Meanwhile poor old Dave Merrington sitting at home eating his breakfast, blissfully unaware of this 'debate' raging on not606 regarding his harmless comment ! At least i hope that he is unaware.
Brilliant, so you now also know what i meant better then i do? Think you need to grow up a bit pal. So come on then buddy, what did i mean when i said 'severe issues'?
It doesn't really matter what you meant, if your words are universally interpreted incorrectly, you're the one with the problem. Dave? Is that you?
I'm surprised that the debate has continued after such a concise summary of an intrinsically complex social issue. This was really very well said. Oh wait. I'm just looking at the time of these posts. I am no longer surprised at all.
Thanks! Right, now I started this thread, and now I'm going to finish it. So, what have we learned...? Well, Merrington is a massive Nazi, Anichebe is indeed a big black guy, and we all love Southampton. There, done. FINISHED!!
Ok is it ok to say that 'black guy' and 'big guy'? Why is it frowned on to join them together? Is it ok to say that 'big white guy'?
One thing just struck me about all this. I'm watching Barcelona v Malaga and the commentator is just praising the Malaga goalkeeper who happens to be black. Of course, at no time does he need to mention that he's black. He doesn't need to because we are watching it on TV. Merrington however, is talking on the radio where we can't see the colour of the players so he is painting a picture for us (intentionally or not). If you want to argue that it doesn't matter what colour he is then, fair enough. But why isn't a commentator allowed to tell me something that I could see for my own eyes if I was watching on TV?
I have just come on the board as it is evening time here in the US and just spent the last hour reading every post on here and have to say that when DM spoke those imortal words " the big black guy" did he realize that he could start such a debate and entertain me for an hour of intense bantor. Over here he would of had to say "big african american" and even then he probably would have been fired from the TV network for not being politically correct.
"Black" is an acceptable term in the US as well. I don't wish to lecture you on the country you live in, but TV has made me pretty sure of this fact.
Again, it shows a lack of professionalism. Merrington should simply know his name, as there could be anything between 1-22 big black guys on the pitch (a fact that we could depict for ourselves on TV, but not on radio). Also, I think it comes across as more respectful if you know certain more specific details anout an individual. Ergo, 'Nigerian', or 'African' sound more appropriate and do not necessarily attach themselves to the minefiled that is within the term 'Black'
I know a lot of people complain about "political correctness gone mad" etc etc, and of course it does go over the top sometimes (I'm sure we all have an example to offer), however you should be thankful that you live in a society in which it exists. I live and work in China and the attitude here to black people is ****ing atrocious. A while ago on TV I saw a Chinese man who had his face 'blacked-up', and who was walking around like a gorilla, in order to poke fun at Oprah Winfrey. I've also witnessed on the national news channel, an interview between a Chinese reporter, and two wealthy businessmen, one from Ghana, the other from Kenya. The two African men - dressed smartly in suits and expecting a discussion on economics or African-Chinese relations etc - were simply hounded and hassled by the reporter who simply wanted them to 'teach' him how to "dance like people in Africa dance". This went on for over 10 minutes and I have never seen such cringeworty television in my whole life (although I was laughing my bollocks off at the sheer tenacity of the Chinese reporter). Finally, one of the two African men reluctantly stood up and gave a little jig, and the Chinese reporter guy screamed and laughed and imitated to his hearts desire. The other African guy looked like he wanted to kill the little bugger. This is of course the more lighthearted side of the situation, but I have also seen black (and white) men being beaten up, stabbed and all sorts, entirely unprovoked, and all basically down to their skin colour. In response the police, and sometimes even the doctors, taxi drivers etc, do **** all in order to help. So while political correctness is annoying, at least it puts society on the right path.
Every time the media refer to Obama, he is the first African American President, you never hear the first black President. Thanks for the lecture though.
