Re: Bigoted or free speech
 

Racism is a very interesting phenomenon. Labelling any social group with a derogatory catch-all term is probably a by product of a mixture of intolerance, ignorance and laziness I feel. I think it is also more likely to manifest itself in a society which culturally isolates itself.
Xenophobia to a greater or lesser degree manifests itself in most of us at some point (mea culpa) but hopefully we are in control of our speech to a degree where we can avoid dropping the N. bomb if we are trying really hard.
When younger I was taught to sing "catch a BABY by the toe" perhaps Clarkson did not benefit from a good enough education.

Bigoted or free speech
 

Maybe his teachers insisted on accuracy when teaching rhymes? If so surely that would be a better education than teaching children that they must try not to upset minority groups with words those groups probably aren't offended by when used in a nursery rhyme.

Re: Bigoted or free speech
 

Well if that's the case he's certainly doing quite well on it, so what does that say about the education others receive?

Yet going back to the free speech issue "Question time" yesterday evening & a certain Mr.Joey Barton made an analogy between political parties & ugly women, an analogy mind, not directed at anyone in particular (I admit to grinning at his comment, along with quite a few members of the studio audience from what I could see), but needless to say the PC attack hounds were straight in & baying about the offensiveness of his comment, only then to go & end her parole by saying that it was to be expected by one such as him as "Footballers have their brains in their feet!"

That being a comment directed at him & footballers in general, so by far more personal & meant to be offensive, not a batted eyelid! He was also later harangued for his comment by a female questioner from the audience at which point the Lad apologised. So who here is victim & who the perpetrator ?

Bigoted or free speech
 

I would imagine the victim is the one that has no way of defending themselves from the comments of those with no sense of humour that take on the role of being offended on behalf of all the other ugly people, ugliness can be a state of mind, always being ready to attack even the most innocent of things such as an old nursery rhyme just because times have changed.

I imagine if folk wanted to they could attack Shakespeare's works as none P.C. Insist a variety of words or phrases be changed, but if that happens will it still be as it was meant to be understood at the time of writing?

Perhaps if I was to write a nursery rhyme now that used the nikker word then by modern standards it may be called offensive, however it wasn't meant to be offensive when first penned so only a narrow mind would find it offensive now.
Note to self, stand at the BLACKBOARD and write 100 times, 'I must not be offensive to anyone that uses an imaginary slight against any minority be it colour, sex or indeed opening an egg from the wide rather than the narrow end, because 50 years from now things will have changed and I won't be here to do anything about it'.
:)

Re: Bigoted or free speech
 

Happen we aint all as cultured as you.:rolleyes:

Re: Bigoted or free speech
 

Already happening around the world, not necessarily Shakespeare although he does have his detractors, but various other authors have come under the spotlight for changes to their text or the castigation of the "rent an offendee crowd", Helen Bannerman, Enid Blyton, Mark twain, Roald Dahl to name but a few.

As you can see, things ain't so black & white (Ooops, maybe not such a smart metaphor considering the subject matter! Ah what the hell! Learn to live with it!)

Re: Bigoted or free speech
 

Thats the trouble Dave, The knobs can't live wi it.:rolleyes:

Re: Bigoted or free speech
 

yeah sod em

knobs out i say.........

Re: Bigoted or free speech
 

As a lifetime knob, may I just say that I find the above two posts both hurtful & prejudicial! Perhaps you could use a more acceptable name such a Dick Head or Toss-pot?

:(

Re: Bigoted or free speech
 

Strange, that last quote was from the UKIP MEP for the North West. Aren't UKIP supposed to be against Political Correctness? Or does that only work as long as the political incorrectness isn't directed towards them? Can dish it out, but they can't take it. ;)

Re: Bigoted or free speech
 

All of ems like that wyn not just UKIP. Thats been demonstrated clearly on here.

Re: Bigoted or free speech
 

Thought UKIP were supposed to be different though? Speak yer mind, voice of the people and all that malarky? Doesn't seem like it to me.

Re: Bigoted or free speech
 

They certainly have a different outlook,more like what many think i reckon, but the bottom line is they are politicians.;)

Bigoted or free speech
 

Somehow I think the lady got too involved in the conversation and allowed her feminine ideas to be confused.

Having said that, I would rather have a confused woman than some warmongering bloke in charge.

Re: Bigoted or free speech
 

Things were more relaxed 'back in the day'.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigger_(dog)
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QgePEO7GUtE

So sad, Nigger gets run over :dogrun: