tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27523184.post66574732748089332..comments2024-01-04T20:25:07.782+00:00Comments on Retirement Rocks: Dark Days IndeedSilverbackhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05291532400330204120noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27523184.post-58835133352814455642011-03-13T11:50:16.518+00:002011-03-13T11:50:16.518+00:00Here is something more people should realize:
It...Here is something more people should realize: <br /><br />It is always wrong to say "I apologize <i>if</i> I offended you"...it is much better to say "I apologize <i>that</i> I offended you"....this approach recognizes that whether something is offensive is decided by the offended, not by the offender. It also sounds more like a real apology.rhymeswithplaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10870439618129001633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27523184.post-14699587983801941062011-03-12T23:33:16.417+00:002011-03-12T23:33:16.417+00:00Black people can't swim very well.
Racist ? A...Black people can't swim very well.<br /><br />Racist ? Again yes as I've specifically mentioned an entire race of people.<br /><br />Offensive ? Hardly. It's a statement of fact.<br /><br />In what way is this a fact? Because you think it is? Because that guy in the olympics was not a good swimmer? What is the evidence that black people can't swim?<br /><br />To me these things are what make the first statement racist and offensive, or maybe it's a joke that I don't get!<br /><br />One of the problems with anything that causes offence is that it is subjective, a statement that offends me may not offend you, and the person who offended me may not have intended to do so.<br /><br />As you say, a mine field. . . . .Janhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00523459187508168813noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27523184.post-64022875136829237082011-03-09T02:56:20.271+00:002011-03-09T02:56:20.271+00:00It is never a good feeling to be in the midst of a...It is never a good feeling to be in the midst of a more racially diverse or gender-opposite or nationally-affiliated crowd and being mistreated in any way. End of.<br /><br />People who think it can't happen to them are wrong. Everyone may a minority at some time in their lives. I am one in my field of work, where I work. I am one when I travel to another country. I am one, perhaps, when my car breaks down in a different area of town and need to go looking for help. Or, hey, if I went to uni at this point in my life, probably then, too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27523184.post-80150108365865902122011-03-08T22:28:34.982+00:002011-03-08T22:28:34.982+00:00Well, I was brought up in a very (for the times) r...Well, I was brought up in a very (for the times) racially aware family and I'm half Jewish as you know - - and yet we all loved the Black and White Minstrel Show! Was it offensive? In those more innocent days, we certainly didn't intend our enjoyment of it to be.<br />I think we're all racist in some way - it's a natural suspicion of "difference" and only getting to know people from different backgrounds will help to overcome it - - or, in some cases, to reinforce it! Phewwww - - as you say, it's a tricky thing to write about!Daphnehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14469075813149239051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27523184.post-55678253801698330652011-03-08T20:47:48.864+00:002011-03-08T20:47:48.864+00:00'It seems these days the 'offender' ha...'It seems these days the 'offender' has to grovel publicly and even sack himself or herself in order to stop the overcrowded bandwagon of double standards from flattening them completely'<br /><br />Exactly so, Silverback. Political correctness (as I'm sure you've heard me say, and in person, too) is the biggest social evil of our day, and it's exactly why it's so difficult to quantify racism, in my opinion. Just <i>discussing</i> the definition of racism is a minefield, as you point out.<br /><br />I do agree, by the way, that not all 'racism' is offensive, any more than all 'prejudice' is wrong. Just tell me: is it wrong to have made a pre-judgement that wild rats are likely to carry disease? No, because it's a fact. Humans have evolved with numerous survival strategies, and the ability to learn from the past and extrapolate is a very valuable one. What <i>is</i> wrong, is when we try to make a judgement covering a whole race or social group from the behaviour of some of its members - but we should perhaps remember that to avoid doing so requires that we partially over-ride a strong evolutionary drive - and also that it works both ways, with whites increasingly becoming the target of racism, and this going largely unchallenged.<br /><br />Bottom line - we should strive to keep pre-judgement where it belongs and only use it when are certain that it is valid. For example: you will likely become ill if you eat at a (for example) Norn Iron restaurant where the cockroaches scurry between the diner's legs as they eat, but our prejudice should be reserved for all <i>cockroach-infested</i> restaurants, not all <i>Norn Iron </i>restaurants, many of which, I believe, are excellent. <br /><br />In evolutionary terms, however, it can be safer for the species to assume first and find out later, so we need to engage the intellect. <br /><br />Perhaps this is where the problem lies?Jay at The Depp Effecthttp://www.thedeppeffect.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27523184.post-73668187519044406792011-03-08T20:40:25.451+00:002011-03-08T20:40:25.451+00:00"Black people can't swim very well.
Racis..."Black people can't swim very well.<br />Racist ? Again yes as I've specifically mentioned an entire race of people.<br />Offensive ? Hardly. It's a statement of fact."<br /><br />What????!! I'm afraid I found it offensive. So I checked out the 'statement of fact'.<br /><br />http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060822055829AAo36D3<br /><br />http://www.jonentine.com/reviews/financialTimes.htm<br /><br />Facts need thorough verification and are sometimes disproved. People can be offended before they know whether or not something is fact.<br /><br />There are often exceptions to a rule so I think much racism is rooted in, sometimes unfounded, generalisation. In general, I dislike generalistations and often find them offensive.<br /><br />In UK law, I think, a racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person. <br />So I could report someone of a race crime (e.g. racial harassment) if they were to say or do something racist to someone else (not necessarily me).<br /><br />But what would I know - I'm a Jewish woman but if you hold that against me that would be sexist racism.Ruthnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27523184.post-2373083894785255002011-03-08T19:49:02.034+00:002011-03-08T19:49:02.034+00:00I hardly know what to say, and should probably say...I hardly know what to say, and should probably say nothing, but I find it rather comforting, in an odd sort of way, the all the guys are [<i>faux</i>] black and all the girls are white in your "Black and White Minstrel Show" from yesteryear. Something like this would NEVER, repeat, NEVER have happened in the good old U.S. of A. of the time because it was just so, well, interracial. However, if all the girls had worn blackface (and arms and legs and chests) it would probably have been okay with the bigoted viewers.rhymeswithplaguehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10870439618129001633noreply@blogger.com