

[CptStern]

I really don't see what difference it makes. He wasn't trying to insult them, so who cares.

a heck of a lot of pakistanis for one

ignorance is not really an excuse ..by labeling someone you do a disservice to that person and to yourself ...I really wasnt commenting on your post, just thinking aloud

 

[Laivasse]

Haha, I remember that....I also remember how they showed the TV footage of the incident *once* over here in the UK, and then it never appeared on the news in the UK again because they wanted to protect Blair's best friend. Of course he wasn't being racist - he was just being characteristically retarded.

As for Political Correctness - you'll find that most people who spend time thinking up "politically correct" terms and policies, and who are terribly afraid of offending ethnic minorities, are usually posh execs with no contact with them, and no idea about how to create good race relations.

 

[Nofuture]

Yes, but did you ask these people to see if they found it acceptable?

No, I didn´t. Because I had no contact to them. There are not much black people in Germany. Anyway, would they know what is a correct term in English?...

Anyway, I suppose such terms are moslty use in topics about population, aren´t they? I have an article about Americans; the terms used in it are White Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, Black, Asian, Native American.

Hmm, Native American... I must about my experience with this term. Once I decided that it would the best to learn English on voice chat. Hmm, when I saw a link "Native American", I thought it would be best to go there, assuming that people there speak the best English... I didn´t know the meaning of it at that time, I thought Native American = Native speaker.
Hmm, I was quite disapointed as I noticed that these people spoke even worse English than me...

 

[CptStern]

that's hilarious

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

a heck of a lot of pakistanis for one

ignorance is not really an excuse ..by labeling someone you do a disservice to that person and to yourself ...I really wasnt commenting on your post, just thinking aloud

My point is though. Why should they care if they know he wasn't intentionally being racist? I couldn't care less what people call me really, especially if they aren't even trying to insult me.

 

[Razor]

May be completely off track with this but is it anything to do with early british maratime travel to the americas (independance war)
The british navy carrying limes to provide vitamin C....limes being a fruit that happens to keep for a longer time because of citric acid?

As i said, thats probably completely wrong.

Partially correct, British Sailors put Lime juice into the water barrels to stop scurvy, the American's thought this was odd so started calling us Limeys. Why do we call American's "Yanks" though? And do American's find the war derogatory?

 

[KoreBolteR]

sometimes british people ar dubbed as 'men that wear bowler hats, never brush thier teeth, and all talk posh (ol' chappy) bollux.

thats going back to the 1930's -. LOL

seriously thats what one guy said on a forum i was on before. :/

 

[short recoil]

Partially correct, British Sailors put Lime juice into the water barrels to stop scurvy, the American's thought this was odd so started calling us Limeys. Why do we call American's "Yanks" though? And do American's find the war derogatory?

Yankee doodle i believe.

 

[Razor]

Yankee doodle i believe.

Where does the term "Yankie Doodle" come from, i know it was a "derogatory" comment during the American civil war when the south called the north yankies.

 

[CptStern]

My point is though. Why should they care if they know he wasn't intentionally being racist? I couldn't care less what people call me really, especially if they aren't even trying to insult me.

well it's because of the circumstances ... he's a world leader and at the time he was talking about tensions between pakistan and India ..never a good time to make a racial slur (intended or not)

"But I do believe there is a way to do so, and we are working hard to convince both the Indians and the Pakis there's a way to deal with their problems without going to war," - Bush


btw paki is not an offensive word in pakistan. The pakistani ammbasador said he didnt find it offensive ...stupid but not offensive. But bush did receive a lot flack in england and canada where that term still holds a lot of weight

 

[Bodacious]

I really don't see what difference it makes. He wasn't trying to insult them, so who cares.

Don't you know? Bush is always wrong. Bush is the cause of all problems in the US today. I have even seen him blamed for that guy killing the judge and court reporter.

 

[CptStern]

ummm Bush referred to greeks as "grecians" and people from Kosovo as "Kosovians." ...say what you want, but he's not exactly a mental giant by any stretch of the imagination

 

[Bodacious]

ummm Bush referred to greeks as "grecians" and people from Kosovo as "Kosovians." ...say what you want, but he's not exactly a mental giant by any stretch of the imagination

Like I care.

 

[Farrowlesparrow]

How about I put it this way...

Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand.

I know exactly what you're talking about with regards to Bush but people should really stop caring about that, and focus on what is important.
Don't judge a man by his words, but by his actions...

...and that, my friend, is a whole different subject which I won't be drawn into in thris thread.

 

[CptStern]

Like I care.

you should, he's the one leading the charge into armageddon

 

[kirovman]

Chinese term:
yangguizi 洋鬼子 (cantonese- gweilo) = foreign devil/ghost, the term was used to desribe our colonial forefathers who messed up their nation.

A term was later adopted for the Japanese invaders in world war 2, dongyangguizi, meaning eastern foreign devil/ghost.

Can't really blame them for it I guess.

 

[Bodacious]

you should, he's the one leading the charge into armageddon

Only from your point of view. Which, in my opinion, is baseless seeing as how the middle east is reforming itself, seemingly as a direct result of the war on terror.

Any conspiracy theory that fits your agenda is fact, it seems like.

Edit: Noam Chomsky isn't god, either. i don't know how anyone can be supportive of that bigot.

 

[The Monkey]

And the nazis called themselves aryan. And where did the aryans come from? Mongolia. I reckon they weren't so blond and blue eyed.

 

[CptStern]

Only from your point of view. Which, in my opinion, is baseless seeing as how the middle east is reforming itself, seemingly as a direct result of the war on terror.

Any conspiracy theory that fits your agenda is fact, it seems like.

meh, karma backlash is bound to catch up to you sooner or later


oh and just because you've swallowed the "middle east reform" doesnt mean it's actually true ...if anything the world is much more dangerous place since the invasion ...no thanks to you

Noam Chomsky isn't god, either. i don't know how anyone can be supportive of that bigot

please provide proof of his bigotry ..and dont bother bringing up his stance on israel ..Noam is jewish

 

[kirovman]

And the nazis called themselves aryan. And where did the aryans come from? Mongolia. I reckon they weren't so blond and blue eyed.

Wasn't that the Avars?

Not meaning to derail the thread or anything...