AIBU to think that if someone called me a 'white bitch' I would not find that racist

[Brigantia]

I've been reading the 2 asian guys chased me thread and I'm a bit confused.

If someone said to you 'white bitch' would you think that was a racial slur?

I wouldn't ..I'd just think they were arseholes

I'd be more concerned about the 'bitch' bit

[curlew]

It's offensive and horrible and vile- but not racist. In order to be racist, you need to be a member of the racial group with the most power.

Being white in the UK is not a reason for being discriminated against. White people are not w persecuted minority. So calling somebody white is not an offensive slur.

[Mimishimi]

White people don't have to prove themselves? Really?!?!?

[Mimishimi]

Curlew, that is so wrong on so many levels I wouldn't know where to begin. Anyone can be racist and offensive regardless of their majority/minority status.

[FreudiansSlipper]

i am not saying that every asian or black person feels they have to prove themselves but i would certainly argue that being white you do not have to as you are not judged on your colour

[edam]

Freudian, some Christians suffer a great deal in countries like Pakistan where they are in a minority. Remember that poor little girl who was accused by an iman of burning pages of the Koran? Eventually emerged that he'd made the whole thing up, the bastard, but her family had to flee anyway.

[lifesgreatquestions]

I think I would just be scared and intimidated. I do think its racist, not the worst of all comments, but racism wouldn't be my first concern in this situation.

[FreudiansSlipper]

i know Christians suffer in some countries

point i was making white christians in europe and worldwide have pretty much been the oppressors

and we are talking about here in the uk

[frumpet]

I would assume they were being racist , although i would of thought people who had the two brain cells to utter such an insult would have probably saved themselves some effort and gone with Fat bitch !

[edam]

And I've been called a 'white whore' by a man of Pakistani origins. It was definitely a racial insult and was threatening. My crime was having the temerity to walk down a street in my own city in my school (very unflattering - not that that matters) uniform. Was told to get out of his area. I lived there! Thankfully only temporarily. But there was a very nasty undercurrent of misogyny and racism against white girls.

My sister was attacked on the street by another of these charmers. Very luckily for her, our rescue dog had a habit of straying, and heard her when she screamed. He came racing round the corner and knocked the bloke flat on his back. And stood over him, drooling. I do hope it taught the fuckwit not to attack girls.

[waltermittymissus]

They are not on an equal footing. Their impact is therefore not the same

You have absolutely no authority to say the impact is not the same!

Who are you to judge the impact of a racist attack, whether the victim be white, black or green with purple spots?

History has very little to do with it in individual cases.

[edam]

Tethers - it is true that there is no big picture history of oppression of white people for the colour of their skin. BUT that's not much comfort to a teenage girl when she's walking down a street minding her own business and a man decides to yell a racist insult or attack her.

[FreudiansSlipper]

was it because of her colour or her colour became an issue in a way to insult her

her friend it would have been because of her colour

and really i am surprised anyone who has a black/asian friend could ever think they have suffered the same level of racial abuse even if they have (hopefully) suffered none before

[tethersend]

"BUT that's not much comfort to a teenage girl when she's walking down a street minding her own business and a man decides to yell a racist insult or attack her"

But that's not what the thread is about, edam. Being shouted at and attacked is universally abhorrent and should not be tolerated, under any circumstances.

Most posters have agreed that the example in the OP was a racist insult- where opinions differ is over whether all racist insults have the same impact, regardless of the race they are referring to. I think that history means that they do not.

This does not mean that the girl, or any person who is subjected to racial abuse does not have the right to be hurt and scared.

[Cityofgold]

Individuals following a girl and insulting her - just plain wrong.

But OP clear about the question and racism. Not a racist comment as "white" does not have an attached pejorative meaning. The attaching of "Black" to various insults over many years means that simply describing someone in that way can associate negative meaning. This is not so with "White".

In the same way describing someone as "English", Scottish" or "Welsh" is not racist; although "Irish" might cross the threshold.

In the McPherson report following the murder of Stephen Lawrence Lord (?) McPherson defined an act as racist if the person on the receiving end felt it was racist. So I guess given the feeling of the MNers above I may have to think again on the position I have outlined above!

[googlyeyes]

I think 'bitch' is a terrible insult on its own and don't see why a sexist insult isn't as bad as a racist one.

After all no one would claim women (of every race and creed) haven't been oppressed and victimised for millennia!

[MyBaby1day]

It is racist.

[waltermittymissus]

After all no one would claim women (of every race and creed) haven't been oppressed and victimised for millennia!

Very true.

[tethersend]

Which is why calling a man a slag for example does not have the same impact as calling a woman one.

The playing field is not level. There's history there.

[Stravy]

I don't think anyone is claiming that being called a bitch isn't sexist. The question is is calling someone a white bitch racist, the subtext being, is it equivalent to (or comparable to) a black woman being called a black bitch. I wouldn't tell a black woman that she shouldn't be bothered about a racial insult because she had also been called a bitch.

[scurryfunge]

The definition of a racist incident is based on whether the victim or any other person perceives it to be racist. If anyone finds it racist, then it is.

[AnotherStatistic21]

Just because white people do not get judged on a day to day basis due to their colour does not mean that being called a fucking white bitch is less racist as than being called a fucking black bitch.
I think many white people do not feel as offended if someone uses race against them because they aren't an ethnic minority and do not/do not feel they get judged regularly by their skin colour.
I am mixed race and I feel that if you let an uneducated, confused and narrow minded person like those who are 'racist' try and label and use your skin colour (yes, A SKIN COLOUR!) against you then you need to learn to be more comfortable with you and remember that the problem lies with them and not let it leave a chip on your shoulder.
I think people have been so badly racially abused in the past and although I am not denying that it still happens now and that it's not the persons right to be offended, I feel that any little conversation or scenario can be perceived as racist recently and sometimes it's all a bit PC mad.
Thank God there are laws on racism though.

[curlew]

In a country where the vast majority of people are white, adding "white" to a term of abuse does not add an extra layer offensiveness. In a country where the vast majority of people were black then it probably would.

[havingamadmoment]

I went to school in a school where white pupils were a minority and was often called "pretty little white girl" in a very derogatory way. At the time it did upset me but it never occured to me that it could be racist, when I think back it was and I am surprised it was never picked up on (this was often said 100% in hearing of the teacher).