Sorry, I don’t understand…

The USC or University of Southern California has banned the word ‘field’ as it’s perceived to be racist.

Sorry, don’t get it.

You’re not the only one :thinking:

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Elite? Really?

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No, still don’t get that one.

I think it’s just ignorance.

Anything “might be considered racist” if you’re stupid enough.

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@Peter_Bird whwre do you see this nonsense? Do you subscribe to the Woke Times or something?

:joy_cat:

I’m starting to think the universe is trolling you @Peter_Bird. If this was an episode of ‘One foot in the grave’ this would be the point where Victor Meldrew would look up into the sky and shake his fist at the clouds and yell a tirade at the man upstairs.

I couldn’t find Victor, so here’s Grandpa Simpson

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Right, OK, deep breath. Have done some Googling.

“Field” is considered potentially racist because phrases such as “field work” or “going into the field” is evocative of black slaves going to work in the (literal) fields - something their white masters quite definitely did not do.

I try to be sensitive to this sort of thing but we could have reached my “Oh FFS” point on this one.

However, it does illustrate what I was saying earlier - racism can be subtle and ingrained in what appear to be societal norms - because people have not stopped to consider their prejudices or the origins of stuff which appears innocent to whites, but isn’t.

In this case though, I *really* would like to know if any American blacks (or, indeed, *any* blacks) take offence at the term “field work” - sometimes language simply becomes detached from its roots.

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That’s certainly a good question, though I think you need also to ask whether it’s reasonable to take offence (or is that merely more work by the Outrage Industry).

When you start to think about it, and bearing in mind the term “field work” has nothing to do with slavery, pretty much any word might be considered off limits: cotton, harvest, work …

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I’m sorry, I’m sure you can’t say the word ‘roots’ anymore, it will just make us think of commander Geordi La Forge as a slave and traumatise us all the more.

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I thought it was evocative of Kunta Kinte

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Complete twaddle :roll_eyes:

Here’s good film though, now to be renamed “The Practicum” (which seems to be a makey-uppy US name (with Latin roots (pun intended)) for a college course, in the words of the great Miss Piggy, “pretentious, Moi?”.

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I think if non-whites take offence, reasonably or not, we should endeavour to see their point of view.

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I think that some of the non-whites need to grow up, get a life, and allow their membership of the professional victims club to lapse.

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And I must remember to address the little buggers who pad about in the roof practicum mice from now on, obviously.

Noted too to correctly address the practicumfares when they flock over the house.

And think of all those poor cricketers who must remember they are now practicumers.

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Seemingly, this action by the USC is yet further evidence to confirm the validity of many Americans description of California as being “the land of fruit and nuts”.

Certainly plenty of those about :wink:

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Love all your new names! :rofl:

I wonder what this Chicago stadium will do

‘Demsey Park’ would be nice :grinning:

Sadly Robert it spreads far and wide these days, chatting with a friend today and he reminded me that generation Z’s will be running places by the time we need help in old age, when I did my two diversity training sessions at work I had to speak up for ageism as it was not on board to the instructors embarrassment, most of the staff being first or second jobs and I was the oldest one there.

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