This is offensive, but is it racist?

[unsurebutworried]

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What I totally agree Rhubarb we are developing a generation of split racism as I said my kids often told saying things wrong and my youngest been in the county since a baby and not known any other place but was told by teacher he could not call himself x because he was not born here would she have said that to an immigrant

Pressed post too soon ...

Confusingly, though, 'racism' does refer to picking on people who are members of different nationalities just because they are members of those nationalities.

So I would say this was racist behaviour, but of course the boy involved may not have meant to be so - he's probably just picking up on what he sees as something 'different'. Still not a nice thing to do, though.

Rhubarb that thread was racist though!

In Scotland working as a volunteer i was upset after receiving A LOT of abuse such as - English are scum, go home etc I'd only asked where an item was in the supermarket etc and was overheard. It felt awful.

yes I'd say so.

Ok, ok, I suppose I was unsure about what category of 'ist' or 'ing' to put this into. I should have been less bald with my query. I am a little unsettled about my son's question and then saying 'so and so' is a racist. I know it was a nasty and bullying thing to say, but there is another part to it that makes me uneasy and I don't want this to grow legs.

I understand the boy is only 10 and that is why I am unsure how to carefully approach it, while also effectively addressing it for my son's well-being.

Again, thank you for your relplies.

I still don't get the . in the OP.
Anyway, people get taken the piss out off all the time over accents, whether it's Scottish, English, Irish, Brum, Scouse, Geordie. RP, Welsh, Manc, Cockney, I could go on and on but I'm getting bored now as I'd have to mention every regional accent ever.
Oh, I forgot West Country and.... ., actually I now feel racist for the ones I missed out.
As long as it's not malicious, it's harmless..

Look, there are racists around and I'm certainly not defending them. I speak here as a white person with Irish ancestry who has 2 black brothers, so we've come across our fair share of racism. What I am saying is that taking playground teasing and putting it into the category of racism is wrong.

Children have always picked up on differences. They'll turn your surname into a rude nickname, they'll notice any new haircut (my mother used to cut my hair, I was torn apart at school!), they'll tease you for having freckles, they'll tease you for wearing Tesco shoes. Yes the school should deal with it, but to make it racist means a whole load of paperwork for the school and the child's parents being informed.

Now my dd gets teased because of her Northern accent (we live down south). So in our case, I can only tell her to be proud and have a word with the teacher about teasing. But in the OP's case, that is racism is it? So two very similar cases of teasing are treated entirely differently and you think that's ok?

Children are not, by their nature, racists. They don't really have any concept of a racist. They just react to differences and unlike us adults they aren't discreet, they will talk about those differences and point them out. We should not stifle this because we, as a nation, are obsessed with racism.

He's a ten year old calling something different stupid. Same as they call shoes stupid, or a haircut or a car or a football shirt. That's what they do. Tell your son to tell Mosley Jr to feck off and move on. He's not much of an Irishman if he can't manage that.

Racial harassment is usually taken to be abuse due to the nature of the victims skin colour, nationality, ethnic origin or cultural background. Irish is the same race, but not the same cultural background. So it does fall into the broad, commonly used definition when discussing discrimination that adversely impacts the life choices and outcomes of recognizable groups of people. Not sure if it fits the legal definition, though Irish Tavellers are recognised as an ethnic group.

Having said that, at 10, I'm not sure the racist angle is the right approach to stemming the behaviour.

Lady think the . was a symbol to show how we may see things differently ?

It does piss me off when people say that due to history and oppression, it is not the same when a white, ginger kid and a black kid get nasty comments at school. I bet it feels the same to those kids. Take that view and you will perpetuate a divided society, because you are saying that the black kid's feelings hold more weight than the white kid's.

Also, it implies that white, English people have never been oppressed. Try looking at the life of your average poor white person, throughout history. They were no more free than anyone else - they were pretty much the property of the landowning classes and at their mercy. If I had been living a few hundred years ago, I would, as a woman, have been the property of first my father, and then my husband. My skin colour or nationality as an English person, would not have made me any more free!

OP - kids say mean things. You will often find British accents criticised by other British people. You would do better to give your kid some comeback remarks, so he can stick up for himself.

karma - in the Highlands it is very much like that still. Women are known by who their father's are and it is how they are introduced on game shows.

Sorry, rogue apostrophe there!

Thank fuck I don't live in Scotland - I'd be having loads of fights!

You wouldn't be allowed you little lady.
You should have seen their faces when I walk into the pub, WITHOUT A MALE COMPANION and order a pint of Guinness - classic!

YABU its just kids being stupid and daft. I used to get the piss taken out of fmy accent. Its a bit extreme to label a child racist because of this comment.

I only became aware of it because he asked what racism was and I started to tell him. He then said 'oh, so and so is a racist because he said this to me'

OP, it's worth remembering that as your child is nearly 10 and didn't know what racism was until he asked you...he could well have innocently made 'racist' comments himself.

It could be exactly the same for the other child.

That's why I tend to cringe when adults try to link 'isms' to what children think or say because much of the time, they just need talking to and explaining.

Karma I agree that for individuals, being called names feels the same in any one off situation, and being mean to people is, well, mean and to be discouraged. But it pisses me off when people fail to recognize that we made some forms of discrimination illegal and treat them as more serious than general being mean because discrimination against some groups is so pernicious it has meant huge differences in life chances. It is true poor white people have been oppressed, and there is a continuing struggle by several political movements to make classism as big an issue. There are still several groups that have poor outcomes because of discrimination that the law does not protect to the same extent as racial groups. But that doesn't mean being called a name in a one off situation is the same as the impact of negative discrimination that pervades society.

"the Highlands we are talking about and not mainland Scotland, which apparently are very different"

Are we talking Deliverance 'different'? (Burt Reynolds movie. City folk on a canoeing holiday cross paths with some hillbillies) :)

Worra that was soo funny! True too. I do not shop at Waitrose

of course it is, but what can you do about one kids comments?

Kids pick on kids. My DP is Italian and some people think its funny to a speaka to him a like a papa dolmio, its not funny!!!! its racist

Sorry OP, wrong thread ^^

I think ALL kids should experience a safe environment at school. My boy doesn't insult other kids about their identity (in any shape or form). I don't see why he should have to suck it up.

I have not approached the school yet, I was just hoping to find out how others would deal with it (and categorize it as well). I think they will be very good and experienced in how to deal with it. I don't want to blow it out of proportion, but I will not let it damage my son's sense of self.

point taken about unknowingly saying something offensive. I'll stop being sanctimonious.