Racist or not Racist..

I just have to comment on this argument that is occupying our airwaves at the moment,  because I have found myself forever shouting at the TV, internet or any other medium in which I am reading or listening about the latest race issues.  Just a little opinion though! Let me start by posing a question. Does the use of racist language mean that the person using it is racist? 

It may seem like a silly or obvious question. Let me use a fictional example. Who watched the film Rush hour with Chris Rock and Jackie Chan? Remember the scene, where they go into a snooker bar, with Chris rock hailing his mates, hello my niggers, and what does Chan do? He copies what he believes to be an example and goes wading in with the exact same phrase (funnily enough he couldn’t seem to pronounce the world properly) and then is confused when they all round on him, were they right to round on him? Was he actually being racist?.  I remember laughing my guts off at this. Look at the real life example of Ron Atkinson; he was so sent to Coventry for calling or referring to a player as a lazy nigger! This is the same manager who can be credited with nurturing and increasing the number of black players in top flight football. At a time when racism was much more overtly practised. Some people live by the mantra of actions speak louder than words but that did not save big Ron, and in fact it had a really bad effect on him. (Not substantiated, happened to catch him in an episode of celebrity Wife Swap) In my mind, to be racist one has to actively and consistently behave in a particular way towards a person purely motivated by their race. It means not giving a person a job because they are of a particular race one does not like; it means abusing someone just because of their race or indeed attacking them because of their race and so on and so forth.  Clearly the incidents that have been reported in the news shows just how different and how emotive the subject can be.  These  incidents were all provoked by actions other than race, but ended up becoming embroiled with race issues as arguments ensued. That notwithstanding all the stuff about Sepp Blatter, John Terry, Jason Gardner and Luis Suarez with Patrick Evra reveals how differently people see things and that they draw the line between wrong and right in different places. I have my opinions about all of these, but the most stupid one was Jason Gardiner being told he was racist because he tweeted that he had been robbed by two black youths. So far as I know he was mugged by two black youths so how is that racist?  I admit that had the youths been white, he may just have said he was robbed by two youths, but in the grand scheme of things how the hell does this make him racist?  I need someone to explain it to me, as I personally don’t get it. That brings me on to John Terry, do I think he made racist comments to Anton, probably, does that make him racist? Probably not!   These are quite interesting cases, because they all work in industries that have different rules of engagement to those of us in normal jobs. That is why despite John Terry being under investigation the FA seems to think it is ok, that he still wears the captain's armband for England. I understand the argument about innocent until proven guilty, but like I said, it appears to be different rules.

There has to be some perspective on this, yes racism exists, and in some cases it's devastating a la the Stephen Lawrence killing and there are probably incidents in bullying in schools and indeed work places, and it needs to be stamped out. But does that mean that every little thing that comes out do with race has to end with someone being brandished a racist?

Britain is such a diverse place and our attitudes are to be lauded the world over, but in the end if we continue on the path we are on now we will end up living in a world that can be compared to one where we have become immune to every single form of antibiotics!