murraymints - // ignorance is an all encompassing term, genuine naivety and unintentional mis- use of terminology and line of questioning.. give the old dear a break..my gran came out with MUCH worse and she was as non racist as you could hope to fall over..GET OVER IT dearie... move along.. //
No problem for you of course, you knew your gran very well, and knew she meant no malice in her expressions.
But imagine a black person meeting her for the first time ...
It would be great if we could wear illuminated signs expressing how we are, as opposed to what we may appear to be saying.
I could have one that says "I am occasionally sarcastic, and my sarcasm may be taken seriously, when not intended ..."
Lady Hussey could wear one that says "I am not a racist, but I sometimes clumsily epxress myself, but I mean no malice by it at all ..."
and so on.
But sadly, in the real world, we meet strangers, and form impressions on them based on what they say, unclarrified by