They worked like blacks-Mary O'Rourke

stevenmu

Thaedydal wrote:

Ill advised or nicely done ?

I suppose it could have been a deliberate attempt to get some press time, especially as she has a pretty good record of being PC on immigration and refugee issues, if that's what you're suggesting. Personally I'd put it down to a slip of the tongue being blown way out of proportion by the anti-racism nazis and the media looking for a pund of flesh.

caimin wrote:

Why should it only be offensive if black people are offended by it? I'm white, and I found it - maybe not offensive, but certainly surprising.

Well mainly because black people are the targets of the supposed slur. If they're not offended by it then there's no reason any body else should be bothered by it.

I suppose it could be taken to mean that white people are less hardworking than black people, which is potentially offensive to white people, but let's face it there's no such thing as racism against white people.

Litcagral

hubbub wrote:

"Some of my best friends are black", so I'll run it by one of them when I see them later today. It was a stupidly shocking thing to say because of all the overly sensitive PC people out there, but I think what people are debating here is whether or not it is offensive to the majoritry of educated people, or in fact should it be

I don't think it was as bad as when Maurice Ahern, Lord Mayor of Dublin said that he wasn't going to be the "****** in the woodpile".

hubbub

stevenmu wrote:

Personally I'd put it down to a slip of the tongue being blown way out of proportion by the anti-racism nazis and the media looking for a pund of flesh.

"Anti-racism nazis"? Kudos, you go in the books for that one

stevejazzx

In this day and age what does that mean 'they worked like blacks'
Like a black surgeon performing complex surgery, a black lawyer defenfding his client, a black builing worker, office junior, accountant, painter etc etc
What year does she think it is?
Its scary that an elected offical could be this ignorant and although the western pc culture has gone balmy in recent years, a simple bus ride into town can reveal the outstanding level of bitter racism that exists in this country at the present time.
Thats not to say I think ske herself is racist just mindbogginly stupid.

rubadub

stevenmu wrote:

Well mainly because black people are the targets of the supposed slur. If they're not offended by it then there's no reason any body else should be bothered by it.

Only some might be offended, black or white. As mentioned it could be seen as offensive to whites, inferring that they work less. I mentioned before that she may have been in more trouble if she said "worked like whites"

I always find it odd, I would consider a black man who says "all nig gers are lazy bastards" to be racist, I remember parkinson a few weeks back saying to sameul l jackson that he can say the n word, but that he (parkie) cannot. I always find that odd. I was warned on a US forum because I was making the point that I only know of 1 Irish person my age who does not drink, the site owner warned me about my racist remarks, probably thinking I was an american making anti-irish-american remarks. I explained I was living in Ireland and just stating fact, then it was all ok!

If she said "they are stupid as down syndromes", and people objected would there be people here saying "well lets wait until we here what the people with downs syndrome say"

stevenmu wrote:

but let's face it there's no such thing as racism against white people.

Are you being sarcastic? Many young white males in south africa would certainly not agree with you. The only racial slurs I heard in the US were against whites made by blacks

Lemming

caimin wrote:

we're as friendly as a load of cannibals welcoming a fat man.


oops.

I find your remarks offensive to cannibals. We don't just eat fat people.

Oops, I've said too much :v:

stevejazzx

Lemming wrote:

I find your remarks offensive to cannibals. We don't just eat fat people.

Oops, I've said too much :v:

by fat you mean 'a gentleman/or indeed lady of increased carriage'

Dumb broad...

Ajnag

Infact two groups have said they are not offended and one staed that the portrayal of such immagrants as hardworking was a good thing.

Along the line's of what I was thinking, the logical structure of what she said infer's this. Stupid thing to say as a politician, but to have people booing her over the comment sound's just silly. Enda Kenny comes to mind for a far worse gaff.

liebensraum for connaught

Thanks sand, youve just given me my platform

Snickers Man

smarty wrote:

I was amazed when I heard this comment being made by such a prominent politician. Is this a resignation issue?

No.

People shouldn't be afraid of what some people call political correctness. It's really just another word for good manners. Please don't elevate it to anything more than that.

So she made a gaff. Runs in the family. Her nephew Conor Lenihan, who is younger and should have known better, referred to Turkish workers as kebabs in a derogatory fashion. He should have been made to apologise for that one. It was crass and offensive.

Mary's just a silly old trout.

ronbyrne2005

read the below on that muppet delevans blog,he seems to have it in for her family.
................................................................................................
She went on to complain about "the daftness of trying to set me up". So the media, in other words, was "setting her up" by reporting her comments. She complained that they were hoping she would be defeated for nomination in Athlone, and when that didn't happen, "we have to have a story".

"You won't apologise for the remark, I take it?" asks Orla. "There's no need to," replies O'Rourke.

O'Rourke again goes on to harp on her work with asylum seekers.

Orla then reads out another text from a listener that makes comparisons to the way Paddies and Micks were treated in the UK and elsewhere. The listener says that she's black and she's offended by O'Rourke's remarks.

Asked for her response, O'Rourke says: "Good for her. She’s got clearly her asylum...or her papers. I wish all asylum seekers could work here."

Oops. Second mistake. In case you missed what it was--O'Rourke's first reactions when told that a black person in Ireland is offended are 1) to patronise the black person and 2) assume that the black listener is an asylum seeker.

Granted, O'Rourke quickly corrected herself.

Snickers Man

Snickers Man wrote:

silly old trout.

Ageist

Fishist.

ronbyrne2005

maybe if she was on a diet she would say "i was starving like a jew as i was working like a black to lose the weight" or maybe she wouldnt:o

Victor

A guy I used to work with said he had no problem employing foreigners, once they weren't black. He had spent time in South Africa in the 1960s and wasn't satisfied with the poor work ethic of black workers there. I presume that had something to do with black South Africans doing most/all of the hard work and white South Africans gaining most/all of the benefit. Not only was there legislative discrimination there was political, educational, social and economic discrimination.

So 'working like a black' can have a serious negative connotation.

James Hunt

Making the 'gaffe' was bad enough....but listening to a soundbite of her interview this morning...'..and I'll never use the word black again'...it appears that she thinks acting dumb and pretending not to know what all of the fuss is about will make it go away. I find it pathetic that she won't apologise for it...not resign, give up her nomination or have her head served up....just apologise. It's a normal, civil, decent, polite thing to do when one makes a friggin' howler, yet, no.

And she's probably right about playing dumb until it goes away...

dbnavan

The bottom line is it is a racial comment that shouldnt have be used, let her apoligise and we move on, not enough for someone too lose their job over IMO politically.

If I was in another country and someone said 'they worked like paddy's' which implemented a group of people worked hard to get a job done well and well where well rewarded for it well then i probably wouldnt mind, however if she was talking about people who where under paid and worked outside national employment laws, eg:under paid irish ferries workers it would be far more serious.

That said I am not defending her........... apoligise and move on, maybe a finiancial donation to a Trócaire or something wouldnt go a miss.

Cake Fiend

It certainly was a stupid comment to make as a politician, but the only reason it was stupid was because there are so many morons out there who can't get over their white middle-class guilt, just waiting to dive at the throat of anyone who makes some quasi-offensive off-the-cuff remark (or, in this case, compliment).

stevenmu wrote:

Personally I'd put it down to a slip of the tongue being blown way out of proportion by the anti-racism nazis and the media looking for a pund of flesh.

Spot on, and if these fools get their way now, it's only a matter of time before you can't say the word 'black' without having someone calling you a racist.

BolBill

Hopefully this will spell the end for the triple chinned eyesore.

Maskhadov

I cringed when I heard it. I think O Rourke should be ashamed of herself, appologise immediately and have no further invovlement in politics.

dbnavan

Slip of the tongue or not this I have a problem with...

The Fianna Fáil Senator, Mary O'Rourke, has said criticism levelled at comments she made at a party selection convention in Mullingar in Co Westmeath last night was 'political correctness gone wrong'.

Ms O'Rourke said she would not be apologising for using the phrase 'working like a black' because she meant it in a complimentary sense about her party workers.

She also said three people she was referring to had accepted it in that manner.



Taken from www.rte.ie/news

fly_agaric

^^Never admit your mistakes to the children. Those old teaching habits die hard, don't they.:rolleyes:

LordSutch

Recently a Black/English friend of mine visited me in Dublin only to be confronted by a notice in a Dublin (Ballsbridge) Pub saying "NO SAMBO'S UPSTAIRS" . . . . . . he looked at me open mouthed & bewildered, after a pint or two I finally calmed him down and explained about "Dublin Slang" & all was forgiven (I think)?

mike65

Stormfront have a thread on this I wont link to it as Dev gets angry!

Mike.

John_C

BolBill wrote:

Hopefully this will spell the end for the triple chinned eyesore.

Which comment do people find more offensive, Mary O'Ruairc's or BolBill's above?

Zebra3

So we've FFers who support drink-driving, and being racist against Turks and blacks. Not to mention them helping the US in their blood for oil campaign. :rolleyes:

Fighting Irish

Who cares if she said that, everyone knows she didn't mean it in a bad way, and id say nearly everyone has said that phrase at least once in their life

James Hunt

Fighting Irish wrote:

Who cares if she said that, everyone knows she didn't mean it in a bad way, and id say nearly everyone has said that phrase at least once in their life

I don't agree, but regardless, would you at least agree that it was a poor choice of phrase given her position and the very public nature of her speech?

Aedh Baclamh

“I can understand anyone making a gaffe but my God she should make an apology. She has offended a lot of people,” Ms Flynn said.

Good old Ms Flynn has offended me (and others) a lot of the time. She should really know when to zip it.

stevenmu

rubadub wrote:

Only some might be offended, black or white. As mentioned it could be seen as offensive to whites, inferring that they work less. I mentioned before that she may have been in more trouble if she said "worked like whites"

I don't think any white people were seriously offended by the negative connotations it casts on white workers, and I doubt many people would have thought of it if I hadn't mentioned. I'm 99% sure that everyone who is upset about her comment, is upset because they think it's some kind of slur against black people, which it isn't.

rubadub wrote:

Are you being sarcastic? Many young white males in south africa would certainly not agree with you. The only racial slurs I heard in the US were against whites made by blacks

I wasn't being sarcastic but maybe I should have been more specific. In large sections of the western world, minority interest groups, the media, and affirmative action laws have created a situation whereby it's impossible for the average white male to be discriminated against, but everybody kicks up a huge fuss if anything slightly negative happens to a member of a minority ethnic group.

Sico wrote:

and if these fools get their way now, it's only a matter of time before you can't say the word 'black' without having someone calling you a racist.

Judging by this incident I think that time has already passed.

James Hunt wrote:

but regardless, would you at least agree that it was a poor choice of phrase given her position and the very public nature of her speech?

I'd prefer she did feel free to make harmless comments like this. Politicians are guarded enough about their speech as it is, and spend half the time talking in circles to avoid hysteria such as this. If they end up having to get every word they say pre-approved by PR consultants (instead the 2/3 of words they say now :v: ) the whole country will suffer for it, and any true racists out there will slip by unnoticed.

James Hunt

stevenmu wrote:

I'd prefer she did feel free to make harmless comments like this. Politicians are guarded enough about their speech as it is, and spend half the time talking in circles to avoid hysteria such as this. If they end up having to get every word they say pre-approved by PR consultants (instead the 2/3 of words they say now :v: ) the whole country will suffer for it, and any true racists out there will slip by unnoticed.

There's a lot of ground between banal glossy spin-doctored nothingness on the one hand, and stupid ignorant comments on the other. I don't think it's too much to ask that a senior politician like Mary O'Rourke should inhabit that territory when speaking to the public. Again, I think an apology is in order....no resignation, no giving up the nomination, no public stoning, just a simple, 'I'm sorry, on reflection, perhaps, that phrase may not have been best chosen'. Happy days, move on.