At 12:39 PM +0000 18/12/03, Patrick McManus wrote:
>bit uncomfortable here we are talking about a term of abuse which may
>trouble some members--or am I coming accross to pc??
>where I work it would be unthinkable to use it-esp being a very mixed
>group-surely pots are aware of this
I guess "context sensitive" is the buzzword, Patrick - you are right
of course, especially in something as volatile as email. It's all in
the usage, and of course it can be offensive. Here the word "wog" has
been somewhat relieved of its sting by a bunch of comedians in the
80s - Greek and Spanish boys - who made an incredibly successful
comedy show called Wogs out of Work, which toured everywhere for
years. As racist terms go it barely clicks on the geiger counter now
- racism here is focused mainly on the newest arrivals, Middle
Eastern asylum seekers, now all those earlier immigrants have become
respectable members of society (which is not to say that racism
vanishes, just that the visible point of it changes from time to
time).
Best
A
--
Alison Croggon
Blog
http://alisoncroggon.blogspot.com
Editor, Masthead
http://au.geocities.com/masthead_2/
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