Mnemonic wrote on Jul 15
th, 2013 at 8:28am:
That's actually what I was talking about: making names based on someone's cultural background.
Yes, making insulting names based race. It's still racism.
Quote:I don't normally mention this, but because you asked, no I am not white.
Then my next question is have you been the target of racism? If no, good for you, ya lucked out. If yes, then why the f*ck are you arguing in favor of racism?
Quote:You experienced it in the USA, not in Australia. Like I said, if you were to experience racism in Australia, it would be unlikely to involve making names based on someone's cultural background because it would be silly and wouldn't be an effective insult. I don't call it being racist. I call it being silly.
Doesn't matter what you call it. It's still racist. Doesn't matter if you get the meaning or not, the racism is still there. At that point all it comes down to is the intent behind the usage, and if you think the NTSB Intern that gave those names to the TV station was just wanting to play a friendly joke then I submit that you are out of your smacking mind.
Quote:Race and racism are social constructs, the meaning of which comes from your own personal experience of them. You experienced it in the USA, not in Australia, so your idea of "racism" is shaped by your experience in the USA. You're an expert on American racism, but not on Australian racism.
You don't have to be from a country to understand it's culture, and one would think you don't have to be directly exposed to racism in order to get that it's smacking wrong. Seriously, how hard is this to understand?
Quote:Race relations in Australia has, for most of Australia's history, mostly been an immigration issue more than anything else.
Yeah, the US has the exact same thing with racism against immigrants. You're not in any way different from the US in that regard.
Quote:Anyone who wants to be really insulting wouldn't try to use them as an insult. People may have tried to use "racial slurs" to make fun of people in primary school. Some of it may continue in high school, but slowly, as people get older and more mature, they realize how crude and silly these "racial slurs" are. It's like toilet humour, talking about urine, faeces and making jokes about farting and sex. When you're a kid, that stuff is funny, but you grow out of that stuff. When you get to secondary school, sex, farting and bodily functions become a serious business. As you go through puberty you stop thinking of them as a joke. You also stop thinking that making weird names out of someone else's language is funny. By the time people get to university, most of them have stopped doing it.
See, you would have had a point if you'd stopped before you said "but you grow out of it". I can point our at least half a dozen people in just this thread that clearly haven't grown up yet if what you say is true.
Quote:I don't consider it "racism" because I always thought "racism" had to be a "threat." If someone makes a stupid joke, they aren't a threat. They aren't a threat because most mature adults are not stupid enough to try to use the "joke" as an insult. Someone may say something stupid, but their peers who are mature adults are not going to join in because they are intelligent enough not to support it even if they were racist. If they really wanted to be insulting and hostile and express their "racism," they would find other ways to express it.
When that joking becomes such an ingrained part of certain parts of your culture then it becomes a threat to those who aren't part of that culture. It goes from joking to actually seeing those other people as being less than your own group, which in turn leads to all manner of discrimination and bigoted bullf*ckery.
Quote:It looks like you aren't saints either. Our two countries are even. If you have experienced racism your whole life in the USA, why point the finger at Australia? It seems to me that every country that has ever tried developing a multi-ethnic community deals with the problem in its own way.
Please point out where I've ever stated the US is superior in regards to racism? That such happens pretty much anytime you have a multi-ethnic culture does not make it right. Appealing to school yard excuses of "well they're doing it to" does not make it right. It's still bigotry and it's still unjustifiable bullshit.
Quote:Yes we do have stereotypes about Lebanese people. There are stereotypes, but using weird names as insults to demean people based on their language isn't one of them.
So you're saying your country does not have a derogatory term for Lebanese immigrants or Australian of Lebanese ancestry? I'll be sure to ask the next "Lebo" I meet about that...
Quote:I also haven't heard it being used as a joke here in Australia for a very, very long time. The fact that it happened in the USA means that for now, Australia is off the hook.
Have you actually sat down and read this thread? How about any of the many, many threads involving immigration? If the membership of this board is any indication, Australia has a long way to go and yet again finds itself aping the US.
But hey, nice tu quoque you got there. You do know that "Well, they're doing it too" is never a valid excuse, right?
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