Is banana a racist word?

[multitool]

Jeremy Clarkson boosted his ratings by using language that had both a racist reference and a legitimate one. He would use them in the legitimate sense, but in close reference to the targets of the words' racist usage.

Examples that come to mind are the Bridge on the Kwai episode where he said "there's a slope on the bridge",. just as an Asian was walking across it, and his "eneeny miny moe" counting.

Some people found this funny.

 

[Deleted member 28]

Some people found this funny.

That's because they have a life, don't take things that seriously, don't spend all their time playing computer games and have a sense of humour.

Try it sometime.

 

[Salty seadog]

That's because they have a life, don't take things that seriously, don't spend all their time playing computer games and have a sense of humour.

Try it sometime.

How are you with the word Nigger as a descriptive term of a person?

 

[multitool]

He finds it funny.

Because he has a life. Doesn't take things seriously, doesn't spend all his time playing computer games and has a sense of humour.

 

[Deleted member 28]

How are you with the word Nigger as a descriptive term of a person?

I don't use it personally and can understand why black people aren't too keen either, why?

 

[Deleted member 28]

He finds it funny.

Because he has a life. Doesn't take things seriously, doesn't spend all his time playing computer games and has a sense of humour.

The exact opposite of you I would imagine?

 

[multitool]

The exact opposite of you I would imagine?

Just add it to the list of things you imagine

 

[icowden]

The family of a mixed race teen who died after being hit on his bike were given ‘banana’ as a code word to access the hospital ward.
Surely this is just clumsy? Not racist.

The article is pretty badly written too (took me two reads before I realised they weren't inventing hospital police - should be a comma there!). It looks like the kid was deliberately attacked by the boy driving the van. Thus when he was in hospital he had Police security in place. They chose to use a codeword for family members to be able to access the room without having to go through police checks each time.

Oddly this article doesn't refer at all to the previous article where a boy aged 17 was charged with attempted murder nor the linked incident between an 18 year old man and a teenage girl. It just says that the teen who dies suffered catastrophic injuries whilst out cycling with friends. if you read the article in isolation it just seems odd that there was a Police presence controlling access to the room.

Anyhoo...

The word in itself cannot be racist as racism is about intent, not words. The question is, was it just a mistake made by Police needing a random word in a hurry, or was there a racist subtext - only Thames Valley Police will know the answer to that.

 

[matticus]

The word in itself cannot be racist as racism is about intent, not words.

Have you learned nothing from reading these pages?!?

 

[Bromptonaut]

The object itself has history of being used in a racist context not least being thrown at black footballers. There was a hoo-ha c1986 about an inflatable banana in an office said to be being deployed against ethnic minority staff.

 

[matticus]

Random google image:

 

[Ian H]

Random google image:
View attachment 2974

Show me how to signal I think racism is a joke.

 

[icowden]

The object itself has history of being used in a racist context not least being thrown at black footballers.

Of course. That doesn't mean that a banana is racist.

Not racist fruit:

Racist fruit:

 

[monkers]

Of course. That doesn't mean that a banana is racist.

Not racist fruit:
View attachment 2977

Racist fruit:
View attachment 2978

Also ...
'Boris Johnson is facing fresh calls to resign after he sidestepped calls to apologise over his claim that a Libyan coastal town could be turned into a luxury resort once the dead bodies were removed.'

The foreign secretary was also challenged over why he described war-torn Mogadishu as a thriving international city.

Also ...

The British ambassador to Burma was forced to stop Boris Johnson mid-sentence as he recited a colonial poem in the country’s most sacred temple, it has been revealed.

The blunder came on an official visit to the country earlier this year.

Rudyard Kipling’s Mandalay is written through the eyes of a retired British serviceman in Burma and also references kissing a local girl.'

But the country, also known as Myanmar, is deeply affected by its colonial past, and the gaffe was described as “stunning”.

Johnson Clarkson et al lack such self-awareness that they are repeat offenders of causing offence, laughing everything off as a joke. Until that is they hear themselves described as 'gammon', get all offended and claim that is racist abuse.

 

[The Crofted Crest]

Johnson Clarkson et al lack such self-awareness that they are repeat offenders of causing offence, laughing everything off as a joke

I reckon the joke about a "slant" on a bridge was probably scripted, written in advance, and the shot was set up.