Is this racism

[prettyprettyflowers]

Very senior manager was told off by HR for doing a mocking Chinese accent when talking about a trip to a Chinese restaurant in a senior meeting.
She then recounts story with same accent in different meeting as well as how funny it was HR told her off for it.

It Bothers me. But am I the only one?

@bridgetoc

My mother was Irish, and she loved a good Irish joke

What's an Irish joke? As opposed to an English joke. Do you know any English jokes? What about London jokes, do you know many of them?

I'm Scottish. I find it a pain in the arse when people do the accent because it's mainly derogatory and stereotypically based. Think of the historical background of relationships between countries or attitudes to that country. Of course most folk won't mean harm but it does piss Scottish people off. Again, this won't bother some Scottish people. It's othering. I don't lose sleep over it, but i would prefer folk didn't do it.

In conclusion....... I think we have established that mimicking a person's accent, whether they are white, black, or any other colour is not racist.

Yes, in certain cases it can be rude and annoying, but certainly not racist.

This thread reminds me of that Catherine Tate sketch where she pretends to be an interpreter. It's hilarious, but not for the snowflakes amongst us. They would be OUTRAGED.

Yes it is racist

In conclusion....... I think we have established that mimicking a person's accent, whether they are white, black, or any other colour is not racist. I think I've concluded the opposite.

I am amazed at how many people do not seem to recognise racism.

bridgetoc
Who is this we?

And see this fucking snowflake business- people have always been hurt by many thoughtless comments, but now, via the Internet, we are hearing what hurts people. Polite society tries not to hurt others. We can all do better. I am glad of the discussion.

If it comes to a choice between being a racist and being a snowflake, sign me up for team snowflake.

"I think we have established that mimicking a person's accent, whether they are white, black, or any other colour is not racist."
I don't think we have m. We have established that people of any colour can be dicks. Or and I am Mumsnet's biggest snowflake. But I think that's about all.

I'm still waiting to hear some of the hilarious Irish jokes that @bridgetoc's mother enjoyed so much 😉

Snowflake originally meant someone who thought they were extra special and outside the normal rules.
It has devolved to being a term used to excuse racism, misogyny and disablism.

"m still waiting to hear some of the hilarious Irish jokes that @bridgetoc's mother enjoyed so much"
Bridgetoc must know loads. She will have learned them at her mother's knee while playing with her huge collection of gollywogs.

It is only racist if it is done in a derogatory way. I. E. Stupid Chinese people can't talk properly as opposed to the Chinese accent is funny in this way. You can normally tell because if it is actually meant as a pure joke it will actually have some element of wit.

E.g. "Why are there so many Chinese students at Harrow? Because the first thing they say to their cab driver at Heathrow is Harrow." As opposed to saying "Harrow, I am Chinese" over and over again.

In conclusion....... I think we have established that mimicking a person's accent, whether they are white, black, or any other colour is not racist.

Bollocks, my conclusion is that it's still racist, whether you like it or not

It is only racist if it is done in a derogatory way.
Erm, no. Still racist.

" In conclusion....... I think we have established that mimicking a person's accent, whether they are white, black, or any other colour is not racist. "

in fact, no, this has not been established, far from it. IMO it is, and plenty of people agree with me.
Anyway, what about these hilarious Irish jokes that your old Irish mum loved so much? Do share...

"g. "Why are there so many Chinese students at Harrow? Because the first thing they say to their cab driver at Heathrow is Harrow." As opposed to saying "Harrow, I am Chinese" over and over again."
Which one of those is supposed to be funny?

@racecardriver I just showed your example to a Chinese person. Neither joke was considered funny, both were considered racist.

Of course it’s racist.

As a Scottish person, I can definitely live without people ever mocking my accent ever again. I don’t mind the odd copying an accent from a tv show eg doing a Malcolm from The Thick of It impression but it just makes you look a bit thick if you say ‘hoo noo broon coo’ or ‘see you jimmy’ or some shite.

How people can’t see this is beyond me.

What a surprise. Someone who does not recognise racism justifies that by typing a racist joke.

@DundeHugges the joke-there was only one joke there BTW was told to me by a Chinese person. Is your Chinese person actually Chinese or just ethnically Chinese? Most people who speak with an accent find jokes about that accent quite funny in my experience. Obviously it wouldn't work if Harrow wasn't popular for international families from China, maybe the person you showed it to doesn't know much about Harrow?

racecar no. Not funny. My husband is Korean and obviously gets the same shit jokes because idiots are generally too dim to realise that Koreans, Chinese and Japanese people aren’t all the same and I’m just cringing that you think that’s witty.

I’ve never heard any east Asian say ‘harro’. Yes, they pronounce words differently, but not like that.

If you spent a long time learning Chinese then you went to China and everyone laughed at you, wouldn’t you feel a bit uncomfortable? Wouldn’t you feel like it was racist? Because that’s what people do to language learners every day, and it sucks.

@Gilead, mentioning race isn't actually racism. It is being nasty about it that is racism. A joke isn't nasty unless it is within a greater context of racism. I have zero qualms about people making fun of my accent (I actually find it a bit hilarious myself because it is a bit all over the place, nor do I mind funny jokes that otherwise involve my race because they aren't meant to demean me or my people). It is called a sense of humour. The British used to be very good at it before they all became so PC.

Racecar , it is not funny because it is based on the premise that despite having lots of money and entry to top public schools, Chinese people have funny accents when they speak English.

There have been jokes based on that premise for at least 40 or 50 years, and it wasn't all that funny back then tbh.

Anyway I have taught English to dozens of Chinese and none of them said 'Harrow' instead of Hello.

that is why it is not funny.