How can this be racism?

Question

An irishman now living in Wales had a car accident and in the heat of the moment called the other driver, a Welsh woman, an English b*tch.

I realise the word 'b*tch' was offensive but the man was tried and found guilty of racism. That I do not understand because as far as I am aware Irish, English and Welsh are of the same race.

So how is that racism?

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20071130/tuk-uk-britain-racial-fa6b408_2.html

teresathegreat, are you working on the assumption that for the last 2000 years or so there has been no intermingling of the various inhabitants of the UK and that the Welsh are descended only from the Celts? All we Brits are mongrels, Celts, Picts, Romans, Angles, Saxons Jutes, Danes and more.

The white ones among us are ALL racially classified as Caucasians.

LeBlanc. I already said that the b*itch part is offensive but you don't help the cause of racial harmony by pretending that the Earth is inhabitted by a singe race. In the real world there are racial classifications whether you think there should be or not. The point is that there were no racial issues about this case. Being English is NOT a racial slur.

Answer 1

LeBlanc, I agree that there is only one race- the human race. I tell people that very same thing all the time. In fact, sometimes I get pretty long winded about the whole "race is a social concept" thing.... blah blah blah.... And I totally understand your point about insulting people. But the asker is looking for opinions regarding this particular incident- asking why this incident would be considered as having involved racism.

That being said, I'll share my two cents...

Honestly, even if the man would have called the woman a Welsh b*tch, I can't comprehend why anyone would consider this to be racism. Yes, the word "b*tch" offends many people. But it isn't a race related term. It would have made more sense to prosecute him for sexism- Which would have still been unjust, in my opinion, but at least some type of logical reasoning would have been involved. DAMN!

I'm assuming that attaching "English" to "b*tch" was the reason for the prosecution. I still fail to see any logic. After all "English" isn't an insulting racial epithet. So, many folks are offended by "b*tch". Fine. "B*tch" has a negative connotation. But that doesn't change the meaning of other words simply because they're uttered back to back. The meaning of "English" didn't change simply because the man said "English" and then said "b*tch".

This is so absurd. If I had just one penny for each time someone called me a white b*tch, I'd be rich. How effin silly to prosecute an individual for such a thing. Frankly, I think it would be just as ridiculous if the man would have called her by a racist term. Racism is race based prejudice. It involves feelings, emotions, and opinions. And feelings, emotions, and opinions should NOT be illegal. We have no business policing someone's thoughts. No, people don't deserve to be mistreated as a result of someone's thoughts. However, if a crime is committed (Which, in my opinion, the only sensible charge in this case MIGHT have been something like verbal assault. I'm not familiar with the law over there, so I'm just throwing that out there.) we have no business prosecuting motive. And that's exactly what racism is when it's the instigator of a crime- MOTIVE. Prosecuting motive is the same as prosecuting thoughts. And, if we prosecute thoughts then it sets a precedence for all other thoughts to be policed and prosecuted: Politically incorrect opinions, any word/s deemed societally inappropriate, anything that violates the generally accepted norm.

This is really scary. And it's a shame that people are taking their egalitarian ideals so far that not only our freedom of speech, but also our freedom of thought, is being threatened.

Answer 2

UK law says if you make bigoted comments about a person's nationality they classify it as racism.

It is considered insulting to call the Welsh and English one race even if it is genetically true. English in Wales are considered foreigners and visa versa.

If you're from the USA you are part of what I call the Martin Luther King, Jr Generation. People in their 50's, 60's and younger are part of the MLK, Jr Gen. They were taught and know discrimination is wrong.

The UK didn't have someone like MLK. UK teenagers of today and some in their early twenties have been taught not to discriminate based on colour or nationality (they're now including sexual orientation). Here there is open bigotry against everyone based on nationality, race, religion, class, accent and even regions within a country. You will find Britons of all ages who know know bigotry is wrong, it's just not emphasized like it is in the USA.

Britons, no matter which of the four countries they are from, are not all white. Waves of immigrants came from Africa and Asia (Poland, too). Black English with African heritage are considered English. That goes for the other countries in the UK as well. If you're white, you can be a minority in some towns.

"Racism" means "bigotry" in the UK.

Answer 3

You see Irish, Welsh, and English as the same race because they are all the same color - white. However, they descended from distinct groups - the English are a mix of Anglo-Saxon and French invaders who, over a thousand years ago, took over land inhabited by other tribes - the Celts, the Britons, the Welsh, etc. And the English and British in turn spent many hundreds of year trading attacks with Irish. So all these various tribes and groups considered themselves as separate races, and some of that feeling lingers today.

So although the whole idea of "race" is somewhat subjective and absurd, I can see how this guy views her as a separate race.

Another example - many Americans see racism in terms of white vs black, but in Africa, different tribes or sub-races of the "black" race can be violently opposed to each other. The genocides in Rwanda and Darfur are examples of how members of one "race" view each other as distinct races.

Answer 4

We are all members of the same one race, Human.

Race is arbitrary and subjective. Writers, singers, poets, carpenters, doctors, lawerys,beggars, and theives can all be classified and sub-classified into races just as old, young, big and small.

Politeness, courtesy, and respect should be the values that we execute. Calling any woman a "*****" without an agreement that is acceptable due to mutual relationship is simply bad manners.

The crimes here are self-control, personal responsibility, and verbal discipline on the part of the man. Lack of courteous, compassionate, chivalry on his part would have said more for his character. I am sure that she must have been as shook up as he, in the heat of the moment.

An accident is just that, an accident. No one in his right mind tries to be in an accident. It is not an excuse for bad manners.

Answer 5

What about English, Irish, Scotsman jokes are they illegal too?

Also jokes about the Welsh and Sheep.

and if calling a black person by that word.... is illegal...then what about calling an Irish Paddy.

Or French a Frog...or Kraut or **** or....whatever I ran out

And Ageism: calling someone old
Uglyism
Stupidism
Grumpyism

Are they gonna make all these insults illegal too.

Maby they should. Then we will have to be so polite.

Answer 6

Oh joy, political correctness gone mad again. Next, we will be found guilty of calling a man a man and a woman a woman. Who cares if its a spade or a shovel, as long as it gets the job done. The law is an a**.
Thought I'd bleep that out myself, before the Yahoo patrol do it for me. lol.

Answer 7

I think whoever classed it as racism is an idiot. But the woman must have been peed off for being called English when she was Welsh. The assaulter is an idiot to for not knowing accents.

Ok that is hilarious, where is it that you cannot sing 'baah baah black sheep?' It has no reference to race whatsoever.

Answer 8

Ha yeah i heard about that too.
you can't say anything anymore without being accused of being a rascist
everything is "policitally incorrect"
i mean i'm no way a rasict - but i mean come on , we can't even sing ba ba black sheep anymore for crying out loud!

Answer 9

Actually you can sing baa baa black sheep, but you must add a second verse which begins baa baa white sheep. this applies to schools and nurseries.

Answer 10

Depends what race means really, it is pathetic he has been charged for racism