I HATE Racism

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

This is a racist comment?

"Watch where you're going, you're in CANADA now."

So he would've said the same thing to a white kid and it would've made sense? Obviously it was a statement based on the race of the kid he was talking to.

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Igottago

So he would've said the same thing to a white kid and it would've made sense? Obviously it was a statement based on the race of the kid he was talking to.

exactly.

[Jude]

It was a pretty snide comment based on the colour of their skin.

I doubt the old feller meant that they should watch their backs because they're in Canada and that they'll get what's coming to them based on their ethnicity.

However, what made the comment fencing the racist side (at least in my opinion) was how he insinuated that they're all a bunch of foreign non-Canadian immigrants and they should be more respectful now that they're in HIS country.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Good lord. The same comment can be made and probably has to white people with accents or speaking a different language, IT IS NOT A RACIST COMMENT. Maybe the guy just hates all immigrants, that doesn't mean he is RACIST or the comment is racist..

[habernac]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Good lord. The same comment can be made and probably has to white people with accents or speaking a different language, IT IS NOT A RACIST COMMENT. Maybe the guy just hates all immigrants, that doesn't mean he is RACIST or the comment is racist..

LOLOL! "I'm not racist, I hate everybody!"

How is a guy who hates all immigrants not racist?

[fatso]

it's obviously a racist comment given the facts.

Based on the OP, the old guy didn't hear the young fellow speak, so he couldn't have known if he was an immigrant or not.

He made an assumption that because the young fellow was of a different race, he is not native to or from Canada. As such the presumption was that he ought to change his ways and smarten up.

If you want to argue that the old guy is not a racist, that's something else. But based on the facts and specifics of the incident it was a racist comment.

edit: Jude said it better than me.

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Good lord. The same comment can be made and probably has to white people with accents or speaking a different language, IT IS NOT A RACIST COMMENT. Maybe the guy just hates all immigrants, that doesn't mean he is RACIST or the comment is racist..

He made the comment based on the color of the guy's skin. He assumed he was a foreigner based on his race and made a degrading remark. That is racism. One of the definitions of racism is prejudice based on race. The old man made an unreasonable assumption based on some preconveived notion he had of the OPs race.

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Good lord. The same comment can be made and probably has to white people with accents or speaking a different language, IT IS NOT A RACIST COMMENT. Maybe the guy just hates all immigrants, that doesn't mean he is RACIST or the comment is racist..

How did he know the guy was an immigrant? Maybe he was born and raised in Canada.

He assumed he was an immigrant...based on his shoes? Haircut? The way he walked? His laugh?

I wonder what it could've been? Couldn't have been his race.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by habernac

LOLOL! "I'm not racist, I hate everybody!"

How is a guy who hates all immigrants not racist?

Question:

If a white guy says to another white guy who has immigrated from the United Kingdom ""Watch where you're going, you're in CANADA now."

does that mean the first white guy is racist?

[FlamingLonghorn]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Question:

If a white guy says to another white guy who has immigrated from the United Kingdom ""Watch where you're going, you're in CANADA now."

does that mean the first white guy is racist?

Does he know he's an immigrant?

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by Sowa

He made the comment based on the color of the guy's skin. He assumed he was a foreigner based on his race and made a degrading remark. That is racism. One of the definitions of racism is prejudice based on race. The old man made an unreasonable assumption based on some preconveived notion he had of the OPs race.

You want to label the guy prejudice, fine by me, but like most things there are more than one element in the definition of words. To me, being prejudice does not mean racist.

To me racist is when someone discriminates against another based on their race, meaning they are violent toward or oppress another person based on race.

I totally understand that had the guy not been brown or black or yellow or purple AND the old man never heard a different language or accent, then he probably wouldn't have said anything.

IMO that comment is not racist. People need to have thicker skin. Not saying that they shouldn't have told the old buzzard to go F-himself.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by Sowa

Does he know he's an immigrant?

Lets say no, he only heard an accent.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Question:

If a white guy says to another white guy who has immigrated from the United Kingdom ""Watch where you're going, you're in CANADA now."

does that mean the first white guy is racist?

I would pay to see that.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by GirlySports

I would pay to see that.

Really, you don't think that doesn't happen? I will tell you where it happens quite a bit. In the UK against a lot of the eastern bloc country people who go to the UK as labours for cheap wages.

What about the Irish in the 19th century?

What about all the remarks about the French?

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

You want to label the guy prejudice, fine by me, but like most things there are more than one element in the definition of words. To me, being prejudice does not mean racist.

To me racist is when someone discriminates against another based on their race, meaning they are violent toward or oppress another person based on race.

I totally understand that had the guy not been brown or black or yellow or purple AND the old man never heard a different language or accent, then he probably wouldn't have said anything.

IMO that comment is not racist. People need to have thicker skin. Not saying that they shouldn't have told the old buzzard to go F-himself.

So you are saying its racism at the point where a person is attacked or oppressed in some way? There has to be some kind of act against the person? I'm just trying to understand your definition here.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by Igottago

So you are saying its racism at the point where a person is attacked or oppressed in some way? There has to be some kind of act against the person? I'm just trying to understand your definition here.

Yes and no. I person can be racist if he truly hates another group of people because of their race.

I am saying that people get their panties in a knot to fast in these days and label people and comments racist when they really aren't, thats what I am saying.

[Igottago]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Yes and no. I person can be racist if he truly hates another group of people because of their race.

I am saying that people get their panties in a knot to fast in these days and label people and comments racist when they really aren't, thats what I am saying.

Well in this case it seems pretty clear to me that there was a racial element to the comment. So if the old guy doesn't want to be seen as a racist then its probably not wise to make a comment like that.

[Teh_Bandwagoner]

Making a derogatory comment based on the colour of my skin and hair isn't racist? If that's not racist, then what is? My friend said "excuse me" in plain English, and yet he felt the need to make that statement. And he looked at me as well in saying so and placed that comment on me by association. I agree that the term "racist" isn't always used in the correct context. Here it CLEARLY is, and I refuse to tolerate it. I wish I had yelled at him for even longer. What other information does he base his comment on?

It really hurts to have a fellow countryman tell you that you don't belong here, especially based on a mere glance, and nothing more.

In any case, I'm was angry last night and just needed to vent. I won't be losing any more sleep because of this ignoramus.

[GirlySports]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Really, you don't think that doesn't happen? I will tell you where it happens quite a bit. In the UK against a lot of the eastern bloc country people who go to the UK as labours for cheap wages.

What about the Irish in the 19th century?

What about all the remarks about the French?

no no, I would pay to see a Canadian remind a Brit that he's in Canada now.

I am fully aware that some in the UK are prejudice against continental europe (french, italian, spanish, russians, turks, you name it).

[fatso]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Really, you don't think that doesn't happen? I will tell you where it happens quite a bit. In the UK against a lot of the eastern bloc country people who go to the UK as labours for cheap wages.

What about the Irish in the 19th century?

What about all the remarks about the French?

Yes, and it's wrong in all those situations too. I'm not really sure what your point is. That there is different forms of prejudice? That some things are racist and some things aren't? That because we can't label everything as racist, we should just drop the term? Or that it cannot be used to accurately describe things?

in the UK with eastern bloc workers, that kind of prejudice is colored with ethnic and religious difference. It may not be the same 'racism' the OP was discussing, but it's just as virulent and dangerous.

Your Irish example is racism... it's pretty much common knowledge that throughout much of Western history the Irish were looked at as a different race, for a number of reasons. Now they're seen as white, but that UK anti-Irish sentiment is very much based in something like historical racism.

And your French example is coloured by religious difference and a very different history of conquest and war than the notion of Canadian immigration from the OP's story.

In any event, your hypothetical is by-and-large pointless. UK and Canadian aren't races... they're ethnicities or nationalities. Sure, the situation you described would be prejudiced, but I don't think it could be racist. But so what, we're not talking about that here. The proper analogy would be if a white person born and raised in Japan bumped into an old Japanese businessman on the train... and the old man said "watch it, you're in Japan now". And yes, that would be racist.