what's with the allowed racism here?

Originally posted by budski

Originally posted by backinblack
reply to post by budski

 

Get off a plane, walk up to an asian man, call him a "paki" and see what happens.

I've done it many times..Spent half my life overseas..
You're dreaming if you think most consider the word paki racist..
I had many "pakis" working for me and never have I heard that...

edit on 25-2-2011 by backinblack because: grammar police check

i'm not dreaming - I was talking about the UK.
Try it here and see what happens.

It stems from just after the 2nd world war, when many asians came to the UK.

As racism became more prevalent, "paki bashing" became a huge problem - this is why today the use of the word is considered racist in the UK, because it has its roots in racist violence.

That is the problem, if someone is using the term in context that is not hateful there is no reason the term should be not used, it just gives more power to the word being used in a derogatory way to ban it as a racist term.

I am not coming down on you, just making an opinion I have known.

Originally posted by wayno

Originally posted by Vicky32

Originally posted by wayno
I can't speak for GB which seems to harbour a lot more prejudice in its population than here.

You're #ting me, right?
Canada is regrettably very culturally close to its neighbour to the south as far as prejudice goes. You're just bigger hypocrites about it.
Americans let their seething cauldrons of prejudice and hatred boil over all the time. Canadians lie.

Hmmmm, if we are as prejudiced as Americans, then why was it that the underground railroad brought escaping slaves to Canada -- to my area of the country to be specific????

History proves the majority of Canadians are nothing like the Americans in this and many other areas. You could have given no greater insult to the average Canadian than accuse him of being American.

A good bit of your posts i read, displayed intelligence.
Besides this one. What you said was not only arrogant, but pretty ignorant at that.
You stereotyped all Americans as a whole as if all Canadians are godly people.
I think you need to get some thicker reality glasses. The ones you are wearing distort your judgment.

If we all want to live in a truly free society, which many profess and few demonstrate, putting up with ignorant louts who spend a lot of time and energy hating generalized groups that they really know little or nothing about is part of that.

A free society includes the freedom to hate whoever someone wants to hate, for whatever reason, as stupid or ignorant as those reasons may be to others.

This is not the same as doing anything about it... nobody has the right to attack or otherwise harm someone they hate.

But putting up with dolts is part of the price of freedom.

In my opinion it is not anyones business what I may call another race or someone from another country.

I refuse to be poitically correct.

I will say any word I desire to say.

Durning the years I have been called a red neck, whitey, honkie, hick, and a B word that sounds like witch.

Do I care or become offended? No, they are only words.

Here in the dirty South we, as childern used to say:
Sticks and stones will break my bones but
words will never hurt me.

As Bret Buttler would say to Scarlet, " Frankly my dear I don't give a damn".

It's past time to get over racism and work for the good of all people.

reply to post by budski

i'm not dreaming - I was talking about the UK.

No, you said get off a plane..So I'm assuming you mean overseas..

Originally posted by Vicky32

For the last time, men, plurals don't take apostrophes! What is so hard to understand about that?

edit on 25/2/11 by Vicky32 because: Trying to fix formatting!

edit on 25/2/11 by Vicky32 because: Trying to fix formatting! and it wouldn't work, sigh

OMG, incorrect use of a comma..
Why a comma before and after "men".??
I can understand the "after' one but the "before one.??
Bad grammar...

Originally posted by Doomzilla
reply to post by justyc

 

I"M white and I find the p word offensive AND ignorant .
Im with you I believe its wrong .

I find being called white offensive and ignorant, how about you stop using that term too?

reply to post by AlienCarnage


I see where you're coming from, but you should also understand that purely from a UK perspective it is considered an extremely racist thing to say, context or not - in the UK it's on a par with the "N" word.

It's extremely difficult for posters from the UK not to see it that way, simply because of its historical context regarding racist groups such as the old national front.

Originally posted by backinblack
reply to post by budski

 

i'm not dreaming - I was talking about the UK.

No, you said get off a plane..So I'm assuming you mean overseas..

Your "aasumption" (in inverted commas because I don't believe for one second it was one, and that you are merely trolling the thread to try and throw it off track) has only made an "ass" out of one person rather than "u and me" both.

Like I said, try saying it in the UK - see what happens.

Its Ignorant. ALL Sapien Sapiens smh... Almost

Bit of a strange one this.

Uzbeki's come from Uzbekistan.
Afghan's or Afghani's come from Afghanistan.
Kazak's come from Kazakstan.

Is calling someone from Pakistan a 'Paki' so unreasonable?

However, and it is a big however, 'Paki' has been a derogatory and offensive name for people from Pakistan fora long time now in the UK and is considered exceptionally racist.

Young people of Pakistani origin have started calling each other 'Paki', there's even a 'Paki' Casual Hooligan firm in Bradford, in much the same way Blacks in US ghetto's started calling each other ''n-word'' a few years ago.

I suppose like a lot of things context can be the determining factor.
But make no bones about it, the majority of times the term is used in the UK it is intended in a derogatory, demeaning and racist manner.

And to be honest, I think the majority, if not all, the Brits on here know that.

Personally I think the word has no place in the ATS dictionary or vernacular.

On a slightly different tack;
Pakistan meas Land of the Pure in both Urdu and Persian and also derives from Pakistan, Afghan, Kashmir and Sind, parts of which united to form the new nation, and Stan which means land.

Why are UK members so obsessed with it being a racial slur? Sure people (especially during the skinhead 80's era) used it as a racial insult, but it's not. A lot of people call Indians Paki's which can be used as racial profiling, and to them it is an insult, but to a Paki it's not. Take for example a business owner round here, everyone knows him as Paki Bobby, why? Because he is from Pakistan, he has said to me before "If you see xxxx, tell him/her Paki Bobby's looking for him / her".

Sure a lot of people in the UK try to use it to be racist, but not everybody here thinks like that.

When people use the N word they are using against a persons skin colour, that is racist.

When someone calls a Paki a Paki it's because they are Pakistani, as someone has already pointed out, Afghan, Paki, Brit, Aussie.

It's not like calling an American a Yank, or a Frenchman a frog!

reply to post by budski


I grew up in a mill town in west Yorks. Lots of different nationalitys, a real multi cultural soceity. Keightley in west yorks. If you are some young yobbo and go arround shouting paki this or that, then people would get upset. How ever if I go up to an asian and ask him are you a paki? Then he wont get upset and will no doubt be glad to say no Im a kurd, or what ever. Pakis hate being mistaken for indians and that really does wind them up. Try calling a paki, a gujerati and they will go nuts. Or so I have found after growing up in a multi cuteral soceity.
I beleive Prince Harry got it in the neck for using that term. How ever it was one of his closest friends from school. Who didnt mind that he was called that by his friends for the simply fact, that he really was a paki and proud of it. Pc gone mad in my mind.

Originally posted by budski
reply to post by AlienCarnage

 

I see where you're coming from, but you should also understand that purely from a UK perspective it is considered an extremely racist thing to say, context or not - in the UK it's on a par with the "N" word.

It's extremely difficult for posters from the UK not to see it that way, simply because of its historical context regarding racist groups such as the old national front.

That is the problem we as a society let the hate mongers take over words and use them for their own proposes, and we as a society need to take our words back out of the hands as hateful individuals and use them in a context that is not hateful or inconsiderate, and the power of those words as having hateful meanings will diminish significantly.

Allowing them to be seen in the light as racist and hateful only adds more power to the words when they are used in such a manner.

It is like the kid in school who is bullied and does not stand up for himself, it just breeds more bullying, if he had stood up for himself right away, the bullying would stop, the longer he takes to stand up for himself, the greater the consequences of his actions could be. Usually it starts with one bully, standing up to that one bully is easy enough, but over time the number of people bulling him multiplies until when he tries to stand up for himself, there are others to knock him down, but if he gains support of others before standing up for himself, he has more of a chance of overcoming the bullying.

If one person stands up and uses the word in the correct context and not in the derogatory context, he will be silenced by the naysayer’s, but if enough people rally and use the word in the correct context, the power of the word as a racist term is diminished and it no longer holds the power it once did.

reply to post by Freeborn


Perhaps the op should cry to the pakastani operated site www.paki.com about their use of the word too. Its pretty sad when people feel the need to be offended on behalf of another person or group. Just can't help being a politically correct busybody or theirs lives are so empty that they must latch onto someone else's grievance and make it their own just for the sake of something to do.

it is considered racism in the uk and as ats is an international forum the word should be edited out... it ats wish to continue on their endeavour of insensitivity to other cultures then so be it. karma has a way of coming back round on the internet...

kx

Originally posted by woogleuk
It's not like calling an American a Yank..

I'm an American, and you can feel free to call me Yank any time you like.
Do other Americans get upset when called a Yank? I've never noticed it, myself.
Do Brits feel they're insulting an American by calling them a Yank? That seems strange to me.

Maybe it's a location thing, similar to "bloody" being considered bad language.
I never understood that one, either.

reply to post by quackers


I know some young people of Pakistani origin call themselves 'Paki' and there are some quite odious and outright racists on some of those UK based Pakistani forums.

But that doesn't alter the fact that the majority of time when the term is used in the UK it is intended in a derogatory manner.

I don't think "Paki" holds any racist connotation in the U.S. In fact, I had no idea that it did elsewhere.

Besides, it is not a race (even if you accept the concept of race), it is a nationality.

What do you expect. Members are allowed to slag off Homosexuals and Lesbians in ATS. Or they are allowed to slag of People from other countries although what happend between thier country and another might not be thier faults.

To me its wrong. And it should be stopped. But that is ATS for you.