White people who walk on eggshells

[AthenaAwakened]

You Pollacks took a lot of crap in the 70's and '80's as I remember (dumb Pollack jokes anyone?), starting with Mike on All in the Family. Never understood it, as I know several Polish people and they are all smart, fine citizens (even though, like Mr. Spock, their last names were unpronouncable).

My mother used to talk about her little jewish friend and her little black friends. In trying to show no prejudice her prejudice was showing. She was just managing it as best she could I thought

People of a certain age are doing their best to be polite and that's ok.

My mom had some friends, a couple. Lovely people, give you the shirt off their backs kind of people. And they were white. They never called black people black, They always used colored. I remember as a teenager not minding that the said colored. Had one of my classmates said colored, I probably would have had issues. But I had enough home training to know that you take people where they are and when the Ballards were growing up, colored was the polite thing to say and for them it still was.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

"HEY CHARLIE CHAN! Me rookie for lice. Where it at?" is going to be a BIG problem.

Hey, I thought you were politically correct! What's all this about?

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

My mother used to talk about her little jewish friend and her little black friends. In trying to show no prejudice her prejudice was showing. She was just managing it as best she could I thought

People of a certain age are doing their best to be polite and that's ok.

My mom had some friends, a couple. Lovely people, give you the shirt off their backs kind of people. And they were white. They never called black people black, They always used colored. I remember as a teenager not minding that the said colored. Had one of my classmates said colored, I probably would have had issues. But I had enough home training to know that you take people where they are and when the Ballards were growing up, colored was the polite thing to say and for them it still was.

Maybe we'll get beyond "colored" too one day. My kids didn't know color when they were growing up. They learned that from their grandparents.

 

[Jolly_Penguin]

Interesting topic...glad you posted it. Reminds me the other day when I was shopping in my local Lucky's supermarket after they had remodeled the store, and things weren't where they used to be. I remember trying to find a bag of rice, and just as I was starting to get really annoyed, I figured I would ask someone close by if they knew where the rice was. Which is not something I typically do. All the people around me were Asian (I live in an extremely diverse community, with Asians very dominant), but I felt like I shouldn't ask an Asian where the rice was, as that would be a "microaggression" and a "harmful stereotype".

LOL Naw, it really isn't just stereotype. Us all knowing martial arts or our women being bad drivers are stereotypes. The rice this is pretty much universally true of immigrants from China or those whose parents are. We buy rice by the giant bag, not those small little boxes or baggies white people buy rice in. I remember as a child a teacher was talking to us about babies and how to care for them. She said that a baby weighs about the same as a bag of rice. I did a double take, because for my household that would be one gigantic baby!

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I don't know how reliable this is but:

The term Dumb Polack was originally directed at the wave of refugees after WWII. On the paperwork it showed "D.P." Which stood for "Displaced person". But we all say Dumb Polack.

That reminds me of the notorious Polish scofflaw Prawo Jazdy.

And Randall is definitely not the one to walk on eggshells:

It's difficult to keep track of all the myriad words that are supposedly racial slurs. Are you allowed to call a black CIA agent a "spook"? What about if he dies and starts to haunt Langley?

My favorite slurs are ones I've never heard before... and then people insisting they aren't slurs.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I'm Polish, no ever asks me anything.

Of course not.

We don't speak Polish--thus we're dumber than a polack. What could we think of to ask you?

 

[TV and credit cards]

It bothers me when I pick up the speech patterns of the person I'm talking to. It doesn't happen often but people with unique ways of speaking are difficult for me sometimes. I have to remain mindful of the way I am speaking in response or I will inadvertently start to mimic them, subtly, but it still happens. I worry they will find it insulting.

 

[Bronzeage]

 

[maxparrish]

I'm Polish, no ever asks me anything.

Here's a "racist" joke (and true story), as told to me by my Japanese-American buddy (a collector of many un-PC jokes).

As a teen he shared the same sense of humor of the father of one of his friends. Russ would would visit the family and never forgot the father, a fellow of Polish descent, who would tell his children: "Look, I'm Polish. Your mother is Italian. Look at some of the advantages. When you grow up you'll be able threaten a guy by "making an offer" you won't understand!

 

[thebeave]

Interesting topic...glad you posted it. Reminds me the other day when I was shopping in my local Lucky's supermarket after they had remodeled the store, and things weren't where they used to be. I remember trying to find a bag of rice, and just as I was starting to get really annoyed, I figured I would ask someone close by if they knew where the rice was. Which is not something I typically do. All the people around me were Asian (I live in an extremely diverse community, with Asians very dominant), but I felt like I shouldn't ask an Asian where the rice was, as that would be a "microaggression" and a "harmful stereotype".

LOL Naw, it really isn't just stereotype. Us all knowing martial arts or our women being bad drivers are stereotypes. The rice this is pretty much universally true of immigrants from China or those whose parents are. We buy rice by the giant bag, not those small little boxes or baggies white people buy rice in. I remember as a child a teacher was talking to us about babies and how to care for them. She said that a baby weighs about the same as a bag of rice. I did a double take, because for my household that would be one gigantic baby!

Yeah, that was the problem I was having. I was in the Asian aisle of the supermarket and there was rice galore, but it was either these ginormous dog food sized bags, or smaller bags with Chinese writing that I didn't understand. I was looking for the, as you say, white people rice.

I heard this bit from Bill Burr a couple of years ago...this post reminded me of that:



What do you think? Racist or not racist?

 

[ZiprHead]

And Randall is definitely not the one to walk on eggshells:

It's difficult to keep track of all the myriad words that are supposedly racial slurs. Are you allowed to call a black CIA agent a "spook"? What about if he dies and starts to haunt Langley?

Love the movie. "I'm taking it back."

 

[ZiprHead]

My mother used to talk about her little jewish friend and her little black friends. In trying to show no prejudice her prejudice was showing. She was just managing it as best she could I thought

People of a certain age are doing their best to be polite and that's ok.

My mom had some friends, a couple. Lovely people, give you the shirt off their backs kind of people. And they were white. They never called black people black, They always used colored. I remember as a teenager not minding that the said colored. Had one of my classmates said colored, I probably would have had issues. But I had enough home training to know that you take people where they are and when the Ballards were growing up, colored was the polite thing to say and for them it still was.

From Red Taills: "When you run out of air, you turn blue - when you grow envious you turn green, when you're afraid you turn yellow - and then you call us 'colored'? "

 

[Keith&Co.]

A kid in one of my wife's classes accused her of racism. He was surprised when she just shrugged and went on with the test review.
He insisted that she had given him a zero because of his race.
She pointed out that he hadn't done the assignment. He got a zero for handing in zero work. Race had nothing to do with it.
He then asked how she could PROVE she wasn't racist.
One of her students, repeating 10th grade and had her last year, said, "Dude, she don't gotta. There's black kids also claim they get bad grades in here because she's racist."
"So," the kid pounced, "that just means she's racist against everybody!"

I'm STILL trying to work out how that'd work...

 

[Derec]

I'm STILL trying to work out how that'd work...

 

[bilby]

 

[Axulus]

View attachment 4461

Except political correctness covers far more than just jokes.

An example. My friend went to a prep high school in the Seattle area. It is an area that fully embraces liberal PC culture, and this school was no exception. For example, they had a full time "diversity coordinator" on staff.

In one of the classes, they were having a class discussion. There was just one student who was black in the class. The teacher asked her if she could provide the "black perspective" on the topic. Now, obviously it is silly to treat her as some sort of spokesperson for black people and that her opinion would constitute the "black perspective" just because she is black. I think if she had politely brought this up to him and he apologized for the error, that would've been a fine way to handle it and be done with it. But no, she goes into a rage of "oh, how dare you ask me for the 'black perspective', that is so racist." She would just not let it go. She then went to the principal at the school to lodge a complaint against him and spoke to the school paper to do an article about the incident. That is way overboard for an innocent mistake. In general, my friend said this teacher and the school bent over backwards to try to be inclusive and make everyone of all races and ethnicities feel welcome. Does that mean everyone will be perfect all of the time? Of course not. It is another example of "eggshells", one slip and you could get the "racist" accusation thrown at you and have your career put in peril.

 

[bilby]

View attachment 4461

Except political correctness covers far more than just jokes.

An example. My friend went to a prep school in high school in the Seattle area. It is an area that fully embraces liberal PC culture. In one of the classes, they were having a class discussion. There was just one student who was black in the class. The teacher asked her if she could provide the "black perspective" on the topic. Now, obviously it is silly to treat her as some sort of spokesperson for black people and that her opinion would constitute the "black perspective" just because she is black. I think if she had politely brought this up to him and he apologized for the error, that would've been a fine way to handle it and be done with it. But no, she goes into a rage of "oh, how dare you ask me for the 'black perspective', that is so racist." She would just not let it go. She then went to the principal at the school to lodge a complaint against him. That is way overboard for an innocent mistake. It is another example of "eggshells", one slip and you could get the "racist" accusation thrown at you and have your career put in peril.

When you insult someone, you don't get to decide how insulted they should be, or how they should react.

Even if they over-react, then an apology remains in order.

If your insult leads to action that genuinely imperils your career, then you really should have thought much harder before insulting someone. And if someone reports your insult to your boss/principal/supervisor/mother/whoever, and their report is an overreaction, then you can simply defend yourself with the facts - so your career isn't really in peril at all. If the facts are insufficient as a defence, then either your insult was worse than you are admitting; or you are better off getting out from under an unfair regime anyway.

 

[Axulus]

Except political correctness covers far more than just jokes.

An example. My friend went to a prep school in high school in the Seattle area. It is an area that fully embraces liberal PC culture. In one of the classes, they were having a class discussion. There was just one student who was black in the class. The teacher asked her if she could provide the "black perspective" on the topic. Now, obviously it is silly to treat her as some sort of spokesperson for black people and that her opinion would constitute the "black perspective" just because she is black. I think if she had politely brought this up to him and he apologized for the error, that would've been a fine way to handle it and be done with it. But no, she goes into a rage of "oh, how dare you ask me for the 'black perspective', that is so racist." She would just not let it go. She then went to the principal at the school to lodge a complaint against him. That is way overboard for an innocent mistake. It is another example of "eggshells", one slip and you could get the "racist" accusation thrown at you and have your career put in peril.

When you insult someone, you don't get to decide how insulted they should be, or how they should react.

Even if they over-react, then an apology remains in order.

If your insult leads to action that genuinely imperils your career, then you really should have thought much harder before insulting someone. And if someone reports your insult to your boss/principal/supervisor/mother/whoever, and their report is an overreaction, then you can simply defend yourself with the facts - so your career isn't really in peril at all. If the facts are insufficient as a defence, then either your insult was worse than you are admitting; or you are better off getting out from under an unfair regime anyway.

Uh, he didn't think it was an insult at the time. It was a mistake. He probably intended it to include her in on the conversation and obtain more diverse perspectives on the topic. Isn't one of the benefits according to PC liberal theory about diversity based on skin color and ethnicity that you get a greater variety of opinions and perspectives on things? It was probably having that drilled into his head by the diversity coordinator or the PC liberal culture that led to the innocent mistake.

A core defining feature of the culture of political correctness is the _over reaction_ to a mistake associated with race or ethnicity. It is the source of the whole "eggshells" thing. If I mistakenly do anything or say anything that is taken as an insult or gives offense that they perceive as due to their race or ethnicity, despite it not being my intent, then look out.

To say that you don't have to worry about your career if they are overreacting is to not understand liberal PC culture. A strong reaction from a minority who claims to be offended and a victim is itself enough to get black marks cast against you regardless of what you said or did. The accusation of racism itself is sufficient to do damage.

 

[Bomb#20]

I remember trying to find a bag of rice, and just as I was starting to get really annoyed, I figured I would ask someone close by if they knew where the rice was. Which is not something I typically do. All the people around me were Asian (I live in an extremely diverse community, with Asians very dominant), but I felt like I shouldn't ask an Asian where the rice was, as that would be a "microaggression" and a "harmful stereotype".

Curiously, the Japanese word for "United States" literally means "rice country".

 

[T.G.G. Moogly]

When you insult someone, you don't get to decide how insulted they should be, or how they should react.

Even if they over-react, then an apology remains in order.

If your insult leads to action that genuinely imperils your career, then you really should have thought much harder before insulting someone. And if someone reports your insult to your boss/principal/supervisor/mother/whoever, and their report is an overreaction, then you can simply defend yourself with the facts - so your career isn't really in peril at all. If the facts are insufficient as a defence, then either your insult was worse than you are admitting; or you are better off getting out from under an unfair regime anyway.

Uh, he didn't think it was an insult at the time. It was a mistake. He probably intended it to include her in on the conversation and obtain more diverse perspectives on the topic. Isn't one of the benefits according to PC liberal theory about diversity based on skin color and ethnicity that you get a greater variety of opinions and perspectives on things? It was probably having that drilled into his head by the diversity coordinator or the PC liberal culture that led to the innocent mistake.

A core defining feature of the culture of political correctness is the _over reaction_ to a mistake associated with race or ethnicity. It is the source of the whole "eggshells" thing. If I mistakenly do anything or say anything that is taken as an insult or gives offense that they perceive as due to their race or ethnicity, despite it not being my intent, then look out.

To say that you don't have to worry about your career if they are overreacting is to not understand liberal PC culture. A strong reaction from a minority who claims to be offended and a victim is itself enough to get black marks cast against you regardless of what you said or did. The accusation of racism itself is sufficient to do damage.

Insult requires consent. If I'm the apparent intended victim of an insult and I do not consent to being insulted then I've not been insulted. It's not like a punch in the nose which is physical.