Today I was accused of Racism. I discovered I was a racist when I got into the express checkout line ahead of someone, and she said: "You racist white cunt!"
It's because, for reasons related to academic discussion and the need for precise definitions, "bigotry on the grounds of race" and "racism" are not synonymous in technical discussions. "Racism" has an added requirement - that the bigotry be done from a position of racial privilege in the society.
It's like the difference between "theory" and "hypothesis" in science versus the difference in colloquial speech.
To which you replied: not only am I racist, I am speciest. I help bats, snakes, lizards, puggles and peewees in need. At which point her head went cablouie!
*grins.* exactly. ;) I have to say, I haven't been called a darkie since I left the islands. It's a non-offensive term there, almost an affectionate one. Is it the same in Australia? No-one in the US seems to use it at all, and if they did, I bet it wouldn't be affectionate.
It's rare at best in my neck of the woods too, but recognized enough that it'd be a "hey, have a kick in the head" word as far as regards responses.
It's odd at times how place-dependent some terms like that can be; I'd never considered the idea of it not being an insult, or at least derived from one. (Then again, the wackiness around the word "Jew" in my part of Canada can confuse folks not used to it as well.)
Hrm. I don't know about "not derived from one," actually. It probably was derived from one. But somewhere along the line it lost its sting, like "nigger" never did, and it's more likely to be used as a warmer sort of race identification, or even admiringly. "First, second and third place in class this year were all douglas. Those little darkies don't play they have brains, you know!"
... "dougla" means mixed race, East Indian and black, which lots of people are.
It's a West Indian thing, and maybe (but not probably) even a specifically Trinidad-and-Tobago thing; our relatively brief period (roughly 1783, when the Spanish offered incentives to settle there and bring slave, to 1838, when the last attempts to keep the former slaves in service were formally given up) of slavery was succeeded by a somewhat-less-brief time of (mostly East Indian) indentured labor, from the late 1830s to 1917.
The two groups did a lot of mingling. My mother is a dougla, my father somewhat more mixed than that; I have Chinese cousins and white ones as well. It's a very interesting little country. Racial tension exists, but it's more likely to be black-vs-Indian than white-vs-anything, and it's more because of the way the two groups treated each other in settling the land after the whites had retreated. Indentured servants felt they were superior to the former slaves, while former slaves felt that they, having been there first and under harsher terms, should not have to give way to this new wave of interlopers.
It doesn't hurt, either, that whites had so brief a time of real power. Fifty-some years of slavery and seventy-odd of indentured service -- one average lifetime, and a man who was himself a slave at birth didn't have to watch his grandchildren grow up slaves too -- just doesn't breed generation upon generation of rancor the same way.
the ... uh ... 'c' word is one of those "maximum offense" words over here. When you can call someone a bastard or a bugger and do it in humour, it means you need to escalate to actually use an offensive term. So it's applied to all sexes.
strangely enough the 'c' word is used amongst people here probably more as an affectionate, matey term than bastard (at least people I know). Language is weird.
Your unpleasant interaction with this sad individual lasted but a fleeting moment. The female in question (I do not say "lady", so as not to devalue the word) must live with herself 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, trapped in a barren desert of unimaginable desolation and bitterness. Truly, her punishment is harsh.
It is well that we encounter such sorry people but seldom. May the good will you put forth into the universe, along with the gratitude of all the little creatures that you tend, return to bless your life with immeasurable richness.
I'm definitely taking the long view here. There are aspects of what ionotter and pure_agnostic said which are true... evil people often do not recognize their misery, and mistake bestial gratification for happiness. The nature of this individual's invective also makes me suspect a touch of mental illness. Normal people don't act that way in public.
Sadly, racism isn't the sole pervue of white folks. I had a professor in grad school (a black female) who was the most racist person I've ever met. She said that the plight of all persons of color was all caused by white males. She almost punched a student who protested that statement. But I find that blacks are very quick to accuse you of racism if they feel slighted in any way (like having to get behind you in line.) I've been called "white boy" on more than one ocassion, but when I answered back "black boy" I was immediately tagged as a racist. So no, we don't own racism...
The thing about racism, is it's a two way street. You met her on a crossroads, and did not greet her by walking down her path. That is what makes you the better person.
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cos only white people can be racist. [/Spike Jonez]
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It's like the difference between "theory" and "hypothesis" in science versus the difference in colloquial speech.
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hee! thanks.
Re: hee! thanks.
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(I'm surprisingly sheltered from racist terms...)
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It's odd at times how place-dependent some terms like that can be; I'd never considered the idea of it not being an insult, or at least derived from one. (Then again, the wackiness around the word "Jew" in my part of Canada can confuse folks not used to it as well.)
Re: hee! thanks.
... "dougla" means mixed race, East Indian and black, which lots of people are.
Re: hee! thanks.
(And I'm not Jewish, either! *hehehe!!!*)
Re: hee! thanks.
The two groups did a lot of mingling. My mother is a dougla, my father somewhat more mixed than that; I have Chinese cousins and white ones as well. It's a very interesting little country. Racial tension exists, but it's more likely to be black-vs-Indian than white-vs-anything, and it's more because of the way the two groups treated each other in settling the land after the whites had retreated. Indentured servants felt they were superior to the former slaves, while former slaves felt that they, having been there first and under harsher terms, should not have to give way to this new wave of interlopers.
It doesn't hurt, either, that whites had so brief a time of real power. Fifty-some years of slavery and seventy-odd of indentured service -- one average lifetime, and a man who was himself a slave at birth didn't have to watch his grandchildren grow up slaves too -- just doesn't breed generation upon generation of rancor the same way.
< /lecture> ;)
Re: hee! thanks.
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silly cow
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* Shakes head *
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It is well that we encounter such sorry people but seldom. May the good will you put forth into the universe, along with the gratitude of all the little creatures that you tend, return to bless your life with immeasurable richness.
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People like her always are, as they always seem to share their particular brand of happiness with everyone they meet.
Misery Likes Company
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Of the three terms, she had objective evidence for two, and got one of them wrong, so I wouldn't sweat the third.
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