Never thought I'd ask this here but... is this racist?

[MrsMingech]

I know these threads are fricking cringe and awful sometimes and I've deliberately not name changed as I don't want to seem like a troll.

My son and I really like a comedian called Nigel Ng who often slates peoples cooking. He has several quips, one of which is "Emotional damage"

I recently overheard my son and his friends saying it when something bad happens, in this comedians accent.

I said to him later that it's probably not the best idea, it doesn't come across well.

On the other hand I have a vague memory of my parents repeating some of the famous lines from 'Ello Ello, so that can't be racist?

I once heard someone say to their kid, if something feels wrong, then it is wrong.

And hearing the kids saying it felt wrong....

It is, isn't it?

I think this is a matter of opinion and perspective.

I think the real question is whose opinion and whose perspective is it that matters, to you?

And I think once we know this detail the answer of 'whether this is racist' will become clear and unequivocal.

In most circles, imitating any accent for comic effect is cringe. Anyone doing that in polite/professional company would be really looked down on.

We had a young work experience woman in our office (English) who tried to amuse us by imitating one of our clients' accent. God, the poor thing, the whole office went quiet and everyone looked away. Cringetastic. But looking at some of the comments here, you can see she was probably brought up by "but it's a joke" people.

You'd be doing your kids a real disservice if you didn't mention that.

Just adding to the posts about not imitating a Scottish accent but yes, seriously, don't do it. It's not funny. See You Jimmy hats aren't funny, asking us to say "purple burglar alarm" or "curly wurly" isn't funny, joking about us deep frying anything that isn't nailed down isn't funny. It seems acceptable to make comments like "I can't understand a word they say!" about us using Scots or speaking quickly, as if there aren't broad English accents with regional language deviation

It's not racist because Scottish isn't a race, it's an ethnicity but it's 100% xenophobic. Just a few years ago DH was called "jock" by an English guy while we were on holiday - he'd just overheard us talking quietly and felt compelled to make a shitty comment.

Scottish isn't an ethinicity, its a nationality. One can be ethnically anything at all and be scottish 🙄

Sorry, that's what I meant - less of the eye rolling, thanks.

I was typing with hold music playing in my ear so I was distracted. The rest of my point stands.

Im sure you were busy shouting 'all lives matter' at the time too

pOliTiCaL cOrReCtNesS gooooooorrrrrnnnnn mmmmmaaaaaaadddd🙄

Scottish isn't an ethinicity, its a nationality. One can be ethnically anything at all and be Scottish.

Indeed. Like how a white person born in India can be Indian.

On the other hand I have a vague memory of my parents repeating some of the famous lines from 'Ello Ello, so that can't be racist?

Logic doesn't make sense here. What your son is doing (mimicking the accent) is definitely racist.

One thing I notice having done office work (project management at a FTSE company) and now being in the construction sector around tradespeople all day, is that professional/office workers talk much more about diversity but actually tend to work in predominantly white managed/owned businesses which usually aren't very diverse.

I often wonder if this is because they assume this is how all work environments are and don't realise that in the non-professional sector it's pretty common to have Eastern European people working alongside white British, black British, Indians, etc, due to the fact you don't need the same level of spoken and written English that you do in an office environment.

It's true that most outspoken racists I've met ("nicking all the jobs" etc) have been fairly uneducated rough types, but by large I think the working class and the trade sectors actually have a much higher ethnic integration and level of diversity than the middle class.

No, not really.

The man who made the joke meant it to be funny. He never on his YouTube told people not to say it. I say it just without the accent most of the time because I can’t really do his accent. I sometimes talk in a British accent or Irish accent (I actually have a bit of an Irish accent despite being born in the USA lol) as a joke. I know that people with accents are not bad, and I’m not making fun of them I just think it is fun to talk differently. The way he said “emotional damage” is funny and was meant to be. (The emphasis on “EEM” is hilarious.)

Cupid, if you are born in a country, you are a citizen of that country. I was born in America and even though some of my descendants were African American and European, I’m still American. A person of European descent is Indian if they are born in India. You can even be Indian if you have lived there long enough. (My descendants were also Native American but that was besides the point.)

African* (sorry I instinctively wrote American after)

No. That is only true in some countries. It's not true in the UK, for one. Or most of Europe.

No one is making fun of Asians doing the voice. It’s just how he said it and I think accents are cool. It’s funny that he said emotional damage and it just isn’t as funny with the American accent (I think my accent is boring)

So Cupid you are not British. Because someone in your family was once not British, you aren’t British. That’s your logic.

I can do impressions of other people’s accents and I’m not racist. I just like the way some people sound. (My British accent is on point. I sound cute :3)

If you're calling it a 'British' accent I highly doubt its on point as there is no such thing. There is not a single British accent, but many. These include Glaswegian, South Wales, Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Brummy... and loads more all of which vastly differ from one another.

Funnily enough I was watching Phil Wang on Netflix last night (Philly Philly Wang Wang) and he does a bit at the very end of his show about whether it's racist to do an accent. HIs rules are:

1. If the accent is good, no problem


2. If the accent is of any race who have previously had an empire or been on the baddies' side in a war, then it's fair game.

So according to Phil Wang you can do a Chinese accent and it's not racist because of point 2. Highly recommend the show by the way.

On the other hand, what I said earlier still stands - that offence is in the eye of the beholder. Calling things "racist" is an attempt to get them shut down absolutely with no debate. It's like an offence trump-card. Much better for us all to consider whether we are offending others, and try not to do so, in the interests of making life more pleasant.

Exactly - if you sound like Dick Van Dyke (you no doubt need to Google him) in the Film Movie Mary Poppins you are not "on point".

I am Scottish and I fully agree with both these points.

I am Scottish and I find you skit of

"We regularly get Scottish money gifted from DH's family. Every time we open an envelope either us or the dc will say 'I think you'll find pal, that's legal tender' in Scottish accent a la Michael Mcintyre."

offensive and derogatory.

Haven't RTTF but the "emotional damage" meme comes from Steven He, an American-Irish comedian with Chinese parents. He makes YouTube videos about his "Asian dad" (which is just him).

My son keeps saying this and he’s on the spectrum it’s so annoying and harder to get him out of

I think it’s terrible really these creators are emulating quite offensive stereotypes and financially gaining from it