No-racism stance taken by C4

[AB Asks]

Big Brother is again the centre of press attention. Emily Parr, 19, was evicted from the house in the middle of Wednesday night. She called a fellow housemate "n*****". She protested her innocence claiming it was a word she often used when speaking with friends and insisted she meant to cause no racial offence to her housemate or the public. What do you think? Can this word ever be referred to and cause no-offensive seeing as we hear it in songs regularly and even some people's usual dialogue?

[MrBen5]

Hmmm, what i dont understand is why charly didnt get evicted. From what i have read in the papers, she has said it numerous times.
the question you should be asking is why is raciam always a one way thing...

[B00]

I think CH4 went way OTT on this one- the girl's a typical teen, say's things without thinking them through. It was obvious she didn't mean any offence by it. The way CH4 reacted was pathetic, however I can see why they did it.

I just hope the poor girl isn't going to be vilified for a silly off the cuff remark she made without thinking.

[Gromit]

Well you cannot use ****** here because the AB censor will filter it out. I am a bit puzzled as to why black people, rap artists and the like have taken to using the word. In fact they have popularised it so much, that a stupid girl has used it not even realising it is offensive to do so. Gangsta culture have done the same thing with the word Bitch, which is now now all too prevalent I hear equally stupid girls using it not relalising its derogatory meaning. I too am perplexed as to why Radio One (mainly aimed at children) can broadcast songs with highly offensive words in them, then some bimbo repeats it and she is branded a racist.

[jenstar]

I checked wit ma ****** in da hood and they say tha hos at Channel 4 is bitchin, man. I'm down with that, y'all.

[ELVIS68]

The producers should`ve pulled her aside and had a quiet word in her ear and gave her a slap on the wrist, all that cr@p on the news yesterday with reporters and such refering to it as `The N word`......Unbelievable!

[ELVIS68]

Oh and btw...Emily was so furious at being thrown out she has told friends..."I`m going to borrow one of Daddies shotguns... hunt down the producer and pop a cap in ones arse"

[spaced]

i think it is being blown out of proportion. I must admit that when I was viewing the whole thing last night, it did shock me somewhat the way she said it, but it was obvious that she meant it as a jest and not racially. Granted, it is a very degrading and taboo word but she said it without thinking. I totally agree that racism is treated like a one-way thing, but why was Nicky not punished for saying it? Is it because she is Asian and therefore not Caucasian and therefore allowed to use the word??? In all fairness I think Nicky made the while situation far worse.

I think that Emily should have been punished severely but not thrown out. If so, Nicky should have been thrown out too.

I think Channel 4 has messed this up and should allow her back, if not automatically then by a public vote, alas we are the people in charge of this show at the end of the day. We should be allowed to have our say and decide whether she should be allowed to return or not.

In a nutshell: what she said was bad and she shouldn�t have said it, but it was not said in a racist way or to demean Charley. She should be given another chance.

[IggyB]

it was very poor judgment considering the recent troubles the celeb big brother had - but i find it hard to see the racism here, rather it was just a silly little girl using words she didn't really associate with anything very rude, i think she showed poor cultural intelligence but not any race hate.

words on there own aren't enough to brand someone racist - rather the context behind the supposidly racist words should be examined, this is why its not racist to use the n word in songs or as a term of affect and friendship e.g. turning the word from a dirty word into something else - and i think this is where this girl and her peer group have got lost, they have obviously adopted it as a funny thing to say without considering that in some contexts it will still cause trouble - a sheltered life and some poor intelligence have conspired to get her kicked out.

I think the BB house have missed a trick here - they should have showed the incident - discussed it with the girl and the house and explained to the younger ones why it some situations words can be offensive and inappropriate and also maybe educate them on why the word itself is offensive. This would have certainly helped educate the girl involved and might have helped inform other clueless boys and girls as to whether it should be used or not in various situations

[Kromovaracun]

Why has the AB editor put this in the 'news' section? It's far more deserving of the existing BB section in Media.