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Stereotypes, racism and being discriminatory

Very true.

However it isn't hard to see that being fat in poor countries can be regarded as attractive or at least rich-therefore-desireable - I have experienced this first hand in some parts of India.
 
Black farmer questioned by police three times in a week for 'stealing food'
A black farmer was questioned by police three times in a week over unfounded suspicions that he was stealing food.

By Martin Beckford
Last Updated: 7:10PM BST 22 Sep 2008

David Mwanaka, thought to be one of only two black farmers in the whole of Britain, believes he was reported by people "who are not used to seeing a black man working in a farmer's field".

On one occasion four squad cars turned up as he was harvesting maize.

The 42-year-old, who was born in Zimbabwe but has lived in Britain since 1991, was forced to provide identification and had to call the white owner of the field which he rents before the officers were satisfied.

Mr Mwanaka, who supplies food to Sainsbury's supermarkets in London from a field in Rothley, in Leicestershire, told BBC Radio Five Live: "First of all they came to my field on a Saturday morning and they said that I was suspected of being a food thief.

"I suddenly saw all these police officers approaching me while I was picking some maize.

"They asked me what I was doing and I told them I was cropping my maize. They said they couldn't believe me so they asked me for my ID and they did some checks on my vehicle.

"I had to call the local farmer, from whom I rent the field, to come and help me with the situation. He was able to tell them who I was and explain that I was renting the field from him.

"Then on Monday morning the same thing happened again. I had to go over the whole thing all over again, proving my ID and convincing them that I was genuine.

"On Wednesday I was in the field when I heard a lady police officer saying, 'Hello, hello', so I went over to her and she said she was looking for a thief.

"There were four police cars there, I couldn't believe it. I explained to the officer that I wasn't stealing maize, that I was a farmer but I had to go over the same process again all over again to prove that I was telling them the truth.

"It's good in a sense that the police investigated something unusual but it was wasting everyone's time on the second and third times."

Asked why it was seen as unusual, Mr Mwanaka said: "It was unusual because people said they had never seen a black person in a field before or a black person doing some farming.

"They said the people who reported me had said there was a black man stealing food from a farmer's field."

He added: "I suppose it's ignorance but then again if there are only two black farmers in the whole of Britain, then maybe it's easy to understand why this has happened to me."

A spokesman for Leicestershire Police insisted they had "a duty" to respond to every call made by the public reporting a suspected crime.

He said: "On all occasions, officers attended the scene and, after initial investigations they were satisfied there were no suspicious circumstances."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/3061659 ... -food.html
 
He's a very understanding man I have to say. Didn't he almost become a tory MP? Either way, I remember his telly programme, he was pretty admirable, though a bit rightwing for my tastes, I had to admire him.
There was a group of extremely harmless looking teenagers gathered outside a house over the road from my house last week. I thought it was slightly odd, firstly because it was such a large group and also because there is literally nothing here. But I also thought, they're doing no harm at all, they look rather nice actually. Some of them were lying on the ground, I remember thinking "how bohemian, just like Beakboo 20 years ago" 8) I felt almost envious, and if I admit it, broody. And next thing we knew some feckers had called the police. :roll: I'm glad I'm not a teenager now, it was dull growing up in the 70's but at least no one assumed we were about to kill them for no reason.
 
A spokesman for Leicestershire Police insisted they had "a duty" to respond to every call made by the public reporting a suspected crime.
Click to expand...

so if they ring 3 times a day every day to report a black man in the farmers field, the police will go out 3 times a day every day to thoroughly piss him off :?
 
I still can't work out whether the post was about big boned or fat people, but I do think some ethnicities wear their fat differently or its specifically distributed so i can't see any problem in describing that. I remember going to see a black fashion show in London years ago and most of the girls there were huge with very pronounced big bums/stomachs/boobs, and the audience loved it. Northern europeans tend to get saggier fat or something. And there's far more of an acceptance of buxomness in some cultures. Or at least I assume there is. Women with big booties are always being applauded on Ricki Lake ;)

On the matter of PCness, my best friend (white) used to have this issue where she never dated white men - PCness gone too far perhaps - but when she'd describe whichever new boyfriend she had to me she'd never use any phrases which had links to ethnicity. Initially a bit confusing but subsequently quite interesting. It was only when i'd realised her inability to date anyone white that i learned to be more flexible in picturing a boyfriend when she described him as tall/dark hair/brown eyes etc. Her point was that she'd never describe a white boyfriend as white. At the same time it was a bit bloody-minded, as by that definition she then shouldn't've told me she was going out with a Scot.
 
BlackRiverFalls said:
A spokesman for Leicestershire Police insisted they had "a duty" to respond to every call made by the public reporting a suspected crime.
Click to expand...

so if they ring 3 times a day every day to report a black man in the farmers field, the police will go out 3 times a day every day to thoroughly piss him off :?
Click to expand...

Well, according to some regulars on this forum it's likely the Police wont turn up, in which case they'll be berated for sitting swilling tea/eating doughnuts/persecuting motorists/counting their pension or all four. On the other hand if they don't turn up and it is a genuine call, and another black man has taken the opportunity to nick a sizeable amount of the farmers produce, then said Police will also be berated for not turning up because they were complacent to just assume it was the real farmer. However, now when the Police do turn up it's also wrong because they're being heavy handed or over reacting or too stupid to realise its just the local farmer gathering corn.

Notice the pattern? It's called a no win situation, and its one of the reasons why many Police officers are so miserable. They know that whatever they do they will likely be too late to capture the crooks, but if they drive fast then someone will accuse them of rushing back for their tea or, if they hit someone then the driver will be portrayed as a maniac who was driving too fast to a call which turned out to be false and they should have realised that.

When they do attend calls, its all too common for the public to very loudly voice their opinion as to how the job should be done, or what they want done. Now if a tradesman such as a plumber or electrician turns up to fix a leaking tap or repair a washing machine, what sort of reaction would you get if you said 'oi mate, what does someone your age know about this? I can do your job better than you. I think you want to change the motor on that', despite not having a clue why the machine isn't working. Would you be surprised if the electrician advised you where to put the machine?

One day Leicestershire Constabulary will be proved right, and a corn thief will be nabbed.

In the interim, a cup of tea and a Dunkin Donut with sprinkles beckons while I read my latest pension statement.
 
jeez. take a chill pill ginando.

i was only suggesting that in this particular case, a small dollop of common sense might not go amiss.
 
It might also be enough sending one squad car I´d imagine.

As for the original question, I think this is the problem with PC. Maybe what you said is offensive or stereotypical, but isn´t it more important wether it was actually wrong or not? If you said japanese are short. that would also be stereotypical and perhaps racist. Quite correct though. This sort of thing stifles debate and people expressing themselves.
 
beakboo said:
I imagine you're thinking of Mauritania? Africa isn't a big old hemogeneous lump you know, there are different countries, different cultures and thousands of different languages.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3429903.stm
Click to expand...

No, I know about Mauretania, duh. I also know that women there are being protected by the government due to their unnatural fattnes. This is NOT what I meant.
The article described a place somewhere like Ghana or similar. In Nigeria it is also "de Rigeur" to be big. Also my friend who is from Cameroon told me that it is the same in the Village she is from, that thin girls are looked at in a less favourable light.
Is Africa really NOT a big hemogenous [sic] lump?
Thanks for clearing that up in such a patronising way. I probably know more about Africa than most people but wanted to keep it simple as I couldn't remember where exactly the article was placed.

Next.
:?
 
I like Hardeep Singh Kohli. He's very funny and witty.

However, I'm often puzzled that, whatever his Asian/British/Scottish origins, his Scots accent seems to vary. Sometimes he sounds Scots and sometimes English, although never Asian. :lol:
 
My cousin has a Scots accent, what with being a Scot, and his waxes and wains as well (he lives in London, but after a visit back home to the Moray Firth the brogue reasserts itself quite quickly.)
 
BlackRiverFalls said:
jeez. take a chill pill ginando.

i was only suggesting that in this particular case, a small dollop of common sense might not go amiss.
Click to expand...

But thats precisely the problem! What you may see as common sense is the next persons excuse to complain. Yes, common sense is that when someone calls in they speak to them and say 'Look mate, this is likely to be so and so, yes he is black but honest he is the farmer, so we shant attend'. But there are sad individuals in this country who will use this as an excuse to criticise the Police. We end up with headlines in national and local press along the lines of 'Police refuse to attend theft call'. The facts of the story will be ignored in favour of a bit of one upmanship by someone with an axe to grind.

I have been one of those embroiled in a situation over the past 5 years where a local sports club organise training events most weekends. Unfortunately, they always use a public road and go past one mans house who objects to their presence. Now while they put themselves at some risk by using a public road, its (sort of) a free country and therefore these people are doing no wrong, but every time they are out there is a complaint made to the Police. We know what is happening, and we know the complaint is nonsense, so for a while we applied common sense and declined to attend. Chummy then makes a complaint to the local MP and MSP who fire in letters to the Chief saying their constituent has a right to see the Police and a right to expect them to check on his complaint each and every time just incase something new or different is ongoing. Result - we now have to attend every single call, crap though they may be.

Anyway, I do try to be chill hence what I thought was the tongue in cheek comment at the end of my post. Possibly your own poor experiences of the Police have tainted your opinion of me, but I think you'd find I am quite a nice chap with a good sense of humour :)
 
stuneville said:
I think this thoroughly belongs in this category... just play the embedded recording within the following link, and see if your sphincter doesn't involuntarily tighten.

All-round good egg Hardeep Singh Kohli meets Alan Partridge's less articulate brother.

Jesus.

Anyway, I've moved the topic to THC, as it's interesting.
Click to expand...

Wow, that was a bad interview!
Mind you, if Hardeep Singh Kohli had used a bit of good-humoured banter, the interview might not have descended into such a painful mess.
The interviewer was clearly thrown a bit by comments and negative reactions early in the interview, and he just kept floundering.
He should have cut to the ads and said a few calming words off-air.
 
No, I know about Mauretania, duh. I also know that women there are being protected by the government due to their unnatural fattnes. This is NOT what I meant.
The article described a place somewhere like Ghana or similar. In Nigeria it is also "de Rigeur" to be big. Also my friend who is from Cameroon told me that it is the same in the Village she is from, that thin girls are looked at in a less favourable light.
Is Africa really NOT a big hemogenous [sic] lump?
Thanks for clearing that up in such a patronising way. I probably know more about Africa than most people but wanted to keep it simple as I couldn't remember where exactly the article was placed.
Click to expand...

I think Afro-Caribbean culture generally is more accepting of bigger women, so there isn't quite the same pressure to remain thin. I don't see BRF as being racist for her obseravtion.

Sorry to come to this discussion a little late - been away from the board for a while...
 
Good to see you back :).

I must say, it does continually amaze me that so many people are so wrapped up in their own, peculiar liberal sensibilities that they regard any idle observation that may be seen as slightly critical as being immediately derogatory, barbaric and whatever-ist, whether or not the alleged target actually finds it offensive in the slightest.

Then again, as I've said before, there are always those on the constant look-out for things by which to be offended, and I'm sure being offended by proxy must earn them extra points, or Green Shield stamps, or something.

(Word of advice, from one who knows: pointing out to people with a palpable victim complex that it seems they may have a victim complex is more trouble than it's worth, however delicately you frame it.)
 
(An archaeological post!)

Do people get their knickers in a twist about the IC codes that the Police use? IC1 = white (North Europe). IC4 = Asian (Indian). Just wondered. Everything else seems to be called into question these days and I thought maybe the numbers assigned to certain races could be construed in a negative manner.
 
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