“Racism” towards the Irish on here

I had a thread which has been deleted for "not being in the spirit of the site"

I actually missed most responses as I went to bed and not sure if I was thought to be racist for posting it or posters posted and it ran too close to the edges which I hadn't really considered but would like to know

I may have phrased it badly- I was having a discussion with a friend who isn't English... about English language , and we were having a giggle that she asked where some phrases come from and I said don't worry, most English people probably don't know either😅... I said to her in our discussion I'd find out where some examples came from. It was what I thought a fairly interesting chat about English language 😳🙈

Some of the phrases it's mumsnet that have educated me why not to use them as I know people who use them and I know what they mean in casual speech and that they wouldn't have used it if they knew the origin, like myself I grew up hearing older family members use them and absorbed what they were saying but without knowing how the saying had developed

It's only mumsnet that has educated me on the horrible origins so that I know it's offensive and can avoid them

Since reading this thread I have been trying to keep a tally of the number of offensive or hurtful things said about different groups of people on mumsnet and have come to the conclusion that the USA contingent is the group that is treated the worst. With Ireland next mostly in relation to Brexit and then Scotland.
Names from out with England seem to raise the most comments, Saylor/Sailor is a fairly normal name in the US and Fraser really isn't an odd name to a Scot. I think it is about the bubbles people live in.

I'm a bit of a newbie to MN but this is all a lot more unpleasant than I expected....

• I don't understand the motivations of some the posters going on and on about BTP rather than addressing the wider issues of your thread Posie. It feels like deflection.
• Why MN haven't responded to that thread. A large number of ppl have agreed with the OP.
• Why ppl would be so petty as to report posts in what I understand to be a malicious way

Banger I think you are right to report all of this to the Equality Commission. I know I said it myself about Ireland not being a meaningful marketable demographic to MN but it's also not Reddit and issues are not being policed equally.

I wonder who they have dealing with reports this weekend? Lots of mistakes being made.

this is really not ok!!

FWIW I’ve had a post deleted on an unrelated thread last night that I asked for an explanation for, Hq responded this morning and within about 30 minutes of emailing them they have reinstated my post. The post deleted was me asking someone why they were trying to stir up a row again between me and another poster that I had left 22 hours previously. hQ decided my post was troll hunting. in the space of a few emails in the last half hour they have decided to reinstate it. Proof they are deliberately ignoring your emails giant.

Loads of my reports from the last week have been ignored, including my self-report for being BTP

I’d have brought it to Twitter a long time ago.

In my view, Mumsnet it a commercial entity. ‘If you don’t pay for it, you are the product.’ The Irish demographic on MN is difficult to target advertising towards because companies often aren’t looking to target outside of the UK. Targeting specific demographic markets within the UK is much easier than trying to encompass the same demographic in Ireland too. Look at MN Local for example. Because Irish MNer’s offer little in terms of revenue streams for direct targeted marketing and click based advertising, they server very little purpose to MN as a ‘product’.

Look at other minority groups that MN have come to champion and consider them in terms of advertising, marketing and PR potential it becomes very apparent why MN are championing them.

Jane i do agree, especially having a very stereotypical Irish surname in England throughout the Troubles, it was very tiresome. But my parents (and me) will poke a little fun which, with my English accent, will appear more offensive. You are all correct though, the tide should have turned a long time ago. Along with the deep fried mars bars shit for the Scots.

thigh I'd have thought it would be offensive to people like you who would have grown up with Irish parents who probably had things said to them.

Do you think though that there are so many "English" people (me) who have not a drop of English blood (Scots and Irish) in them that offence is not meant.

I agree that the minute you realise that a term is offensive you stop using it but there is something about emigrants who have left Ireland (or anywhere) in a different era and taken attitudes with them. Almost frozen in time.

I'm not excusing anything, and especially not offialdom, just saying that many English people (especially in London) are actually of Irish heritage and may possibly feel a little more comfortable being a little jocular/offensive than they should.

'which the English modestly considered synonymous with civilization itself.'

I'd remove the modestly. Unecessary, imo.

I don't understand the Irish posters worrying about being seen in a bad light because their fellow countrywomen are bring this up in a perfectly peaceful way.

Exactly.

And tbh even if there was never an Irish connection to that phrase I can still see the potential for offence amongst other groups. How MNHQ can’t see how it’s innapropriae to use in their talk guidelines is beyond me. There are so many ways to say something is unnacceptable without using a phrase derived from the exclusion or corralling of oppressed minorities.

Yes! Why is it so important? Are they worried that capitulating on this would open a floodgate of some sort?

I would have thought an appropriate response would have been "thanks for bringing that to out attention. We hadn't considered the offense it would cause to some and will amend."

Simple