Is "The Green Man" a sexist pig?

Victor

Batsy wrote: »

I'm not too sure about (ii) as there does seem to be certain traits that are recognisable in certain races of people. Jewish people often seem to be involved in finance, travelers often want to tarmac your drive, Asians in the UK seem to like corner shops and driving taxis and the Chinese in the UK often like running takeaways and having the odd flutter in the bookmakers. I personally don't see anything wrong in noting the things one observes about the people around you.

Actually, you are referring to stereotypes and those are social and cultural issues and race isn't a particular issue. However, stereotypes aren't always true. You wouldn't find it preposterous to have a Jewish shop keeper or a Chinese bank clerk, would you? Immigrants are likely to open shops to suit the needs of immigrant communities that aren't catered by mainstream shops. Outside the professions, the financially better off immigrants (not all immigrants are poor) often find retail and catering to be easy industries to get into. Taxi driving is a relatively low-skilled job in most places (London being considered an exception). Some Jewish people are involved in finance, some of them are quite high profile, but its down to family, not that they are Jewish. Many Chinese people prefer betting to lotteries as culturally, the idea of having a 'system' to influence the odds sits better with them than leaving things purely to chance.

If as a country in the 1970's and 1980's, we were experiencing Irish terrorism from the IRA then in my mind it makes sense that the police keep more of an eye on Irish population and likewise now since 9/11 it makes sense for the police to keep more of an eye on the Muslim population. Common sense or racism?

Perhaps 5 million people in the UK with direct Irish connections (Irish born or Irish parents). Perhaps 1,000-2,000 active members (more sympathisers) of the IRA at any given time of which less than 100 would have been in Britain. Surely, targeting very specific profiles or groups would be much more useful than targeting a whole population.

So now let's just examine how the PC brigade can say certain things are racist.

...

Ann Winterton's joke about the Chinese cocklers which I have dealt with elsewhere in the site. This was a widely circulating joke at the time and clearly it doesn't come into any of the categories listed above. It is often dragged up though - the last time being on BBC Question Time on the 22nd April in relation to Ron Atkinson's remarks. Andrew Rosindell MP, Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party bravely tried to point out the differences and defend Ann Winterton but you could see the fear in his eyes (and so could the PC brigade). He eventually gave up amid jeers of "stop digging" and "someone take his spade away". He never actually plucked up courage to ask anyone to explain how the joke is racist.

I'm not sure if the joke was quite racist, but it most certainly played on a stereotype and was it was extremely upsetting and offensive to many - she thought that the preventable deaths of vulnerable people was something to be laughed about. Maybe, its the type of joke that people tell their mates - humour is a defensive measure for dealing with terrible things, but it exhibited a distinct lack of judgement for an MP to tell such a joke at an embassy dinner. Moreover, it was something she had a history of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ann_Winterton

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3488036.stm

Lord Taylor of Warwick, a Tory peer who suffered racism from party members when a prospective Tory MP in Cheltenham in 1992, said he was shocked by Mrs Winterton's comments.

He said: "She simply does not learn from past mistakes. This is the second time she has made a racist, insensitive and totally unfunny remark.

"She's a well-educated woman, but with no common sense. I do not think she is fit to be a member of parliament."

LordSutch

Green Cross Person indeed, what a load of old horse manure from Lincolnshire County Council. PC gone totally mad :mad:

So now we have The Green Person instead of the green man, then we have 'Baa Baa coloured sheep' (instead of black sheep), and I also understand that the black board is now the Chalk board (in case of offence to black people) :cool:

The World has gone totally PC mad, or at least England has gone soft in the head.

later12

LordSutch wrote: »

Green Cross Person indeed, what a load of old horse manure from Lincolnshire County Council. PC gone totally mad :mad:

So now we have The Green Person (sounds crap), then we have 'Baa Baa coloured sheep' (instead of black sheep), and the black board is now the Chalk board (in case of offence to black people) :cool: :mad:


The World has gone totally mad, or at least England has gone soft in the head.

Sure that's nothing.

Green, white and orange cloth is offensive to some in Northern Ireland.

People, eh?

rainbowtrout

Maybe Icelandic people have got it right...

Demonique

Iang87 wrote: »

theres no traffic lights in the kitchen

Whilst the green man isn't sexist this post certainly is.

syklops

LordSutch wrote: »

Green Cross Person indeed, what a load of old horse manure from Lincolnshire County Council. PC gone totally mad :mad:

So now we have The Green Person instead of the green man, then we have 'Baa Baa coloured sheep' (instead of black sheep), and I also understand that the black board is now the Chalk board (in case of offence to black people) :cool:

The World has gone totally PC mad, or at least England has gone soft in the head.

A few of those are red herrings, like chalk board versus black board. The truth of the matter is, the black board was replaced with the white board because it was believed chalk could irritate some childrens asthma. It has nothing to do with colour sensitivity. But it does make for a nice Daily Mail-esque rant. Not meaning you, but it annoys me how these untruths get bandied about.

sensibleken

LordSutch wrote: »

Green Cross Person indeed, what a load of old horse manure from Lincolnshire County Council. PC gone totally mad :mad:

So now we have The Green Person instead of the green man, then we have 'Baa Baa coloured sheep' (instead of black sheep), and I also understand that the black board is now the Chalk board (in case of offence to black people) :cool:

The World has gone totally PC mad, or at least England has gone soft in the head.

oh for the love of.......NO WE DONT!!!

LordSutch

sensibleken wrote: »

oh for the love of.......NO WE DONT!!!

You mean red herrings again? Urban myths again.
I am glad to hear that Baa Baa & Black board have not been banned, there is hope after all . . .

syklops

LordSutch wrote: »

You mean red herrings again?

If so sorry, (I like so many others ) was taken in like so many others. I am glad to hear that Baa Baa & Black board have not been banned.

The black Board has not been banned it is simply extinct, being replaced with the whiteboard that gets drawn on with coloured markers. Although one of our conference meeting rooms has a black plastic board and we draw on it with white markers and it is much easier to see the text We refer to it as the blackboard(and this is in the ultra-PC country of the USA.

As for "Baa Baa, sheep of non-descript color, have you any wool?", well thats just silly.

LordSutch

Apologies, I thought there had been some controversy over the words a few years ago.

Capt'n Midnight

later10 wrote: »

Sure that's nothing.

Green, white and orange cloth is offensive to some in Northern Ireland.

People, eh?

Red, white and blue are offensive to others (miniture American flags not withstanting)

Since the only thing in common is white it must be racist.