Saturday 31 August 2013

Refreshing Defiance...

A sign saying 'English owners'? Racist:
Calls have been made from Burnley’s MP and the mayor of Padiham for it to be taken down. But Mr Bradbury remains defiant and said people who think it’s racist are narrow-minded.
A sign saying 'Immigrant bags'? Racist:
“They are called immigrant bags, so I drew a picture of an immigrant to go with them,” Benefactors owner, Bruce Webster, said, speaking to The Kent and Sussex Courier.
“I don’t really see the problem, people get so touchy about things these days," Mr Webster said incredulously, adding that the sign has been displayed for three years.
More of this! It's about time people started remembering the wise words of Stephen Fry...

15 comments:

Joe Public said...

Presumably, Burnley’s MP and the mayor of Padiham will also demand that the "Oxford English Dictionary" be renamed.

Sorry Julia, but they are utter Twats. In the context of factual adjective, nothing can be 'racist'.

Rickie said...

I'm sure everyone knows someone who cracks a joke, sniggers over topics that are quite clearly Racist and then twists and squirms when being accused of being a Racist when all their friends know full well they are, because they are always doing it.

The chippy man is English- joke, The bag is called an immigrant bag- joke, yep they are meant to be seen as racist in the same way Bernard Manning made a career out of funny racism and then claimed he was never a Racist.

Nobody will agree to being a racist, because its easy to say no to being accused of it, and easy to squirm out of it,

"I'm not Racist but".....how many times do you hear that followed by extreme comments which get worse the longer the person talks, when you challenge them on being a racist after the comments the response is

"I don't give a fuck" and a shrug.

joe public:

". In the context of factual adjective, nothing can be 'racist'"

Yet another clever squirm.

Anonymous said...

"It's about time people started remembering the wise words of Stephen Fry... "

...Which would be....?

Mark In Mayenne said...

I wonder if a Chinese restaurant advertised itself as having Chinese owners, if anyone would object.

Fahrenheit211 said...

Regarding the bags. In parts of East London I've heard such bags referred to as 'Bosnian Bags' because during the Yugoslavian civil war news reports showed Bosian refugees carrying them.

Mark In Mayenne said...

@Joe Public - be careful. One could argue that "nigger" is a factual adjective (when it's not a factual noun). But for sure it's racist.

Greencoat said...

"It's about time people started remembering the wise words of Stephen Fry... "

Which were:

'I do like your bottom, old chap.'

SadButMadLad said...

Can I say that I have been to that chippy. And the sign was there last time I went last week.

As for English being racist, why aren't Indians restaurants racist?

blueknight said...

Most 'Indian' restaurants are Bangla Deshi. Not sure if that makes it more or less racist.
So out goes Chinese whispers, Spanish practices, Russian roulette, French letter,going Dutch,'Brazilian'. It's all Greek to me...

Anonymous said...

Jews sunk the Titanic.

Iceberg, Goldberg, what's the difference?

Anonymous said...

I suspect that there are vast countries that are proud that they are of a partiicular race and regard others as not quite good enough.
Not only that but they tend to only mix wit their own kind in foreign lands.
How are you poor brow beaten English going to deal with that?

Twenty_Rothmans said...

@ Greencoat

I thought it was 'My old chap likes your bottom' - thank you for correcting me.

Am I alone in judging whether a Chinese restaurant might be worth a try on the basis of the number of Chinamen eating therein? (Thumbs up to Red 'N' Hot in Manchester btw)

In Australia, the best chippies were run by Bubbles, and indeed, when I first moved to London, the rather excellent FACS was owned and run by a sweaty man called Chris - which was not short for 'Christopher' but was probably a name that started with chi.

It was sold to MONAs, who kept the name but not the quality.Here, the provenance of the owner was key.

If your idea of a nice meal as you were growing up was old goat or flyblown mutton boiled to smithereens and then bukkaked with chilli to conceal its use-by date, how can you appreciate the beauty of a crisp, golden batter surrounding succulent, flaky treasures within?

Would you have any concept of how I can remember, even after forty years, just how good proper fish and chips tasted? Could you make fish and chips that would be remembered in 2053?

John Tee said...

Am I racist if I admit to being English ... ?

JuliaM said...

"Nobody will agree to being a racist, because its easy to say no to being accused of it, and easy to squirm out of it"

It's easy, is it? Tell that to the people who've lost their jobs and, in some cases, their careers!

"...Which would be....?"

Despite the suggestions of Greencoat and 20 Rothmans, it was actually 'You're offended? So fucking what?'.. ;)

"One could argue that "nigger" is a factual adjective (when it's not a factual noun). But for sure it's racist."

Unless you're making one of those music videos where you wear lots of gold chains & wear your baseball cap on backwards..?

JuliaM said...

"So out goes Chinese whispers, Spanish practices, Russian roulette, French letter,going Dutch,'Brazilian'. It's all Greek to me..."

Good point!

"Am I alone in judging whether a Chinese restaurant might be worth a try on the basis of the number of Chinamen eating therein?"

No, it is indeed supposedly the hallmark.

Though I always thought the English chinese restaurant was rather 'adapted' to English tastes, rather than strictly authentic...