Nanny State gone too far (again)

Don,

To put it yet another way, back in those halcyon days before we all forgot how to enjoy ourselves, were there no limits on what it was and was not OK for a teacher to say to a pupil?

See what I mean?  You are the living testimony of what I am trying to put across.  I have seen society change so much over the years you are now afraid to describe somebody as they really are.
I don't know how old you are but I have had the benefit of observing all the changes as they happened. I can remember the days when you could have a conversation in freedom without somebody shopping you for making a comment which 'may' hurt somebody.  I was brought up on the old adage of 'sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me'  Well, apparently that was wrong.  These days names CAN hurt people.  And the USA and Britain spent so much money on guns and missiles when all they needed to do was to send in the troops with loud hailers with orders to shout abusive and racist comments at the Taliban to bring them down. 
To take it one step further, they could have dropped thousands of Bernard Manning CDs on Afghanistan and the racist humour would have killed the insurgents in one fell swoop.

If you were asked to point out Nelson Mandella in a group of people, all of which were Caucasian bar one Negroid,  would you go to great lengths to avoid using the word 'black'?  I bet you would.

Do you think black people are afraid to call white people 'white'?

Ron,

You misunderstood me as completely as it's possible for one person to misunderstand another. Nelson Mandela is black and if it came up I would certainly refer to him that way if i met him. I can't imagine he would be offended by that - why on earth would he? What I meant was that not even the most right on people I knew in my voluntary sector days would attack someone for using the use the term black to describe a black person and I never met a black person who was offended by it. It was the term they normally used themselves - often with some pride, and why not.

You lose your bet, sorry. What have I won?

All this bullshit about the 'pc brigade' comes down to one thing and one thing only. White British men used to more or less rule the world. Because they ruled the world they could say whatever the hell they wanted about everybody else. Now they don't, they can't and they don't like it. Tough.

Sad to see that Chief Chirpa's excellent contribution appears to have been deleted.

David

I absolutely agree.

I can't believe we are seriously discussing what was said might or might not be offensive and therefore inappropriate! What is so difficult to see about it being anything other than offensive, never mind racist and sexist!

As the O.P. I find it enlightening, refreshing even, on the various points of view.
My original teeth gnash was over the (arguably) over zealous PC "process" & the waste of money of having a tribunal at GTC level over such a matter.  Its our tax money remember,  I am not saying it cost enough to run a library or keep a playground open,  but it all adds up.

FWIW -  I really do believe the teacher was unwise to use that version of the mnemonic, their are others as he probably well knows.   But it was a "one on one" with the student, not a class of kids
And having taught young adults myself,  their but for the grace etc ....
Forget the kid blabbing the dirt, that's kids;  but if the other teacher - the so called colleague - was so righteous minded that he had to spill the beans, then the school head should have censured the teacher,  but that is as far as it needed to go.

Racism does not come into it IMO.  Racism (& sexism) to me is totally objectionable & I reject it completely.  I have worked in most places around the world & have experienced real racism, nasty stuff,  & I have to say the worst by a long way was black on black.  But thats a whole other subject.   

But this teacher thing is not racism in any shape or form,  its ony racist because PC has made it so
Racism is maliciously discriminating against a person or group to seek superiority or advantage because of nationality, ethnicity or colour.  

The mnemonic may have racial undertones in the modern PC sense,  but that is it,  nothing more.
Racial jokes & the play on race, colour, religion, language or just a persons differences - twitches, freckles, hair colour - is not racism;  kids do it without any coaching from us adults therefore its human nature.
Describing a person as black, is not racist,  its simply adding information such as the tall man (asian, white, afro-caribbean) with a blue jacket;  the sheep has black wool. 

But I am from an age that had racist images on marmalade jars, so I am probably a time locked fossil from another age.

Mike, you are right, calling someone black is not racist! Not even PC stuff has made it racist. It will only be racist if you use the term perjoratively or to demean someone, as in by being black that person is 'below' you in some way.

What is racist here is implying/suggesting (choose whatever word you want)  that 'black boys etc' might be doing something unpleasant because they are black rather than just male etc. Rape is vile and about male power, .....always, be they black men, white men yellow men with green spots on....and how can that be in anyway even slightly funny? Rape is not racist, it is just offensive! The racist bit is implying/suggesting that a particular race, or group of people identified because of their racial difference, ie being black, might enjoy or rape more than others!

As you say, you don't condone it. I just struggle with then trying to justify that somehow circumstance, context etc somehow made it understandable if not acceptable. Surely there is nothing funny or acceptable about rape or about about suggesting any group of people doing it!

And yes I too am from an older age............golliwogs on marmalade and in childrens stories......that didn't make it right then, just insensitive and ignorant. We have surely moved on.

ah well.....

Surely there is nothing funny or acceptable about rape or about about suggesting any group of people doing it  ------ Agreed

But -  where did rape come from ??? it is this post string that has developed "Ravaged" into rape & "Violet" into virgins giving it another far more serious sexual context
 
The mnemonic I quoted & that allegedly used by the teacher was   
Black Boys Ravish Only Young Girls But Violet Gives Willingly

Not wishing to appear too politically correct, but I think this thread left the tracks a few posts back.

Thread closed.