I’m giving my husband ship’s biscuit
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As is marmalade
Graham, if Billy had replied to me as you did no problem. The tone of his post was what I objected to and as at that point Stella said she was off to do some cooking I am guessing that she thought something was off too. I don’t think I’m the one who needs to behave! Where I worked calling someone racist was classed as a racist incident and thoroughly investigated.
Generally we never do think that about ourselves, even when it’s obviously the case.
I disagree with that, @rendi60 also said:
Well the buses aren’t coming any more and he started work at the beginning of last year
which was a legitimate observation.
On the other hand @CaptainMorgan said:
The British in general and the English in particular are racists.
which is not even thinly veiled racism
I agree you did not fully agree with him but you didn’t condemn the comment either. I know, which you may not know, that he is not British, so maybe leave that aside, but in my book that was racist.
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It really wasn’t though. It was like saying that you saw the chasse earlier and now there are no birds in the sky so they must have killed them all. Perhaps, but perhaps there is no correlation whatsoever between the two, maybe all the birds dropped dead from bird flu 6 months ago and you hadn’t noticed and anyway the chasse were only hunting sanglier with bows and arrows today so the birds wouldn’t even have been frightened away by the shots. A ridiculous example obviously but without any evidence an observation isn’t necessarily a legitimate observation
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Correct I’m from East Texas and god do I know what racists look and sound like!. The conversation usually starts “I’m not a racist but…”
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I always try to be nice 
don’t always achieve t though 
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OK, I’ll be open about this - I really have a problem with statements that can be boiled down to “I’m not racist but now that <insert demonised minority group> have all gone I can <insert action questionably prohibited by the presence of demonised minority group>”.
This issue is that it looks very much that the person voicing this statement believed, a priori, that the demonised minority group was undesirable and the resultant confirmation bias led them to believe the supposed benefit was linked to getting rid of them.
I’d like to think that, generally, Britain is a tolerant society - as I said in a previous post on this thread I think the evidence is that it remains so - but the minority who are not have definitely been emboldened by Brexit.
However it rather looked as though a particular conclusion was being drawn.
Is calling someone racist, itself racist? - as rendi60’s (ex) employer seems to think.
It seems self evident that this would not be the case - the definition of racism is
Unless racists are deemed a particular racial or ethnic group (that would be an interesting tautology) I don’t see that an accusation of racism (with iimplied negative implications) could itself be racist.
Indeed the said employer’s stance seems more designed to stamp out any accusation of racism, appropriate or not, by ensuring that anyone who speaks out will be subject to a (no doubt stressful) investigation themselves.
It might be understandable if there had been a lot of false accusations in that workplace but it seems very questionable.
Was CaptainMorgan’s statement racist - yes, I think it was. It was also incorrect which is what I chose for the focus of my response.
Was rendi60’s post racist - I felt it certainly exposed a bias against minority groups, and called that out.
Being human I can’t promise exactly the same response each time.
Yes, now that we have revealed ourselves to have a vocal xenophobic minority who appear to be running the place (or have undue influence with those that are) we have fewer foreign workers.
We also have fewer people in the workplace generally - the sequelae of Covid are affecting up to 1.4 million people in the UK
Perhaps *that’s* why rendi60’s son’s friend found it easier to find a job - but the fact that the Eastern European’s have gone home was chosen as the suggested reason.
And thus is revealed the unconscious bias.
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Believe it or not so do I - well, not “nice” necessarily, “even handed” would be better.
But there are some situations where the paradox of tolerance applies, so it is best not to be over tolerant.
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By the way, that’s a direct ad hominem attack. It’s against site T&C.
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I think the problem is actually your bias. You say you like to be even handed but seem unable to even consider that there may be a different viewpoint. Your views about my place of work are totally wrong. As I have said in the past I have been called racist just because I said No even though that was the same answer regardless of the colour or race of the person asking. That was why all incidents were taken seriously. I can accept that I am not always right, I just want to be fair and see all sides. Not everyone who voted in the referendum lives in the EU and so their assessment of the success of brexit may be different to ours. It doesn’t make them wrong.
Well throw me off the site then. Presumably calling someone racist is okay.
Sorry Folks… I went off to do the cooking as I seemed to be being misunderstood by @Flocreen and didn’t want things to become difficult between us…
Often it’s not easy to explain exactly how one feels and/or sees things.
I had been trying to think/describe how things might have played out if the viewpoint was from a completely different angle…
and that’s what might have given the wrong impression to Flocreen and possibly others… hence my escape to the kitchen…
perhaps we’re all in danger of overheating…
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Maybe we can at least agree that it’s nonsensical to claim an entire nation is racist?
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perhaps we’re all in danger of overheating
It’ll save money on the energy bills 
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No, I said your post was racist. You might consider it hair splitting but there is a distinction. Anyway throwing you off because we’re disagreeing would be an abuse of power.
I’m fully able to consider that others have different views - but I don’t have to agree with them and I don’t have to stay silent when I do disagree - which is what you seem to want of me.
Indeed neither am I.
But it usually takes evidence to change my mind, not just bold assertions.
Yes, their criteria might be different.
They might even conclude that Brexit is a success - after all by the strict definition of “Brexit” we did, indeed, leave the EU (though some would disagree).
But it is otherwise a failure in its own terms - immigration was not reduced (it just shifted to Asian countries), the economy has not thrived, the NHS has not thrived, the fishermen have not got new markets into which to sell their catch, we are not growing more of our own food, trade deals we had under the EU umbrella have not been replaced with ones more advantageous to the UK, EU subsidies have not been replaced by bigger, better, British subsidies - the list of broken promises is endless.
The only criteria by which Brexit can be judged a success seem poor ones - deregulation, increased division, a bordering on totalitarian government, with those in power intent on lining lining their own pockets at the expense of the rest of us.
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And indeed, few Brits now do think brexit has been a success (even those that voted for it).
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Might have been an Aussie!
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What might? 