semi surreal casual racism - dud, or dud and it does yer fukcing head in a bit as well?

The nerve of the person! "Dirty Mexicans" my ass. You're more likely to run into a snobbish and loud Mexican who cannot stand one speck of dirt on their perfectly coiffured hair than a "dirty Mexican". Geez Louise, if you're going to stereotype, at least use an updated stereotype! ;)

No really, though, what this person said is deeply offensive, especially to people such as myself, but I'm not really going to waste my time or energy being angry at her. She's just highly ignorant, and the rest of Latin America isn't exactly better than Mexico anyway, which is at least a "second world" country that is, like India and Malaysia, in the midst of their own Industrial Revolution. "Dirty Mexican" -- hah. "Macho, Posturing Mexican" would be more accurate. *laughs*

Say what you like about Julie Burchill, at least she's called people on this.

Dave's point about people who feel disenfranchised picking on the even less privileged is spot on, but I don't have respect for people who perpetuate a cycle of bullying whatever their parents did or where they come from. It makes me more, not less, likely to label a bully-in-turn stupid, scummy or both. It obscures the more pernicious racist elements in the governing/corporate classes who like it that brown people are even cheaper to run than paranoid working white folks who can't follow puppet strings to their logical end.

I think it's relevant to point out that racism is actioned differently by different social classes in most cases. The rich/influential racist makes policy and economic choices which benefit whites (see: slavery, sweatshops, Colonialism, 'let's call 'em asylum seekers' etc.); the middle classes are the ones in management roles who can't quite see why they have to change the syllabus (or be changed by the syllabus) or give the job to someone better qualified than their white golf buddy eg. institutionalised racism; the working/prole/tabloid classes throw the words around and the blows, too, and are made stupid and paranoid by the better educated and better paid, who become the people electing BNP councillors. They are utter TOOLS in every sense of the word. Obviously there are some examples of crossover behaviour but largely I believe this structuring to be correct.

x-post w. n

i guess that´s what i am!

Class:Cultural:Economic

Bourgeois != 'Middle Class'

But - hey, perhaps things have changed a leetle since 1844?

Norman's post is a great one. it reminds me VERY much of elevator convos among almost universally "older" men about wanting to bend the secretary over the back of a chair, etc and feeling expected to grin and join in. ladies you would not BELIEVE what guys will say to each other about you. but if you ever actually get down with one of them and their mate's like "so how was it??" you'd be amazed at how quickly they change the subject!!

(he said, casually chucking the elephant in the room into the stagnant pol-economy millpond)

Dan - It's the language, but also the assumption a) about race and b) that other whites will appreciate a). It's surreal because it's relatively unusual behaviour (among ILX0rs) and because, I dunno, it seems so... odd. An odd thing to say, since as a racial assumption it's a bit receherche. It's not one I've heard.

Mark: perhaps, but my mum is a shopkeeper with an additional staff of one, who she is related to, so roughly the same as Norman's racists, who if they rent the shop are prob C2 (my mum ownz, but she has the same attitudes from her renting days, meaning she does tend to think all nonwhites come with a How's My Driving? sticker). The only thing owning tells people like this is that they are now 'rich' enough to have all their money taken by the government to feed the Other's crack babies. Working class bourgeoisie: on a wage, not a salary.

I am entitled to harsh on people who share my background but haven't got a clue about race relations; again, they are stupid tools. My anger at these people for knowing no better is bound up in tons of frustration (and having to pick around some pretty entrenched racisms at home where yeah, you do have to tell my mom that classy people don't use the N word but only when all else fails). I'm not likely to go, poor diddums, he didn't have the education or eye-opening moment or enough motivation to change because this is a very simple right/wrong issue.

No, not what I meant at all. There were still some things that were taboo (ie no race-baiting unless you were a scummy gutterpunk whom no one liked anyway), but in general once someone proved to be an asshole it was pretty much open season on them. (This may have been more prevalent in Hastings than in other areas where a social shunning really hurt because no one socialized with people who lived outside of School District #200.)

I think there is a distinction. The more 'toxic' tends to have more immediate and violent consequences. But the subtle kind is possibly more dangerous because it is more liekly to be overlooked and more difficult to stamp out.

Of course your waitress was ignorant, but do you really think your self righteous expression of white guilt is going to have the slightest effect on her?

Like, wtf? 'White guilt'? Not being racist as 'self-righteousness'? Say what?

Eggs-ackley. Suzy -- didn't you mention the Isle of Man? That's even worse there. The reason the ferry is so slow is because you are travelling back in time to the pre-Windrush era. God. Never again.