jim360...re your post of 13.21 today. You are right of course but a lot of the people I know that would be horrified to be described as racist, seem somewhat non-nonplussed when I explain why p*** is liable to be taken the wrong way. Its isn't very difficult to understand and it surprises me that so many people in Britain today still can't work it out.
In their favour, most of the people mentioned above now think twice before using the phrase. If we can't respect our neighbours, than there is no future for any of us. The remark of "darkies" did, however, give most of us a shock at the Meeting, and it highly unlikely that the chap will use that phrase again, at least in a work-related situation. Our job brings us into close contact with people from all walks of life....different social levels as well as different races, religions and different sexualities. I have feeling that the chap involved may find himself out of a job if someone overhears him in the future.
But this low-level racism, mostly of it at least, is unconscious and not deliberate. But it exists very widely in Britain from my experience. I used to work for BT and in the late 80's I was sent up to central London on loan, from my telephone exchange in Wales. The difference was palpable and immediate. My colleagues there were from all sorts of backgrounds. The sort of phrase that even I might have used all those years ago, like saying "that I have worked like a black today" after a particularly hard day, would be immediately picked up and I wouldn't have said it twice ! I am certainly much more racially-aware since my two year tour of duty up the smoke.
In my experience most racism comes from people and areas that see very little non-white faces. In the far west of Cornwall where I have a caravan its almost 100% white. If you see a black or brown face, its invariably in a curry restaurant or takeaway.
Mind you, the Cornish are not renown for their easy acceptance of foreigners. They don't mind going over the border to Devon, as long as they can get back home before it gets dark ! In the Eden project, there is a large sign over the takeaway pasty cafe, that says ::::
" It was said that the Devil never strayed over the Tamar into Cornwall, because he had heard that those Cornish housewives would put anything into a pasty, and he didn't want to take the risk ! "
Written by a Devonian, no doubt.