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AIBU?

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Original poster

Is this racist or am I being sensitive,

293 replies

NotGaming · 04/01/2023 18:46

Just saw on my local reisdents Facebook page, Chinese restaurant has posted to say that they’re shutting for a month to allow family to travel home for Chinese new year. Most responses are people saying to enjoy their well earned time off. Then someone has posted ‘make sure you don’t bring anything home with you 😷 🤢’

i think this is really inappropriate, but loads of people have posted laughing emojis and liked the post.

I’ve reported to page admins who have said it doesn’t breach their rules and left the comment up.

OP posts:
BirchOak · 04/01/2023 19:58

formulatingAresponse · 04/01/2023 19:15

It's racist

It's interesting that there are still so many people around who don't know the subtleties of what racism is

I mean really come on guys read up on it properly it's embarrassing

Hmmmm… I’m Scottish and I have encountered many jokes in my time about meanness, ginger hair, deep fried mars bars, rubbish weather… I don’t feel I am the victim of racism.
If the current outbreak was in Scotland, Wales, France… wherever… do you really think people would refrain from making comments along these lines? Of course not.
Racism is vile but I can’t stand this current climate where the word is bandied about with such ease.

Justwanttotravel · 04/01/2023 19:58

I despair.. don’t comment on anything - won’t offend anyone then!

Luana1 · 04/01/2023 20:01

I don't know if this is racist, I can imagine the same smart alecs saying the same to anyone holidaying in China whether from a Chinese background or not 🤷‍♀️

ILoveeCakes · 04/01/2023 20:01

Cross-platform white knighting and virtue signalling on behalf of someone else. Impressive!

Wonnle · 04/01/2023 20:01

Racist my arse !

daisy46 · 04/01/2023 20:03

hattie43 · 04/01/2023 19:12

This

Show quote history

@FixItUpChappie
I don’t think it’s racist - it’s a fact that there is lots of covid in china right now as is all over the news. In poor taste perhaps but that is not the same thing

Exactly. It's making an observation that China is now a Covid hotspot. Nothing to do with race. If there wasn't an outbreak there (say 2 years from now) and someone made that joke, then that would be an allusion to the origins of Covid and that would be racist.

WendelineTestaburger · 04/01/2023 20:03

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Iamnotausername · 04/01/2023 20:04

Thanks for explaining but I'm still not seeing it I'm afraid. If they had said "you're chinese therefore you must carry covid" or "everyone "over there" is infected" yep, I get that as racist and I'm genuinely horrified about how some Chinese people have been treated regarding covid. But they didn't say that. They said "you're going to a country where covid is a big issue, don't bring it back".

I don't see how that is linked to ethnicity. As I said, people would say that if anyone visited any country with high numbers.

I am trying to see the racist undertones but I can't.

Flowerpowera · 04/01/2023 20:04

Not sure if racist but definitely rude and should not be liked by others. I dont find it funny.

Wonnle · 04/01/2023 20:04

howrudeforme · 04/01/2023 19:47

Very bad taste.

the reactions to the post is racist imo. COVID isn’t funny.

Neither is Mrs Browns Boys but they keep showing it on TV !

formulatingAresponse · 04/01/2023 20:04

www.childline.org.uk/info-advice/bullying-abuse-safety/crime-law/racism-racial-bullying/

There is a section specifically about bring targeted because of Covid and being Asian.

It has its own section

ManxRhyme · 04/01/2023 20:04

Did the restaurant say that they were travelling to China though? Home could be Taiwan, Hong Kong or Yorkshire.

JoyPeaceSleep · 04/01/2023 20:05

It's about covid though, not skin colour or race. They have covid worse than Europe right now, so imo it's not racist.

SnackSizeRaisin · 04/01/2023 20:06

toocold54 · 04/01/2023 19:53

If this is racist, then I suppose anybody going to get vaccines against tropical diseases before travelling to countries where those diseases are present must also be racist. In a way, you could also say it's racist/xenophobic to be frightened of travelling to Australia because of the massive dangerous spiders there.

No because you’re not making it a joke or intentionally being offensive about it.

If I said my new husband is African and someone made a ‘joke’ that I better wear a condom incase I get AIDs - that would be incredibly offensive and racist, even though AIDS is much more prevalent in Africa than it is the UK.

If I travelled to Africa and someone said to be careful of the people because a lot of them have AIDS and joked about not bringing it back home, then again that would be offensive.

If I travelled to Australia and someone said that I need to be careful because they’re all descendants of criminals then that would be offensive, even though many criminals were sent to Australia.

Of course things like spiders and malaria are less offensive because they’re animals and the ‘joker’ isn’t making fun of an entire group of people.

Partly agree - jokes are less acceptable parhaps. But jokes aside, It's not racist to advise someone to use a condom if they are having unprotected sex with locals in Africa, in the context of health advice. I'd think it extremely racist if someone made a similar comment in relation to a new husband though - even if they were genuinely motivated by concern and not deliberately being provocative.

Justcallmebebes · 04/01/2023 20:07

Thereisnolight · 04/01/2023 19:01

Your OP is what’s racist.
It’s as though you think no one should mention the fact that someone is from China. Because it’s rude. Because there’s something wrong with being from China.

^ This

Miss03852 · 04/01/2023 20:07

NotAHouse · 04/01/2023 18:54

It's a gross joke about the origins of Covid, but exactly the sort of thing you'd find on a local residents Facebook page.

It’s not about “the origins” it’s about the fact the pandemic has recently gotten much worse in China. Do you not read the news??!

Iamnotausername · 04/01/2023 20:08

@formulatingAresponse

There have absolutely been people targeted because of their ethnicity I am not disputing that for a second.

I can't see that the restaurant owners WERE targeted though.

Iamnotausername · 04/01/2023 20:09

Following on from above, I'm white British. If I said I was going to celebrate a huge event in China, I would expect the exact same (unfunny) response.

SnackSizeRaisin · 04/01/2023 20:10

Iamnotausername · 04/01/2023 20:04

Thanks for explaining but I'm still not seeing it I'm afraid. If they had said "you're chinese therefore you must carry covid" or "everyone "over there" is infected" yep, I get that as racist and I'm genuinely horrified about how some Chinese people have been treated regarding covid. But they didn't say that. They said "you're going to a country where covid is a big issue, don't bring it back".

I don't see how that is linked to ethnicity. As I said, people would say that if anyone visited any country with high numbers.

I am trying to see the racist undertones but I can't.

I agree it's not exactly a racist statement but you have to think about the reason someone would say something like that and the likely effect on the target of the statement. Without knowing more about the person who made the comment it's hard to say for sure. Perhaps they are genuinely worried. Personally I'd steer clear of saying something like that on a public forum in case it caused offence.

Anonymouslyposting · 04/01/2023 20:10

I don’t think it’s racist, it’s about travelling to a part of the world that has a high covid rate at the moment, not about Chinese people. That said, it’s neither funny nor pleasant - it’s not funny that China’s covid rate is scary and people are suffering as a result and it’s not a joke that I would make.

Original poster
NotGaming · 04/01/2023 20:11

@KarmaStar because I couldn’t work out if I was being sensitive or if they were being offensive. if you read the comments here, I’m not the only one.

for those who’ve asked, it wasn’t posted directly on the restaurants Facebook, but on the residents page. I’m also not sure who posted it, I didn’t look so my opinion isn’t based on their nationality and wouldn’t have changed if they were Chinese (I’ve checked now 😁)

I find it offensive because I feel like it’s trying to stir hate, again

OP posts:
FfayeN · 04/01/2023 20:11

Mark19735 · 04/01/2023 19:25

I am assuming the person who made the comment was not Chinese, which is what alerted you to the potential for racism?

Here's my test:

  1. If the person making the comment was Chinese, would the comment still make sense?
  2. If the person at whom the comment was directed was not Chinese, would the comment make sense?
  3. If neither person was Chinese, would the comment make sense?
  4. If both persons were Chinese, would the comment make sense?

The test is 'make sense'. Not whether it's funny, or in poor taste. But whether it has a syntax that makes sense. I think the answer to all four variants is yes. Someone travelling to China (where there are current high Covid infection rates) is asked not to bring it back with them. Seems a perfectly plausible, logical sentence regardless of the ethnicity of the originator or the recipient.

Therefore - not racist.

This 👆🏼

BreatheAndFocus · 04/01/2023 20:13

It’s in poor taste and not funny but it’s not racist. It’s clearly not referring to the origins of Covid, but to the massive news story about the large number of Covid victims in China now restrictions have been lifted. The U.K. government was considering testing people arriving from China for Covid. The reason for that wasn’t racist, it was because of the very high prevalence of Covid there. This crappy ‘joke’ is the same - making reference to the current very high numbers of people with Covid in China and the accompanying news stories about this we have on a daily basis.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 04/01/2023 20:14

If anyone non-Chinese was off to China and someone made the same comment, how would that be racist?

Some people take offence at everything. And some seem to actively look for things to be offended by.

The comment was a joke, maybe in poor taste, but given that COVID is well known to be rife in China at the moment, I fail to see how it was racist.

WendelineTestaburger · 04/01/2023 20:14

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