'Slate' aritcle , 'Blacks in the Jacks'

blondi

You may have seen the recent article in ‘The Slate’ magazine entitled
‘Blacks in the Jacks’

Do you think the article was Racist ?

What is your feeling on the matter generally ?

Comments please….

gandalf

A link would be really really helpful :rolleyes:

Gandalf.

blondi

sorry gandalf, dont have one, only briefly saw article myself,
will do a search and get 1.

Biffa Bacon

Anyone who read the article and thought it was racist has to be retarded. They printed letters from the self-righteous morons who wrote in to complain in the next issue and quite rightly slagged them off. The whole point of the article was to satirise the mentality of the pub and club owners who create these "blacks in the jacks" jobs. It's like apartheid-era South Africa.

The Gopher

Ive never heard of the magazine but i presume its something to do with hiring foreigners to do work we regard as too dirty.Theres nothing immoral in paying a foreigner to clean toilets that a native wont do.You dont force them to take the job.

GerK

The article was a satirical piece on the policy of pubs and clubs of "hiring" (in many cases these guys are NOT paid any wage) the aformentioned 'blacks in jax' which is a reference to the guys who offer you soap, hand towels, gum etc. in the bathrooms of virtually every pub in dublin now. The article drew particular attention to the fact that these guys are almost ALWAYS black and was close to the bone, too close for many people.

Meh

Originally posted by GerK
in many cases these guys are NOT paid any wage

Really? They exist on tips? I must be a bit more generous to them in future then...

Sand

A pub on a busy night, lads with enough beers to make everyone their best friend and with money to spend on them, each taking X amount of trips to the toliets? They probably make more money in a night than we ever will in a week

Dustaz

not a hope sand. Ask yourself how often you tip them and how often you see other people doing it.

GerK

Well personally I think that if the public wants this service then it should be a legal waged position (subject to min. wage legislation as well as PRSI Tax etc.) as it stands Sand, sure if they have a good spot and people are generous they may make good money, but they do not get ANY of the, albeit limited, protection afforded to workers in this state.

I feel they are being exploited by the pub owners and then in turn to a degree exploit the sympaties of drunken revelers.

I also think that Ireland is still not very mature in its attitude to minorities, and having "blacks in jax" only serves to reinforce our provincial attitudes and at worse leads to a dangerous view that black people and other minorities are servile and inferior.

Sand

Quite true that they should be extended the same protection as other workers - assuming of course that the pub owners are willing to hire them to provide what is a non-essential service under those conditions. The guys there could actually wind up worse off i.e unemployed altogether:|

About the maturity etc- An argument brought up in favour of immigration a lot is the fact that immigrants would be willing to do jobs Irish people wouldnt do. But now its wrong for them to do jobs we wouldnt do? No ones holding a gun to their heads.

GerK

Originally posted by Sand
About the maturity etc- An argument brought up in favour of immigration a lot is the fact that immigrants would be willing to do jobs Irish people wouldnt do. But now its wrong for them to do jobs we wouldnt do?

I didn't at any point say that, I merely said they should work legally with the protection that provides. Obviously anyone willing to do a job should be allowed to do it, but it should be within the bounds of the law.

No ones holding a gun to their heads.

No, thats usually just in the coutries we ship asylum seekers back to when we deny them refuge.

Sand

I never said you did Gerk, I was referring to your last paragraph where you talked about the jobs the immigrants are asked to do as reinforcing negative attitudes etc. These are the jobs that Im being told theyre willing to do that Irish people arent and thus why immigration, illegal or otherwise, is good. As such I dont see the fact that they take up these jobs as reinforcing negative attitudes. Surely the fact that people can see them working actually reduces negative attitudes?

As for the "less than legit" aspect of the jobs - thats true, but these jobs are barely nessassary - personally I find them just one more person to side step while trying not to slip on the puddle of piss on the floor:( . Given that, I dont think the bar owners will hire them with increased costs - theyll actually do worse off because they wont have jobs.

Youre kinda sliding off the point with the "not holding a gun to their head" thing, these people are taking these jobs, they probably hate them (who doesnt hate their job ? ), and theyre making enough money that they do more than one week at it.

Greenbean

The only thing is, this was totally unheard of until about 3 years ago. It seemed to arrive with the new influx of immigrants. Whether they brought along entreprenurial ideas like this and asked for the job or whether pub owners are exploiting immigrants inability to get work elsewhere is all up in the air. Is anyone actually friends with any africians who could possibly state on the nature of all this?

blondi

was in touch with the slate but their archives are not available on the web yet.
If you want a copy of the article call to their office where I am reliabably informed they have loads of that issue left .

email ads@theslate.ie

I personally feel they are being exploited , not by the pub owneres ( which IS a surprise being greedy bastards) but by the 'AGENCIES' who approach the pub owners offering this 'FREE' labour in the first place ?
( they are paid nothing by the pubs )
Did you ever notice if you tip less than 2 euros, it is promotly removed from the saucer and put into the attendendant's pocket ? so that a precedent of tipping a 2 euro minimum can be psychologically set in your head ??
Begs the question ?? , which 'organisation' ends up collecting this TAX FREE revenue ??, and i think it's SICK and SHAMEFUL they are happy to exploit their own in order to finance their network here.
If I thought for a second i was helping pay the poor sods rent , i'd have no problem , but that is sadly not the case.
I refuse to tip them , sorry.

Unless its the favourite at aintree at 4 o clock...

"Exploitation is three wolves and a sheep (with a machine gun to their heads) deciding on what to have for dinner."

klong

Dave Fanning and some other music critic were talking about it last night. After hearing what the magazine is like, i'd think that it wasn't trying to be racist. Dave Fanning seemed to get the same impression too. But then i haven't seen the article and so my view probably does not count.

gandalf

Can one of you people please scan this article and post a link to the scan here.

Theres no point having a discussion about a article if the majority of board members have no access to it, now is there !!

Gandalf.

The Corinthian

I read the article in question and found it concentrated on the absurdity of such positions and the aggressive nature that is employed to encourage tips rather than race.

It was good in places, but fairly mediocre. The title of the piece was obliviously there to engender PC shock value.

klong

Well, if they wanted free advertising with a title like that they certainly got it.

The Corinthian

Originally posted by klong
Well, if they wanted free advertising with a title like that they certainly got it.

The old ‘Last Temptation of Christ’ strategy – get all the outraged bleeding hearts to do your marketing... Just look at all the ppl trying to get a copy of it on this thread

Meh

Originally posted by The Corinthian
the aggressive nature that is employed to encourage tips rather than race.

To be fair to them, they can't be blamed for encouraging you to tip if they're not getting paid...Still, it sounds like exploitation of illegal immigrants by the pubs/agencies. I expect this to become much more widespread in the future.

JaneyMackers

If you actually read the article, its a scarstic slag on us all. Its about the worst job for years being created and who has been given them.
It was not meant to offend but get people to realise we are all letting this slide.

JM

Victor

I read the article and while it did make the point that it was predominantly black people doing the work, the focus of the piece was against the work, not the people.

KrankStricher

(As this is just as relevaant, if not more so today.)
I have the article in my bedroom, I will get it in a minute and type it out if anyone is still interrested. I just learned to touch type so would be happy to type anything after, the realms of monotonous tripe Mavis Beacon forced me to type.

(FTL; I have it if you want it.)

blackbuster

I think it's terrible the way blacks are treated in this country. The Irish won't do the jobs because the blacks will do it for hardly anything. They should at least get the minimum wage and bring these publicans to court if they are getting below the minimum wage.

If I go into a pub and see a black in the jacks I'll boycot the pub. What will the rest of you do?

jimbono1

Just out of curiousity, did anyone do this job like ten years ago when there were hardly any blacks, or is this a new thing, personally id rather there not there, its not like you cant pick up a tissue to wipe your hands, I mean what do they actually do, are they just there to make sure the aftershave doesnt get robbed?

blackbuster

jimbono1 wrote:

Just out of curiousity, did anyone do this job like ten years ago when there were hardly any blacks, or is this a new thing, personally id rather there not there, its not like you cant pick up a tissue to wipe your hands, I mean what do they actually do, are they just there to make sure the aftershave doesnt get robbed?

Some people are too lazy to whipe their own arses these days!:D

rubadub

blackbuster wrote:

If I go into a pub and see a black in the jacks I'll boycot the pub. What will the rest of you do?

What if it is a caucasian? My mate (white/pink) used to do it before and made a fortune on tips. I have seen plenty of old (white) men doing it in pubs & clubs, usually well dressed like waiters.

I hate pubs that have them, I see no need for them and find it sort of intrusive. Especially if you go in for a crap and they are the only one there.