Friday, December 04, 2009

Racism


I think this poster says it all.

7 comments:

Alex said...

So, er, what do you actually shout/say when the other person is being racist?

Gregg said...

Well, er, you deal wit it however you wish. The poster is about idiots who see 'racism' in everything as a way of imposing their own form of censorship.

Alex said...

I'll remember that next time I hear about the poor, put upon White Indigenous English community.

You've got to remember, if people go around saying "you're just crying racism" every time someone gets accused of racism, the term "crying racism" will lose all its meaning.

Gregg said...

You and your ilk have done 'racism' to death. I suspect your some spotty middle-class white kid but very balanced, a chip on each shoulder. The nearest you proably get to non-English culture is a lentil korma at Glastonbury.

Peter Metcalfe said...

The problem is, Alex, that because racism is used as a weapon to shut up anyone who disagrees with the establishment, it is seen as 'crying wolf'.
Therfore when real racism rears it's head it has no impact because it has been used previously in idiotic contexts to shut people up rather than protect people from racists.
To cry racism as a form of censorship is Fascism /Communism at its worst.

Alex said...

"You and your ilk have done 'racism' to death."
Maybe I've read this wrong, but does that mean racism has disappeared? Doesn't that exactly disprove your point, and demonstrate that, actually, if you cry racism enough, racism will die?

Does it work with other things? If I shout 'homophobia' or 'aubergine' repeatedly, will other things I dislike go away?

"I suspect your some spotty middle-class white kid but very balanced, a chip on each shoulder. The nearest you proably get to non-English culture is a lentil korma at Glastonbury."
Aside from growing up in Leicester, having lived in several different non-English countries, including Scotland, and that I prefer jalfriezi or madras to korma and have never been to Glasto, only Reading a couple of times and Summer Sundae once, yeah, that's a fair description. Though I don't quite get the shoulder/chip gag.

But let's play "guess the lefty's personal life" more: What do/did I study at university? How many black or Asian friends do I have? Am I a gay Muslim, a gay atheist, or a gay Buddhist? What's my favourite album? Am I vegetarian or vegan? What brand of tea do I drink (note: 'fairtrade' and 'organic' will only get you half marks). I'd say you take Yorkshire tea, well-stewed, just a spot of milk, one sugar.

Anyway, onto the vaguely serious points:
"The problem is, Alex, that because racism is used as a weapon to shut up anyone who disagrees with the establishment, it is seen as 'crying wolf'.
Therfore when real racism rears it's head it has no impact because it has been used previously in idiotic contexts to shut people up rather than protect people from racists.
"
This is an interesting one. Firstly, 'The Boy Who Cried Wolf' is a tragically unjust story - lying about wolves is a silly thing to do, but it hardly merits getting eaten by one. You also have to remember that, in the end, the boy was right. There really was a wolf. Just because some people have cried 'racist' in the past, doesn't mean you can then cry 'race card' and suddenly it won't be racist.

This isn't exclusive to racism, or even racism, homophobia, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. There's a lot of 'class war' been cried over the past week, alongside the usual 'self-loathing', 'anti-British/English', 'unpatriotic', 'socialism/fascism/communism/all three', 'spotty teenager', 'Frankfurter School' etc.

There's also the fascinating phenomenon of crying 'crying "race"', or playing the race-card card, or whatever you want to call it. Someone points out, implies, or even inadvertently suggests that something might be a little bit racist/anti-Semitic/homophobic, and the opponent says "Yeah well, you lefties/Zios/gays say that for EVERYTHING."

All of these things divert the debate away from discussing the point and towards defining it. If someone proves something is racist, that doesn't really get anyone anywhere except knowing that it's racist. The next step is arguing why being racist invalidates it, or making a wider statement about racism. (Which is what I'm generally interested in doing). Similarly though, if you claim someone is spotting racism everywhere, you'd better:
a) explain exactly why the things flagged up as racist aren't.
b) demonstrate how this incidence of 'crying racism' has shut down some or other debate.

I've seen neither from either of you so far. Off you go.

"To cry racism as a form of censorship is Fascism /Communism at its worst."
Look up Pol Pot on wikipedia you utter, utter horse's arse.

Gregg said...

I will let Peter Metcalfe respond to your comments and insults directed to him himself.

Frankfurter School? New one to me, although I believe McDonalds have, or did have, a Hamburger University.

Slightly more seriously it is not shouting 'racist' that will make anything go away, just as shouting 'aubergine' doesn't make it go away. It is when paranoics stop seeing racism where it doesn't actually exist that some sanity can return.

You seem to not only seek racism but many other forms of 'isms' and 'phobias' as I have said before. You seem to wallow in some kind of victimhood and seek offence on behalf of yourself and others, sobbing crocodile tears while spewing venom of the most vile and personal nature at those, via your blog, who you disagree with.

In short you are a small-minded, self-obsessed freak who really should seek help.