... To ask if you agree that "pikey" is a racist term and not just "slang"?

[carabos]

I am following a thread on another forum where a poster has used the word "pikey" in the context of a discussion about burglary. I called the poster on it and pointed out that I believe the term to be deeply offensive.

Another poster has come on and said that the first poster has been "naughty" for using "slang" and to watch out for the politically correct brigade. I am . AIBU?

If a pikey is a low life thieving bastard.....pikey=bankers. Grrrr

And if we're talking about 'offensive' I was a bit offended by having a tumble dryer pinched tbh.

Wankers. Or is that racist of me?

I thought 'pikey' was a slang term for 'stingy'. After reading this thread I realise that is incorrect. But if I used it in the past (which I don't believe I ever have), it would not have been intentionally racist.

The race argument on here is interesting to me because in my own ignorance I didn't realise that it is ok to insult travellers because they are not a " race" as such.No,it isnt okay to insult travellers because they are protected under the Race relations act,they are not a race as such but a protected ethnic minority.

I thought 'pikey' was a slang term for 'stingy'. After reading this thread I realise that is incorrect

No, that's the correct usage for the majority of people in Britain, but a professionally offended minority have decided it's now racist. It wasn't, it isn't, and it shouldn't be.

The term "chav" is actually a Roma gypsy word meaning lad or kid.
It has been corrupted by non-travellers.
Pikey is a pretty ancient term too going back to the middle ages.

Where I grew up travellers were known as didicoys - a term used by Romanis themselves.
Whatever the origins, name calling with intent to abuse is something grown ups should try to avoid at all costs dontch fink?

Here is a bit of an old Romani song including use of "chavves" in its proper context.

^I'm a Romano Rai, just an old didikai,
I build all my temples beneath the blue sky,
I live in a tent and I don't pay no rent,
and that's why they call me the Romano Rai.
Didi-a-didi-a-didi-di-kai, chavves^

I don't think the travelling community has the monoploy on pinching stuff do they? Nor do they have the monopoloy on being rude, obnoxious, money-grubbing tosspots - affluent bankers do a bang up job on that score.

Name calling with intent to abuse is a bit crap - especially when it is an easily identifiable group.

At my middle son's school they have about 20 kids from a travelling community (fairground people) who over winter in the area.
The children suffer terribly from name calling. It is disgusting to see an 8 year call another 8 year old a pikey etc. Even worse then you see a 40 year old telling her kids to "keep away from them fucking pikeys".

Jane

I'm going to say this very slowly and calmly, mainly because I'm worried I might just spontaneously combust here...

The plural of anecdote is not data. Just because you have had a bad experience, doesn't mean you can extrapolate said behaviour to an entire ethnic/cultural group. That kind of lazy (and racist) stereotyping sowed the seeds for the Holocaust.

And can you direct me to where in Roma culture it espouses theft? I'd really like to see some justification for your racism.

If this is about the same incident that I saw yesterday (dorset?) then yes I thought exactly the same as you. people using 'pikey' in insinuating that it would be down to a particular group of people (travellers/gypsys) without any other reasoning behind it than they arrive there once a year for a show. so therefore it must be them (dispite the fact that they left months ago, who knows where they are at the moment)

I've only ever known 'pikey' to be used to describe someone who is unhygienic.

I haven't heard it being used as a derogatory term to describe travellers/gypsies so to me, it's not even all that offensive. But only because it's so loosely used for people who don't wash.

The Race Relations Act extends to protection for all Religious, Ethnic and Cultural groups, so it's incorrect to say that Travellers (cultural group) should be excluded from it.

Roma people qualify on all three counts.

Just because 'pikey' has entered the lexicon as a general insult doesn't lessen the fact that it is still hate speech; viz Gervais' use of the word 'mong' and the resulting furore.

And let us not forget how many Roma gypsies were murdered by the Nazis in the holocaust. About 250,000 men women and children.
VLG is right - it all starts with name calling and a grudge against one societal group.
See here

and I would never wish to be unkind to travellers' children on the basis of their 'ethnicity' or upbringing or whatever. I would treat them just like any other kid - a vitcim of their circumstances, both in good ways and bad.

And some, most, whatever, travellers are probably really great people and wonderful in all sorts of ways but if they insist on taking my property, I'm not going to give them the time of day because Ithink hat's an awful thing to do, and I wouldn't do it to them.

Does any of this make sense?

Jane - I hear your kind of nonsense around here all the time only it isn't gypsies that are being blamed for everything - it is Eastern Europeans.
Why? Because they are an easily indentifiable social group. Just like the gyspies. Just like the Jews. Just like black people. Just like gay people.

Prejudice is so fucking easy. That is why it goes hand in glove with ignorance.

Jane it is considered racist because you are taking the behaviour of an individual and extrapolating it to cover an entire ethnic and cultural group.

well I don't know if this instance is refering tothe same one that I am, but the one I was aware of yesterday was £120k worth of equiptment. it wasn't oppertunistic, (we are not talking about a flat beds worth of garden equiptment in that case) it was planned. for people to blame the travelling community with no evidence and call them 'pikeys' is very offensive IMO.

Romani Persecution

After reading this, are any of you still happy to use the word 'pikey'?

BTW, more modern estimates of numbers killed in the Holocaust are close to one million.