Is this racist?

Rasheed

Was out at the weekend and the lads in our group were describing their perfect woman. This certain lad said he loved black woman's lips, as in big lips.

Another member of the group then tackled him saying that it was a very racist thing to say. I personally disagreed with her. So it started out a debate in our group.

What do you think? Was it a racist to say? And not just about lips either but say a 'black woman's arse' or 'Jewish nose'.

What is acceptable, if anything, and what isn't?

gobnaitolunacy

....locketty lock...

godtabh

I'm not racist but.................

Intensive Care Bear

It depend which lips he was talking about.

Ush1

I think it's fine. It obviously doesn't apply to every single person within a genetic group but is a common characteristic.

Same as saying Irish people have fair skin, Asians have smaller apertures, etc..

Scioch

Nah thats not racist, its a trait specific to black women and its not derogatory.

RidleyRider

He was describing his perfect woman, that could include parts from all different races:L

davet82

i dont think so, a black arse is in fact a black arse...

i'm sure in African countries (where the majority of people are black) they refer to white ass when down the pub discussing their perfect woman

Big Nasty

If someone has a big honker it's grand to say they have a Roman nose but if some chick has one of them asses look like they've shoved a water ring down their cax it's not ok to say they have a black ass.

Double standards IMO.

tfitzgerald

I don't think a comment like that was racist. Now if in the comment he said " he hated" then that was a different story IMHO the person who objected is one of the PC crowd that can go a little overboard at times.

phasers

I don't think so but it does depend on the context, I have quite full lips that everyone in my family calls N-word lips. Don't think that's particularly appropriate :eek:

yop

Not racist! Its a trait!

Hurricane Carter

Your idiot friend doesn't know what constitutes racism.

Tombi!

Well kinda. I mean he's technically saying once race (black) is superior because of a trait.
Plus other women can have big lips.

I wouldn't get offended over it though.

Celly Smunt

I think he was actually being quite progressive with the people judging being racist.He likes black women,the others are shocked.

GeorgeClooney

I wish more white women had a ghetto booties. I hate women without curves, might as well be having sex with a plank of wood.

BizzyC

phasers wrote: »

I don't think so but it does depend on the context, I have quite full lips that everyone in my family calls N-word lips. Don't think that's particularly appropriate :eek:

Your avatar image doesn't really help that story....

smash

GeorgeClooney wrote: »

I wish more white women had a ghetto booties. I hate women without curves, might as well be having sex with a plank of wood.

Lucky for you there's plenty of fat chicks around that call themselves 'curvy'.

Celly Smunt

GeorgeClooney wrote: »

I wish more white women had a ghetto booties. I hate women without curves, might as well be having sex with a plank of wood.

tbh "curvy irish women" are just fat and delusional.

Esoteric_

pmcmahon wrote: »

tbh "curvy irish women" are just fat and delusional.

Agreed. Curvy is Kim Kardashian, she's thin with a curvy wasit/ass/boob ratio. Curvy is not 16 stone women.

Odysseus

tfitzgerald wrote: »

I don't think a comment like that was racist. Now if in the comment he said " he hated" then that was a different story IMHO the person who objected is one of the PC crowd that can go a little overboard at times.

Hang on, it is ok it it is used in a positive sense, but not if in a negative. That in and of itself is PC overload/overboard.

ScumLord

Now you can be racist for liking the traits of other races?

super_furry

At worse it's sterotyping but there's no way it's ever racist.

Lyaiera

Odysseus wrote: »

Hang on, it is ok it it is used in a positive sense, but not if in a negative. That in and of itself is PC overload/overboard.

It depends on degree. If you don't like something you don't like something and I don't see why anyone would argue with that. If you hate something that's a bit over the top for something as insignificant as lips and irrational and I'd be worried about racism.

Esoteric_

super_furry wrote: »

At worse it's sterotyping but there's no way it's ever racist.

I don't see how it could be racist, either. I mean, it's a common trait in black women to have big lips. I'm always told I have 'black woman lips' because I have big lips. Same as how Irish people are predominantly quite pale or freckled.

Intensive Care Bear

This thread made me think of Whoopi Goldbergs lips which then led to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxVG20cBioA

Intensive Care Bear

On a serious note, its all about context, so no its not racist.

seamus

Literally, yes it's racist. Any statement that says "<race>'s <feature> is <better/worse>" is racist, by definition.

Socially, no it's generally not considered wrong or racist to have specific preferences when it comes to the physical appearance of your mate.

Scioch

seamus wrote: »

Literally, yes it's racist. Any statement that says "<race>'s <feature> is <better/worse>" is racist, by definition.

Socially, no it's generally not considered wrong or racist to have specific preferences when it comes to the physical appearance of your mate.

He didnt say it was better or worse, he said he liked the feature. You cant argue that attraction has to be blind to physical characteristics or that those characteristics are not specific to one race. So either its not racist or human nature is inherently racist and therefore racism is justifiable.

robbiezero

If you mention the word black in the context of race, you are guilty of racism until proven innocent.

Tombi!

Scioch wrote: »

He didnt say it was better or worse, he said he liked the feature. You cant argue that attraction has to be blind to physical characteristics or that those characteristics are not specific to one race. So either its not racist or human nature is inherently racist and therefore racism is justifiable.

Yes but it's a feature generally common amongst blacks. It's like saying "I prefer pale white girls". It's still racist just not in a way of you should be offended.

Kidchameleon

Whoever your one is who called him racist is a feckin moanbag

iDave

Oh bloody everything is racist these days

Chuck Stone

I prefer white frauen with fair hair und blauen eyes does that make mich ein Nazi?

Nein.

antodeco

Liking a girl with "cat like nails" doesnt mean you are into beastality!

Scioch

Brutal Deluxe wrote: »

Yes but it's a feature generally common amongst blacks. It's like saying "I prefer pale white girls". It's still racist just not in a way of you should be offended.

But if its racism and its acceptable how can negative comments be unacceptable when both boil down to personal opinion ?. If I were to say "Dark skin is horrible". That would be deemed to be racist, but if "Pale skin is nice" is acceptable then so too mush the previous statement.

seamus

Scioch wrote: »

So either its not racist or human nature is inherently racist and therefore racism is justifiable.

Racism is perfectly justifiable in certain contexts. You find this a lot in medicine, where genetic research has indicated for some illnesses there differences in the way that someone should be treated to be most effective.

There are also other simple and obvious things like sunbeds. A sunbed operator might advise a pale skinned person to stay no longer than five minutes, but allow a black skinned person 45 minutes.

Racist? Yep, clearly. It's discrimination on the basis of race. Is it negative racism? Nope.

Ultimately what we socially consider racism is an opinion which causes individuals to be treated differently based on their race. Someone saying that they personally dislike black skin on a partner is not going to treat every black-skinned person differently to every white-skinned person.

jester77

No way OP, no different than saying you like a cailin with red hair and freckles which is a trait of Irish girls.

Tombi!

Scioch wrote: »

But if its racism and its acceptable how can negative comments be unacceptable when both boil down to personal opinion ?. If I were to say "Dark skin is horrible". That would be deemed to be racist, but if "Pale skin is nice" is acceptable then so too mush the previous statement.

Context, really. I normally don't like black girls. Why? I dunno, I just don't find them attractive really.

If I said "I think black girls are disgusting", it's gone from trying to express a civil opinion to something offensive.

Don't get me wrong, there will always be people who find it offensive for the sake of being a jackass and will consider you equal to someone who's called for the extermination of black people.

yizorselves

I dont really find Asian or African women attractive. I'm not racist

ScumLord

seamus wrote: »

Literally, yes it's racist. Any statement that says "<race>'s <feature> is <better/worse>" is racist, by definition.

He didn't so much say one was better than the other just that he preferred one over the other or had an attraction to a particular trait.

If I'm given the choice of a range of chocolate sweets and say I'd prefer the strawberry one it doesn't mean I think it's the best sweet in the world or mean I wouldn't eat any other of the sweets given the chance.

Having nice lips doesn't really give any race much of an advantage over another race either. It's purely cosmetic.

Lyaiera

Scioch wrote: »

But if its racism and its acceptable how can negative comments be unacceptable when both boil down to personal opinion ?. If I were to say "Dark skin is horrible". That would be deemed to be racist, but if "Pale skin is nice" is acceptable then so too mush the previous statement.

I've answered that. Why did you ignore what I said?

Scioch

seamus wrote: »

Racism is perfectly justifiable in certain contexts. You find this a lot in medicine, where genetic research has indicated for some illnesses there differences in the way that someone should be treated to be most effective.

There are also other simple and obvious things like sunbeds. A sunbed operator might advise a pale skinned person to stay no longer than five minutes, but allow a black skinned person 45 minutes.

Racist? Yep, clearly. It's discrimination on the basis of race. Is it negative racism? Nope.

Ultimately what we socially consider racism is an opinion which causes individuals to be treated differently based on their race. Someone saying that they personally dislike black skin on a partner is not going to treat every black-skinned person differently to every white-skinned person.

But isnt that the basis of racism ? Treating someone differently ? Discriminating against someone ? The guy in the OP isnt discriminating, he's not implying anything in regards to black or white people, just that he likes a particular feature that is specific to black women. He simply stated a fact and said he liked it.

Madam_X

pmcmahon wrote: »

tbh "curvy irish women" are just fat and delusional.

LyndaMcL wrote: »

Agreed. Curvy is Kim Kardashian, she's thin with a curvy wasit/ass/boob ratio. Curvy is not 16 stone women.

Too right. No Irish woman ever who has described herself as curvy is actually slim with curves in all the right places, and is always fat.

I've no proof, but it's unpossible!

Duggy747

I hate black chocolate.

I once called a racist by a hippy. I told him not to buy the cheap-ass universal chargers on the likes of Ebay since they were made with the cheapest of Chinese components.

Celly Smunt

Madam_X wrote: »

Too right. No Irish woman ever who has described herself as curvy is actually slim with curves in all the right places, and is always fat.

I've no proof, but it's unpossible!

it's true.

Scioch

Lyaiera wrote: »

I've answered that. Why did you ignore what I said?

Where did you answer it ? I dont see it.

Madam_X

pmcmahon wrote: »

it's true.

Yep, for ALL of them - even though there are Irish woman with slim hourglass figures!

Tombi!

Scioch, it's racist in terms of "X is better than Y". Even me saying, I don't normally find black girls attractive and that I usually find Asian girls attractive is racist.
It's not racist enough that it should be offensive though or anything like that.
You're picking one race over another based on something about that race that you like.

Rasheed

Kidchameleon wrote: »

Whoever your one is who called him racist is a feckin moanbag

Oh ya can sing it, she's a class A tit at times but it did make me think.

What is acceptable, in terms of commenting about features, that are seen more frequently in one 'race'?

If he said he loves the look of Mediterranean girls but didn't like the look of oriental girls, would that be classed as racist? Or just his own preference?

Piliger

Brutal Deluxe wrote: »

Scioch, it's racist in terms of "X is better than Y". Even me saying, I don't normally find black girls attractive and that I usually find Asian girls attractive is racist.

Of course it is not racist. It may be prejudiced or opinionated .. but NOT racist.

You're picking one race over another based on something about that race that you like.

That is not racist except in someone's silly politically correct dictionary.