Is this racist

[postitgirl]

So DS says some boys at school are picking on him - he's Year 8. Today they had to move places in the classroom and he's ended up beside these 2 'mean' boys. They said to him 'just shut up and go back to Ireland to eat your potatoes'. I think that's racist - or what do you think.

YABU - not racist
YANBU - racist

@Tossblanket

Nothing will be done about it because he's white and male.

If someone said go back to Africa and eat fried chicken it would probably be front page news.

Why would you make such a crass post. You are talking rubbish by the way.

The real point here is that the boys were being unpleasant to him. What they said was calculated to annoy. If it wasn’t his nationality it might have been his appearance or his schoolwork or his sporting ability of his sexuality. Focusing on the exact wording of what they said is beside the point and will not get to the heart of the matter. (Unless they have a history of specifically being anti-Irish and campaigning against Irish students which is unlikely).
It absolutely matters that they were targeting his heritage.
Why does someone have to have a 'history' of targeting a group before someone clamps down and says it's disgusting behaviour?

There is no place for racism and xenophobia in schools and no place for downplaying it either.

100% racist. Ignore the 'it's just xenophobic' comments. Some people just love to deny racism when it's white people. Ignore them ... It's definitely racism.

Don't let them dismiss this horrible behaviour.

@C130 YOU are the one talking rubbish.

@Tossblanket is bang on the money!

Of course it’s racist!

It is racist.

Kinda weirdly retro ‘out of its era’ and so not much talked about racism, but racism nontheless.

Exactly as Tossblanket says

Yes it is racist. My MiL was bullied at work when she came over from Ireland in the 70s and was told also to go back and pick potatoes. It wasn’t so long ago that B&Bs and pubs had signs saying “no blacks, no Irish, no dogs”.

People forget very quickly how badly the Irish have been treated.

Anti Irish whatever the correct term is and unacceptable.

I’m surprised they know the reference though at that age my kids wouldn’t have a clue! Is it vehemently anti Irish your area??

@SkysbluI - .Kinda weirdly retro ‘out of its era’ and so not much talked about racism, but racism nontheless.

You're obviously not Irish then. Loads ox anti-Irish racism in England

Yep it's racism, most likely overheard from an adult.

Definitely racist and needs brought to the attention of the school leadership.

In the broadest sense it could be interpreted as being racist, but in the case of kids they probably didn’t intend to make a racist comment. I really wouldn’t make a big issue of it though as it could equally interpreted differently.

@Pixxie7 - In the broadest sense it could be interpreted as being racist, but in the case of kids they probably didn’t intend to make a racist comment. I really wouldn’t make a big issue of it though as it could equally interpreted differently.

How exactly could it be interpreted differently? Suggesting that anti-Irish comments are not racist is in itself racist.

Racist and appalling.

Definitely not OK but what a strange thing for a 12 /13 year old to say
I'm not even sure I would have understood the meaning at that age

It is VERY DEFINITELY racist. Where do these kids get it from, i despair. Good luck dealing with it OP.

@Pixxie7

In the broadest sense it could be interpreted as being racist, but in the case of kids they probably didn’t intend to make a racist comment. I really wouldn’t make a big issue of it though as it could equally interpreted differently.

In what way would go back to your own country not be intended as a racists comment? FFS.

Unequivocally racist. Good luck OP.

Definitely racist. I'm surprised at how many people think it's xenophobic, when the definition of race is very clear.

As soon as you hear, 'Go back to... ' you can pretty much bet your life that the rest of it is racist.

@Funfortheroad

As soon as you hear, 'Go back to... ' you can pretty much bet your life that the rest of it is racist.

Not if it's "go back to that racist shithole you climb out from" 😁

@Dutypaid - Definitely racist. I'm surprised at how many people think it's xenophobic, when the definition of race is very clear.

From a dictionary definition of racist it would be classed as xenophobic rather than racist. However, from a legal perspective, it is racist.

I think some people like to argue the toss as anti-Irish sentiment seems to be acceptable to a lot of English people who don't consider themselves racist.

Absolutely racist OP. Get it reported.

Racism against Irish people is extremly commonplace in the UK unfortunately.

Also if you want to up the ante OP you could point out how offensive the comment about eating potatoes is in light of the attempted genocide during the Famine.