Is this racist and what to do?

[fedup33]

I was in a group today and at coffee time, somebody mentioned 3 or 4 times that the term " black coffee" is unacceptable. Apparently on arrival in the US a relative had told them this, virtually as soon as they landed.

This sounds like the sort of guff surrounding " Ba ba black sheep". Its nonsense and it's racist. Sneeky racist bit still racist.

Would you like your coffee white or (looks up, swallows) not so white ....

(It's been a long day).

What is racist? Saying black coffee, or Saying black coffee is a racist term?

It's utter nonsense that referring to the colour of a product is racism. There's plenty of actual racism to complain about, however, isnt there?

This is the most batshit thing I’ve ever heard 😂😂 You’re commenting on the colour of the coffee! Acknowledging that the colour black exists, and that some things are black, is not racist. What a hilariously ridiculous thing to say

I think there are ways of sharing this information. Personally it's not on my radar. But it is obviously of significance to her to mention at least 3 times, maybe 4.

Its just some sort of faux " We are not allowed to say anything these days". It is some sort of racism as I doubt she would be banging on about it to a different audience.

Just say no it's nonsense, the person that told them that is wrong.

black coffee, black bag, black shoes, all perfectly fine.

🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

This was alleged to have been banned by the GLC in the early 80s. Was a load of nonsense, indeed when I made Ken Livingstone a cup of coffee and asked how he liked it, he replied black.

Yes, I should have said something. Racism is a sneaky beast.

Just when I think I've heard it all .........

I don't know, but I asked for black tea in a restaurant recently and the waitress told me "we don't have that".

So am I not allowed to say I'm wearing my black dress', anymore? It's a colour! White coffee, Snow White, The White Company. Are these deemed racist too? Honestly so ridiculous and has nothing whatsoever to do with racism. Black and White are simply colours. I just don't buy into all this woke rubbish and never will.

As a black woman I'm slightly baffled by this thread, and also the inability of people to critically think for themselves. Any sane person knows that the term black coffee is not racist unless you're actually referring to a black person, in which case yeah it's racist.

So what is white coffee? And what colour is milk?

The person who said that it’s racist is obviously trying to stoke a culture war.
which suggests they may be the racist in this scenario.

Just say ‘Oh, bore off, Nigel. Are you going to start banging on about how Those Muslims Are Banning Christmas next?’

So you're asking if saying it's racist is in itself racist? I get you, I'd think probably more "anti-woke" and about "offending the snowflakes" but really you'd need to have challenged it and found out why.
I guess there's a chance someone's been told they shouldn't use "black" as a descriptor and have misunderstood

Sorry but one half of my family is black, I'm mixed race and never in a million years would the thought cross my mind that ordering black coffee is racist, black and white are colours in their own right and can be used to described things other than just a person's colour! Should I not go into a shoe shop and ask the salesperson to help me find some nice black shoes? Or, I prefer white sugar to brown sugar, but am I not supposed to say that out loud? Honestly the whole thing sounds ridiculous to me

I definitely remember the baa baa rainbow sheep when my siblings were at school, about 15-20 years ago. In those days I'd say it was genuinely misunderstanding of what is and isn't ok. Suddenly people were openly switched on about language and verbal about it so I can see how you might conclude that nothing could be black. Which is obviously silly, it's a colour not a value judgement

Coffee with cow juice / oat juice / soya juice. Pale cream.

I've heard that "say it louder for the people at the back" is also offensive because of black people having to sit separately at the back of the bus.

I used to share an office with a Nigerian women. She used to find it hilarious the lengths visitors would go to to avoid saying they wanted black coffee. It got to the stage where she was giggling helplessly before she had even asked the question of how they liked they coffee. One person even hesitated and then said, white but without the milk!

I’ve never heard of this or the Ba ba black sheep. It sounds like a whinge about “PC gone mad, I tell you “. Though now it’s all about being “anti-woke”. Even the knuckle-draggers are getting on with the times and learning new words. No disrespect to actual knuckle-draggers.

One day people will notice that black people are actually dark brown.

This is like when people see Spanish crayons with the colours on the wrapper, like crayola, and they see the Spanish word for black and start screaming racism.

So are they saying that the word black as a stand alone word is offensive and racist? Are they saying that the word black is a negative, unappealing word?

I don’t engage with such nonsense. I take my coffee black with no sugar and that’s how it will stay when I’m requesting it.