Admin Mk2Jo Posted January 15, 2009 Admin Report Posted January 15, 2009 .... I suspect this will spark a HUGE debate which will probably end with the post being deleted. However ... it is news ... What do you think about Prince Harry's comments on his "paki" friend in the army and his father Prince Charles' comments on his pal that he affectionately calls "sooty"? I know this is very controversial but for me ... it is no worse than calling your mate "fatty" or "ugly" or "chinky" or "old fart" or such like. As long as that person is a friend and it is okay with them then I don't think it's particularly racist or offensive. Before you reply, PLEASE, PLEASE remember that we have members of all colours, religions, sizes, races on the forum and we don't want to offend anyone. Please keep it "light" - thanks.
Admin Vista Posted January 15, 2009 Admin Report Posted January 15, 2009 Personally I think that any term that is so regularly spat with the amount of venom that some racist people use it with cannot possibly be considered a friendly term that you could use in conversation to refer to a friend. So I don't think Paki or Nigger etc are remotely on terms with things like fatty or baldy and I know that all my coloured friends (and I have quite a few) would be pretty offended if I referred to them as sooty.
Stu_B Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 I was talking about this with my brother... he compared it to people calling him a Brit! I guess this is true if the person is from Pakistan.... However I agree with Vista... some words have been used with such hatred & venom & now have these negative connotations so there is no bringing them back.
Admin Mk2Jo Posted January 15, 2009 Author Admin Report Posted January 15, 2009 Thing is Vista ... you have just used a similar term with the word "coloured" but obviously you think that is not offensive so where do you draw the line?
Stu_B Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 It's often down to the person. My ex was half jamaican & called herself Brown, She was offended by Black... other people I'm sure are offended by Brown or coloured or whatever!
MexDan Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 I personally believe that if the person who you are refering to does not have an issue with what you are calling them, whether it be racist or not, then there is no issue. What does matter is the audience that hears these remarks. This country has some serious issues relating to Political correctness and we seem to love to lable people without first looking at the context in which the phrase/word was said. However you cannot get away with saying "Paki" or "Sooty" on national TV, it causes offence, and rightly so, to people who have been on the recieveing end of racial abuse involving these words.
Admin Mk2Jo Posted January 15, 2009 Author Admin Report Posted January 15, 2009 Don't get me wrong - I don't care what colour you are, what country you come from (unless you are over here to sponge off the state and take my job ), how fat you are, what colour your hair is etc but I don't think it unfair for Prince Charles to call his mate Sooty because his mate might call him Big Ears (prob not because he is the King In Waiting) but my point is, if you have a term for your mate and it's okay with him then it's no-one elses business ... although I agree with Dan's point about it being said out loud/publicly especially with both Charles and Harry being very public figures
Admin Vista Posted January 15, 2009 Admin Report Posted January 15, 2009 Thing is Vista ... you have just used a similar term with the word "coloured" but obviously you think that is not offensive so where do you draw the line? Good point, I use the term coloured because that's how my friend refers to himself, either that or he just calls himself West Indian. I've never heard anyone of Asian ancestry refer to themselves as a Paki though. Oh and the Key Point here is that they are such public figures they should know better, even if their father / grandfather doesn't.
antz Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 I wonder if he refers to charles as BIG EARS?
pauln Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 Looks like another example of how out of touch our so called betters are with todays world.
DanV Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 As said before, if the guy who was referred to as 'paki' is not offended then fair enough. We had an indian guy in my year at school we called Sanjay (sorry i dunno how you'd spell that!) because he apparently looked like a character from a soap at the time. He didnt mind but to anyone who wasnt in our circle of friends it might have sounded offensive/racist. I think there is a big difference between someone calling someone else a name in a friendly way a or in a way as to cause offence. My best mate (who happens to be skinny) I call Fat Boy. Its a nickname, he finds it funny, but could i be called a bully for it??
Fishtailparka Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 I think they are both terms used very much in private, and unless the people involved object there is absolutely no harm in it. More to the point, I very much feel it should have stayed in private and not used by the media to sell themselves. The media, News of the World in particular in this case, have only publicised it to cause as much shock as they can. Prince Charles and his children do a great deal for this country and from as far as I could possibly know they are caring, generous people. Newspapers on the other hand are pure scum. I know Pakistanis that refer to themselves and one another as "paki", and black people saying the word nigger is very common. It very much comes down to the context in which it is used, and in this case it would seem acceptable. Too much PC'ness does a lot more harm than good, to both sides.
mk1super Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 I feel for harry he is one of the uk's most unlucky lads... Look at it like this! Harry has a cheek - Ginger and German unlucky And his mum was getting nailed by an Arab fella so erm unlucky again. And his brother will be king most likly and he wont erm unlucky again. On a plus side he has served country, and ive nothing but admiration and respect for anyone who signs up Oh and a mate of mine is a serving marine and gets stick for being a turnip scots slang for being from a rural area, he said its part of being in forces you get a nickname and you get banter.
Doc Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 we have all used the phrases going for as chinky called some irish a mick or a scot a jock or im going to the paki store so dont go all high and mighty because as a society we have become so focussed on the percieved racism of it im sure that these other cultures have nicknames for us Honkies ! Due to increased need to be PC on every facet of society we have become scared to even sneeze in the direction of anyone that isnt anglo saxon for fear of being called racist its pathetic . Its a shame that we have become a nation of worriers regarding percieved name calling , if thats the worst thing harry did then its all a little blown out of all proportion , he may be a royal but he may as well be the bosses son for all the influence he has on the world ..... we need to chill out about this bullshit when kids are being bombed by the nation of isreal (musn't say the jews for fear of offending them ! ) see what i mean its pathetic. Get a life
marky4 Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 got a couple of welsh mates who i call taff and a scotish mate i call jock, they don't mind because it's just a friendly nick name (no worse than calling your pakistani mate paki, aslong as it'a alright with him). a few years ago i worked with a coloured plasterer (a real top bloke) and everyone on the site used to call him sooty and he used to call us white honky's, but we were all mates. this racist thing has got out of hand soon your get accused of being racist for looking at someone
Doc Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 got a couple of welsh mates who i call taff and a scotish mate i call jock, they don't mind because it's just a friendly nick name (no worse than calling your pakistani mate paki, aslong as it'a alright with him).a few years ago i worked with a coloured plasterer (a real top bloke) and everyone on the site used to call him sooty and he used to call us white honky's, but we were all mates. this racist thing has got out of hand soon your get accused of being racist for looking at someone ive a black mate whos called Chalky ! Been his nick name for forty years even his black mates call him by that name I get called apple pie but thats a whole different discussion LOL
FredTransit Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 If whatever nickname you use for your mate is not meant or taken as an insult, specially by the person who is being called the name, who are we to get offended? I remember when I heard Jeremy Clarkson say truck drivers murder prostitutes, I was like WTF??? But when I heard that truck drivers were seeing the funny side, who am I to get offended?
over_head_cam Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 Good point Fred. Has anyone heard any comments from the person concerned in the Prince Harry thing? I know his dad was on the news. Perhaps we are a bit out of date and these things have become more acceptable in their circles? I was the subject of racist comments when I was younger as there was (and still is) a large afro-carribean community where I went to school, but that of course is a different subject. Nowadays most people call me a c*** but that's only to be expected I suppose
X-pack-Glyn Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 Personally I think that any term that is so regularly spat with the amount of venom that some racist people use it with cannot possibly be considered a friendly term that you could use in conversation to refer to a friend. So I don't think Paki or Nigger etc are remotely on terms with things like fatty or baldy and I know that all my coloured friends (and I have quite a few) would be pretty offended if I referred to them as sooty. Just for the record calling an "ethnic minority" coloured is actually an insult to them, but they find being termed as black perfectly acceptable.
Tom Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 In my opinion it always seems that it is very one sided. For Instance, my wife watches some shit, shit movies. The one she had on recently was called something like 'bring it on 2' (it had cheerleaders an hayden panettone in it) long story short, she moved and went to a mainly black school where she was referred to as 'the white girl' 'cracker' etc in a very racist and degrading way. The film makers and whoever else was involved saw this as perfectly acceptable. But i wonder what would happen if the shoe was on the other foot? outcry thats what. ridiculous
wolf666 Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 really the word 'paki' is an abriveasion of pakistan as you would aussie for austrailan of yank for an american or scot for scottish the only time it should be offensive if you put an offensive word after it
X-pack-Glyn Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 Many years ago i had a black girlfriend...not sure if she minded being called black or not, but she did have a real strange big pokey out arse and liked it uppa da bum anyway, thats my input to the conversation.
RETRO_AL Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 Personally I think that any term that is so regularly spat with the amount of venom that some racist people use it with cannot possibly be considered a friendly term that you could use in conversation to refer to a friend. So I don't think Paki or Nigger etc are remotely on terms with things like fatty or baldy and I know that all my coloured friends (and I have quite a few) would be pretty offended if I referred to them as sooty. Just for the record calling an "ethnic minority" coloured is actually an insult to them, but they find being termed as black perfectly acceptable. I got a telling off at school for refering to a black lad as coloured,which i can see why if you think about it,but a lot of people seem to think refering them as black is offensive when its not! paki has always been a offensive word for a asian person,so shouldnt be used,unless they are ok with it
Admin Vista Posted January 15, 2009 Admin Report Posted January 15, 2009 Personally I think that any term that is so regularly spat with the amount of venom that some racist people use it with cannot possibly be considered a friendly term that you could use in conversation to refer to a friend. So I don't think Paki or Nigger etc are remotely on terms with things like fatty or baldy and I know that all my coloured friends (and I have quite a few) would be pretty offended if I referred to them as sooty. Just for the record calling an "ethnic minority" coloured is actually an insult to them, but they find being termed as black perfectly acceptable. That's not my experience of it but I guess everbody sees things differently.
Doc Posted January 15, 2009 Report Posted January 15, 2009 just ask a big black man if he is coloured ? he will soon put you right im sure
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now