MrMoran Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Why should we have to work out how to phrase sentences before we speak for fear of upsetting one group of people or another. If the statement was said offhandedly and with no malice then how can it upset anyone. Some people do, normal people dont. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bagger Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 I always think it must be murder to get nits out of black kid's hair, the same way that I think it must be murder to get nits out of any hair that is dense and curly regardless of skin colour. It's ridiculous of your colleagues to say your remark was racist. It's about time we started challenging nonsense to be honest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nubile Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Jeez, i'm glad i don't work at your place, sounds like a right bunch of eejats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curriechick Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 When I started at comprehensive school in the 70's, 3 middle schools merged. Well I found myself in a class with a lovely girl, Glenys was her name, she had a really nice smile and was beautiful but what stood out most was the fact she was black. She was actually the first black person I had come into contact with, we had no black pupils in our middle school, I loved Glenys' hair it was big and curly, but it was quite springy and looked wirey, but to find out if this was so I asked her if I could feel her hair, I had no qualms in asking her this and she took no offence from it and allowed me to and it was not wirey at all it was really soft and smelt of coconuts. After that I wanted hair like Glenys. Can you imagine that happening in a school now, and have we progressed or just got paranoid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy Jnr Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Why should we have to work out how to phrase sentences before we speak for fear of upsetting one group of people or another. If the statement was said offhandedly and with no malice then how can it upset anyone. I agree, it's an innocuous comment but it's those that cause the problem judging by the reaction it received, and we do kinda walk on eggshells don't we. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruitisbad Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Why should we have to work out how to phrase sentences before we speak for fear of upsetting one group of people or another. If the statement was said offhandedly and with no malice then how can it upset anyone. Think before you speak is hardly a new concept though is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSmith Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 Easy now. At work earlier today we were having a conversation about hair. A colleague was commenting on how she has to get up early to straighten her hair. I don't thinke her hair is naturally that curly and simply made a passing comment of , "Imagine how long it would take if you were black". Instantly I heard gasps of shock and a couple of members stated this was racist. I naturally asked why as black people naturally have really curly hair. I was informed that because they're born with it I was singling them out. I told them I thought this was piffle. What do you think forummers. Do i or my easily shocked colleagues need some educating? I'm driving im a minute so won't be replying until later. I await your replies. Is that all you could think of to say to someone so stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chorba Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 ...................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
llamatron Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 You can't expect people to be politically correct all the time. I don't mind Tony's comment and I don't think it is a racist comment at all although I personally wouldn't have made a reference to the color but rather to the nature of the hair "imagine how long it would take if you had curly/dry etc etc hair" something along this line. except afro carribean is a hair type, so unless you are discussing the use of the word "black" you should still be saying afro carribean not curly hair Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eater Sundae Posted December 7, 2011 Share Posted December 7, 2011 You can't expect people to be politically correct all the time. I don't mind Tony's comment and I don't think it is a racist comment at all although I personally wouldn't have made a reference to the color but rather to the nature of the hair "imagine how long it would take if you had curly/dry etc etc hair" something along this line. No, the whole point of the original statement was to quote a specific type of hair with a recognisible characteristic. Just saying "curly" would not do. He needn't have said black, but would have needed to say something equivalent, eg afro caribbean, African, ***** etc. Black was used as a description that people would understand. That doesn't make it racist. It would have needed to have been some sort of slur to become racist. As it was not, then no problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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