You've got to be kidding .... Racist ?

[meerkat]

My 14 year old son just came home to tell me that he asked why the preppies had chalk but no blackboards (but they did have whiteboards).

This "enlightened" teacher pulled him aside and told him not to use those words.

The teacher then said that they were racist.

Of course my son proceeded to tell him that they were legitimate words to use for those items and that they were not racist and neither was he.

The teacher said they were racist to him and therefore my son was not to use them.

Since when is a colour describing the colour of an item racist ?

So there is no black or white paint, white out (now that could be a racist term), black speakers, white lines, yellow ink.

How can calling a board painted black or white be racist ?

This learned fellow better go read the dictionary as Racism is defined as

"adj 1: based on racial intolerance; "racist remarks" 2: discriminatory especially on the basis of race or religion [syn: antiblack (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=antiblack), anti-Semitic (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=anti-semitic), anti-Semite(a) (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=anti-semite%28a%29)] n : a person with a prejudiced belief that one race is superior to others [syn: racialist (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=racialist)<!-- google_ad_region_end=def --> ]"

It's one thing to have "politcal correctness" but a teacher imposing their personal beliefs based on a incorrect understanding of the meaning of the word in an educational environment is far from appropriate and unacceptable.

[Sturdee]

Of course it is not racist and you ought to complain about that teacher's attitude to the school principal.

BTW as far as I know for years all blackboards in school have been green, but maybe green boards is villifying the Irish.:D

And if black boards is a racist term then I would object to white boards which is a slur on the non coloured races.:mad: Find out what that teacher thinks of that.:D :D :D


Peter.

[Gumby]

No wonder kids have problems. It's dickheads like that pushing their social engineering ways down their throats which confuse the crapo out of them. I'd be going much further with this. We need to cut it out. Neil Mitchell would be a good place to start.

[womble]

did he mean the blackboard or term 'preppie'??

anyway, go ask the teacher what he meant...politely of course

I'm a teacher myself and he sounds like a knob though

[Auld Bassoon]

This "educator" is seriously lacking in anything that might reasonably be called "common sense". Clearly, he (or she) need a thorough dusting with some Tassie Blackwood, followed by a good whacking with some blonde Birch; possibly throw in some Ebony and / or some Yellow Huon.

The idiot remins me of some of the looney characters portrayed in some of Tom Sharpe's "Wilt" books...

[ozwinner]

This is PC gone mad, they went through this in Europe, you couldnt get a blacklead pencil, or ask for a white coffee?

Al :confused:

[Eddie Jones]

Betcha a zillion bucks he doesn't eat Coon cheese either.

Seriously I fully agree with all the other posters. The sooner this lunacy is stamped out of society - ESPECIALLY schools - the better.

[Iain]

How do we describe the keys on a piano?????
And what is Michael Jackson (miss 12 came home with the answer to that one, what do MJ and PS2 have in common).

[Mick C.]

Like everyone else has already said!

But the bit i like best is that the lil fella stood up for himself and told the teacher that it wasnt racist, Good on him i say! and i soooo would have loved to been there to see the look on that poor excuse for a teachers face, lol :D

I also think you should follow up with a letter to the school or better still a visit to the office... ;)

[AlexS]

.... a good whacking with some blonde ...
Yes please!:D

[Wood Butcher]

, or ask for a white coffee?

Al :confused:
My cousin is the manager at a coffee house and the owners told her to ask customers "milk or no milk" not black or white. She told them to get real and threatened to walk out:eek:. The owners backed down because they know if she left so would most of the staff:D

Some hospitals have gone that way now too. Sad, really sad.

But, my mentor teacher for prac spent a while up north. Now he shares his cultural diversity with his students. He swears at them in native Creole(sp??):D:D

[Auld Bassoon]

I wondered who would pick up on that :D :D Scandinavian Birch no less...

[himzol]

This is PC gone mad, they went through this in Europe, you couldnt get a blacklead pencil, or ask for a white coffee?

Al :confused:

Hmmm wonder what you get if you ask for a long black in South Africa?:eek: :eek: :D :D

[Clinton1]

bloody racist - using the term whiteboard :mad: . Everyone should call it an Angloboard. :rolleyes:

A load of idiocy. A good lesson for the young one though, i.e. that idiots are everywhere.

[rod@plasterbrok]

Yeeeeha Bring on parent teacher night!!

Man I'de give him my 2 bobs worth what a load of crap.

Friends told us that at their school they could not refer to girl or boy, it had to be "person"

What is the world comming to.

[Waldo]

G'day,

To quote Pink Floyd, "Get him up against the wall" and shoot him. That's what I'd like to do with all these bleeding heart polictical correct pinkos that want to pander their social agendas to our kids. :mad:

Come the day when my little girl comes home from school with similar carp I'll be having strong words with the teacher if this carp keeps up. :mad: So to with the likes of cameras at sports events etc.

Now you've got me started, better stop now before I blow a valve.

[Iain]

"carp" , what do fish have to do with this crap?????:rolleyes:

[samhorr]

Yep - total crap - starts early these days - we could not have santa gic=ving presents at kids kindy because it was not PC - it was "culturally exclusive" - tried to explain maybe they should celebrate everyone's holidays all year but they just cancelled the whole end of year show!

[Ashore]

So what colour chalk does this fine person use to write on the board a very light creame perhaps?


Don't you love it when someone who goes to school , leaves goes to uni leaves and then teaches at school, seen nothing of REAL life or had any real experiance knowes they are correct in all things and certainly know more than some idiot parent who couldn't possibly understand the wider issues of the real world or be anywear as inteligent as them because they went to Uni. just ask them :mad:

[silkwood]

Forgive my cautious demeanor but have you actually checked this happened? It's amazing how everyone is eager to jump on the old "political correctness" idea and virilously condemn it. I would be very surprised if the conversation was exactly as presented. If it was, the teacher's a knob, no doubt. But when it comes to doubts, I've got mine.

Cheers,

Mark

[Waldo]

Don't you love it when someone who goes to school , leaves goes to uni leaves and then teaches at school, seen nothing of REAL life or had any real experiance knowes they are correct in all things and certainly know more than some idiot parent who couldn't possibly understand the wider issues of the real world or be anywear as inteligent as them because they went to Uni. just ask them :mad:

G'day Ashore,

That has always been my issue with teachers (no offense to any teaachers in here).

Iain, didn't want to offend those who like crap, I don't know of anyone who likes carp. :D

Silkwood, it has/does happen. The majority of my clients are within the Vic Dept of Education or closely related to and I've discussed it with them and it happens alright. :(

[Lignum]

Isnt it wonderful how a teacher will admonish a child for the use of white/blackboard, yet turn a blind eye probably to that same child if he/she was being bullied in the playground

[Stuart]

And we are expected to trust these people to provide our children with a quality education?

[HJ0]

Now go back to your corner little johnny, cuz talking about teachers is a waste of time.






HJ0 This racism crap has got to stop.:rolleyes: But obviously not in the classroom, or teachers like that would have no kids to pick on.

[lesmeyer]

Hmmm wonder what you get if you ask for a long black in South Africa?:eek: :eek: :D :D
Not sure about that one :D, but a few years back I asked for a flat white and they just stared at me. (Did this on purpose - just ask for a cappo without the froth). I believe that a flat white in South Africa is a white fella/sheila thats been flattened by a minibus taxi at the robot :D (term in Sth Afr for a traffic light - funny, the word "robot" is even painted on the roads when approaching the traffic lights).
Regards
Les

[Schtoo]

Where is the teacher from?

Tis funny, most of these clowns have never been on the receiving end of racism, and are usually just spouting rhetorics about how terrible it is.

It's usually the ones who are insecure about who and what they are that scream loudest about racism, or any other ism.

(Yes, I have been on the 'ugly' end of racism around here, and I usually call them exactly what they are in the most colourful language I can muster. And then I get over it in half a second or less.

There are idiots and morons everywhere, and skin colour has absolutely nothing to do with it.)

[masoth]

.......It's amazing how everyone is eager to jump on the old "political correctness" idea and virilously condemn it. ...........
Cheers,

Mark

That is a true enough statement Mark, but there are printed lists circulating amongst all levels of government itemizing what should and should not be used in writing and speech. ABC radio seems also to practice this. The english language is what it is, and I for one use it as descriptively as I can. In disputes, one can be fairly sure nothing is truely black or white.;)

soth

[meerkat]

Isnt it wonderful how a teacher will admonish a child for the use of white/blackboard, yet turn a blind eye probably to that same child if he/she was being bullied in the playground
Strangely enough Lignum, our other son is being bullied by another boy, even the bus driver has spoken to the school about it and guess what comes out of it ?

My son is told, "Just stay away from him".

So rather than the kids feeling safe they have been told by those in authority, those who are meant to protect him and the other kids, they are taught to accept unacceptable behaviour and just try to avoid it.

What does that tell the adults of tomorrow. You are not responsible for your own actions, there are no concequences for you bad behaviour and if you don't like it don't go to the authorities coz they don't give a toss.


There are idiots and morons everywhere, and skin colour has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Agreed

[AlexS]

Should this teacher be blackballed?;)

[Iain]

Should this teacher be blackballed?;)
Depends how hard you kick the prescribed area:rolleyes:

[Termite]

The PC rubbish makes about as much sense as the study mentioned on the box the other night. It seems that shoppers are becoming stressed because there are too many choices on the supermarket shelves, wonder how much of our tax money went for the grant to study that. :mad:

[Waldo]

G'day Termite,

That was recent study by an Ad Agency (can't remeber their name) into FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) and buyer trends and choices. :) Studies like this are regurarly made to give the agency a further insight into consumer trends to help their clients.

[KRH]

........The english language is what it is, and I for one use it as descriptively as I can. In disputes, one can be fairly sure nothing is truely black or white.;)

soth

Not sure I totally agreed with this statement. English is constantly evolving, and it always has, as community use and standards change over time.

The most frequent use of the work "gay" had a very different common meaning not that very long ago. Have a look at almost anything written over 50 years ago and the different style and meaning of many phrases and words is very evident. Language does change over time.

However, I do agree that many things are not black and white. These are complex issues. If they were simple the problems would have been fixed long ago. PC is one issue that has grown out of all proportion but, interestingly, from two perspectives. There was and still is a problem that needs to be addressed with some of our language usage but it seems now that the term "politically correct" has taken on a life of its own. On the one hand, some use it to attempt to unreasonably modify the behaviour and language of others. The white/blackboard example in this post is a prime example - just silly. On the other hand it is used also by people at the other end of the spectrum to "shout down" any debate at all when they are taken to task over comments that are quite clearly offensive.

In many respects it comes down to common courtesy to others and a little thought into what is said before opening mouth.

Just my two cents worth.

[Wongo]

The teacher is not gay is he?

So my uncle who owns a restaurant has to reprint his menu. What the hell is he going to call “Beef in black bean sauce” now? Maybe he should just call it #56. :D

[KRH]

The teacher is not gay is he?

So my uncle who owns a restaurant has to reprint his menu. What the hell is he going to call “Beef in black bean sauce” now? Maybe he should just call it #56. :D

No, of course not. Read my post. There is much in the PC issue that is simply silly. Your example would fall into that category, as does the white/blackboard issue.

I was arguing the case from both sides, PC is needed in some circumstances but in many other circumstances it is a nonsense. It is often used inappropriately by those on both sides of the debate to vent their own beliefs or to put down those with contrary views.

I was agreeing with a previous post that this is a complex issue. If the answers to all the problems of the world were as simple as some people make out then they would have been solved long ago. Significant issues in relation to human nature and interaction are often not as simple as they appear.

[Waldo]

G'day,

Political correctness has no reason for existing if we all treat each other in a manner that we ourselves would like to be treated.

It only exists because a number of people wish to force their own agendas and views onto the general populace.

Unfortunately we seem to be loosing our identity, one example of this is religious celebrations being deemed inappropriate because it might cause offence to someone of another religion. We are a nation that tolerates all religions, instead with this, we are being forced into coertion by religions that don't tolerate other religions. :confused: :mad:

[Bluegum]

Wasn't it not that long ago that childrens nursery rhymes have also come under the PC spotlight. I'm sure there was something on TT on 7 about children not being able to sing Baa Baa black sheep, becuase it may offend. I think this is madness as children should'nt have this sort of thing forced upon them at such a young age. Let them make up their own minds about it. Does this mean that we won't be able to watch B/W movies any more? Even the military who seem to be in the news a bit of late have fallen to it. The word enemy has now been replaced by agressor force. No longer do they fight the enemies from Musoria or Kameria. these were imaginary islands off our coast who always used to invade us only to have their hethen forces pushed back into the sea. It was considered offensive and it may upset our northern neighbours.

[bennylaird]

Arrived in Malaysia back in 1980 for 2 years of RAAF service there.

First thing we saw on the local TV? An add in Malay but the brand name of the Toothpaste was "Darkie" and a gollywog type character advertising it.

[Bob38S]

G'day,

Political correctness has no reason for existing if we all treat each other in a manner that we ourselves would like to be treated.

It only exists because a number of people wish to force their own agendas and views onto the general populace.

Unfortunately we seem to be loosing our identity, one example of this is religious celebrations being deemed inappropriate because it might cause offence to someone of another religion. We are a nation that tolerates all religions, instead with this, we are being forced into coertion by religions that don't tolerate other religions. :confused: :mad:

Very well put - and is in keeping with most views and opinions. :D

Now - why can't those who persist in pushing this PC garbage, ie the Toes aka Pollies who seem to be only influenced by what suits their own purposes, do what the majority of society wants. :mad::mad::mad:

[Wongo]

Yellow glue sounds offensive. :mad:

:D

[mic-d]

Yellow glue sounds offensive. :mad:

:D
Ahh Wongo you crack me up!:D

[Groggy]

I read this with the same reaction as most I guess.

How about you approach the school and tell them that your son is now very confused and isn't sure what colours he can use safely in conversation. Since he is sensitive to being called a racist he needs counselling to overcome this - the school of course should provide it (them having raised the issue by calling him a racist) and believing it to be so important.

The school should also provide a fully up to date list of words that are not to be used and instruct their teachers not to use them.

What a load of rubbish - just ask to talk to the Principle and the teacher concerrned and sort it out.

[Lignum]

Hope that teacher never wants a table made out of Blackwood with Blackbutt legs with some nice White polish on top

[bennylaird]

If they make a new movie on the Dambusters raid you will probably see a different code word used to the one that signaled to breeching of the Mohne dam. ie the name of Gibsons dog.......

if you don't know sorry cant write it here.

[silentC]

the name of Gibsons dog
Yet the "Afro-American" rappers are quite happy to refer to themselves using the same word. I heard a song on JJJ just this morning, shortly after reading this thread, in which a female vocalist used the term in reference to her male counterpart. Regular listeners will also be familiar with a song called 'Gold digger', which is a rip off of an old Ray Charles song. The words go "I ain't saying she's a gold digger, but she ain't messing with no broke XXXXXX". Now if I said that I would be a racist. I noticed that it was blanked out when the song was played on commercial stations and on TV but JJJ was quite happy to broadcast it in it's entirety.

[bennylaird]

Have you seen the Richard Pryor comedy sketches deling with Gibbo's dog usage?

[silentC]

No. I can just imagine though...

[Iain]

ABC radio don't have to blank out anything, only commercial stations.
Isn't equality wonderful:p

[Termite]

Was helping a friend set up a website recently and whenever I wrote teaspoon or tablespoon it was coming out in the post as teasthingy or tablesthingy. Had me scratching my head for a while until I checked the inbuilt banned words list. Apparently poon in the US is a slang word for part of the female anatomy, and so it was being banned. Had to use the whole word over ride function to get it to appear right.
Could you imagine a cooking website that mangled anything with spoon in it. :D

[Driver]

There are two problems with the schoolteacher’s frankly silly PC insistence on labelling ‘racist’ an entirely accurate and inoffensive use of the word black:

1. He/she is attempting to influence an impressionable young mind with a narrow political agenda that certainly runs counter to the student’s parents’ opinion and probably runs counter to the majority view within the community.

But, much more important:

2. By insisting on this silly, nit-picking PC terminology he/she is trivialising racism.

Racism – that is, real racism - is an ugly and evil thing. When allowed to prosper unchecked it led to the vile crimes of the Nazis, the institutionalised criminal policies of apartheid and the foul activities of the Ku Klux Klan (see the other thread about the song ‘Strange Fruit’).

Invoking racism as a reason to re-label a blackboard is teaching young students that racism is just a naming convention and probably something it is safe to ignore. The eventual likely outcome of the daft PC behaviour of this teacher and others is a generation of students who don’t understand what racism is and who may therefore struggle to grasp its harmful nature. If they don’t fully understand it, they may just fall into the trap of becoming racist themselves.

Teachers like this one need to be challenged. Not because their political correctness is annoying and silly but because it is actually quite dangerous and may lead to consequences that they profess to seek to avoid.

[ozwinner]

Well said Lord Legover.

Al :)

[meerkat]

I gotta admit I have never thought of it that way Lord Legover.

Thanks for another perspective.

The school is being advised of the situation.

Andrew

[ernknot]

This whole political correctness in all spheres of our lives is getting out of hand. I guess the worlds English dictionaries wiil soon be banned because they contain all that is politically incorrect. As we know the public service is full of nitwits pushing their own stupid agenda. I belive this intrusion on our way of thinking needs to be an election issue. We should not have to put up with this verbal excrement from narrow minded twits wherever they lurk. Lord Legover is quite correct in his analogy. Promote him to High Lord Legover I say!

[Auld Bassoon]

funny, the word "robot" is even painted on the roads when approaching the traffic lights).


Hi Les,

I remember my first or second day in Johannesburg and, when asking for some directions, was told to "turn left at the second robot". I think that the look of utter bemusement persuaded the direction-giver to explain what a robot is...:rolleyes:

[Auld Bassoon]

If they make a new movie on the Dambusters raid you will probably see a different code word used to the one that signaled to breeching of the Mohne dam. ie the name of Gibsons dog.......

if you don't know sorry cant write it here.

Ah! that would be Scott's uncles' dish - Beef in N****R-bean sauce :eek: :D

[Auld Bassoon]

Lord (of the?) Legover has it absolutely spot-on. Well said!

[havenoideaatall]

The Dambusters situation is quite interesting.

Have to admit, I'd like to retain the original word in the film, but realise it would be appropriate to change it for a modern audience in certain markets. It doesn't harm history to change a Dog's name and so I don't object to PC in this example.
But blackboards - honestly.

Black is a noun and has never been offensive for most people.
N*gg*r is offensive.

What about C**n cheese. You could argue that c**n is only racist in an American context so it's OK in a Australian one.

[silentC]

I recently built a system that creates a random password by selecting two four letter words and placing them either side of a random number. For example, you might get a password like legs84boat. Nothing wrong with that, is there? Well, after the first test run, I had to eliminate so many seemingly innocent words from the dictionary in case they should ever come up in the wrong combination. Some of the words (apart from the obvious ones) that I had to delete were lick, lump, suck, kiss, bang because in initial testing, these words came up in what could be viewed as offensive combinations. It's a minefield trying to look after other people's sensibilities and you can be gauranteed that if a dodgey password went out, it would go to some stuck up prissy idiot and we would wind up in court.

[silentC]

Black is a noun
Actually, it's an adjective in most senses. It's the noun form of the word that some find offensive.

[havenoideaatall]

My wife tells me that a black student questioned a teachers' use of Blackboard a while ago at Uni. I laughed and said 'what are they going to do' - 'ban black paint'. My wife mentioned that there must be a reason behind the decision.

The thing is, the board was actually green....

But we have lots of words in usage that celebrate historical naming convention and many of us do remember boards that were black. People talk about a pint of beer long after say, modern parlance has us preferring metric..

[havenoideaatall]

Actually, it's an adjective in most senses. It's the noun form of the word that some find offensive.

Indeed - oops. Bit tired(!) A blackboard is a noun, formed by an (descriptive - what else) adjective and noun together.

[AlexS]

Educational institutions seem to have more than their fair share of sensitive little souls that insist on changing innocuous words because they may not be politically correct.

In statistics, there is a test called the Student's T test. Everyone who has anything to do with statistics knows it as the Student's T test. The bloke who invented it published under the name 'Student' because his employer, Guiness' Brewery, wouldn't let him publish under his own name. However, someone in NSW TAFE decided that students were to be known henceforth as learners, so some benighted pantywaist went through all the correspondence course notes and changed Student's T to learner's T. Half the people there I told about it couldn't care, and the other half had long ago given up beating their heads against brick walls because all the fun had gone out of it.

[silentC]

Hadn't heard that one Alex. I use the T test all the time. I'll have to start referring to it as Learner's T and see what the client says ;)

[RETIRED]

:D
It's a minefield trying to look after other people's sensibilities :D

[Shannon]

Andrew,

I was just wondering how you got on with the school, this topic has been talked about with some family and friends since and we wonder if you got any satisfaction from the school and if your son had any issues from teacher/s because of it??
I'd really like to know what they are calling whitebaords these days if blackboards can be misconstrued as rascist :confused:

[black1]

so now i have to change my name to phil averydarkcolour instead of phil black:eek:

[Doughboy]

My oldest has just started at Kindergarten and they have chalkboards and smartboards. I am not racist in the least but we bend over backward to accept all different creeds and religions but what about our own heritage? No more santa, no more easter, no more etc etc etc, what about us?

For the record I have some wonderful friends from a diverse range of backgrounds both religious and political. I like everyone and I believe a stranger is a friend you haven't met yet.

Pete

[Eddie Jones]

.....What about C**n cheese. You could argue that c**n is only racist in an American context so it's OK in a Australian one.

Actually, Coon Cheese gets it's name from it's original producer, who's surname was Coon. Fair dinkum. Queenslander I beleive. Didn't stop the breast beaters from trying to change it's name though. They lost that one - as they should - because it was actually a person's name.

[Iain]

He said breast, dirty little man, Fred NIle will get you for this:rolleyes:

[ernknot]

Just look at who gets elected into local government and the type of twit who wants to be a teacher. All are agenda driven, nothing to do with " we love to work with kids" or " we are community minded".

[maglite]

I often wonder when my business is going to be given a "commercial advantage" based on my skin color.......thats not racist, they call it affirmative action.