Daughter accused of being racist

[Loopylou19861234]

oopylou19861234

Hello i am not sure if this is the right place to post but here goes.... i need advice please.
Yes yesterday I had a phone call from my daughter's stating that there had been an incident of a raciel nature full stop when I enquired what had happened I was told that during a game on the playground my 7 year old daughter had referred to a boy as the Black Boy this was used in descriptive nature not as an insult but nevertheless she was pulled out of class for the rest of the day but up for racial insults which is going on her permanent record and is being referred to the board as a serious matter I am very confused over this matter as I don't think it's true or correct that my daughter has been branded a racist by the school what can i do?

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“Call a spade a spade” is a commonly used English phrase which means “tell it how it is”’. It’s no more racist than buying a packet of black tea, or white sugar

3girl Are you kidding. Spade is extremely offensive

So what do I call the thing I dig my garden with?

@MrsGrindah I'm not the only one who didn't know it was offensive
Read my recent posts, I e googled it and learned something new today....as have other posters too it seems

The professionally offended are out. Oh good.

Shovel

I guess it's one of those things that people will never agree on but personally I have never heard it used as a "tell it how it is".. I've only ever heard it used in a racist context which is why it shocked me so much.

"So what do I dig my garden with?" Comment of the week.

If you are referring to me as one of the professionally offended you are mistaken. It was an unfortunate phrase to use not knowing the other connotation of the word.

I find it hard to believe it was done in innocence and I’m not easily offended. Grim

I also never knew that about spade. And I hear the phrase "call a spade a spade" in a non-race-related context pretty often, I think.

It is actually used quite widely as a slur. As far as I know it comes from 'as black as the ace of spades'
I think if somebody hasn't heard this it's fair enough and clearly innocent but it's been pointed out several times that actually it is an insult so probably best to not say it anymore.
It's not about being professionally offended, it's about learning something and then having enough respect for others to take it on board,

I have never heard it used as a "tell it how it is"

That's the only way I've ever heard it. I'm pretty surprised it has a racist meaning.

3girlmama, I had absolutely no clue either, have used that phrase, and had to wait for another poster to point out what was wrong with your post. Don’t worry about it, people are being unnecessarily offended imo.

Would you describe someone as the white boy?

Would you describe someone as the white boy?

I would if he was the only white boy in a group of non-white people, yes. It's an easy way to identify someone.

Shovel

Shovel is for lifting something like sweepings, not for digging , that's a spade.
I will continue to use spade as a word to describe a digging tool.

I’ve never heard spade used as a racial insult as well, so you are definitely not the only one who was confused about that.

I had no clue about that phrase either and could have potentially used it unwittingly. I took it to mean as 3girl did.

Now I know.

I'm afraid the general population do not know every nuance of words or phrases that are offensive to a particular set of people.

Nor do they need to apologise for using something that is a commonly used expression. If spade is offensive, it hasn't passed down to any of my recent equality and diversity training.

If someone uses it to be offensive (and let's face it you could use any word in an offensive or derogatory manner, since it is the tone that denotes whether offense is intended) then you have every right to be offended. This is not the case here.

I don’t believe that @diego people say these things yet still I have never heard the one white person in a group described as such. They will be called by their name generally. I don’t think it’s racist but I do think the UK has an issue with othering and it starts a lot younger than 7.

I’ve also never heard spade used offensively and could have typed the same without realising- I’m also in a multicultural city, not a mega white place. I couldn’t work it out until it was explained

Can people stop deciding whether others should be offended? People were just trying to point out that someone had ( unintentionally we know now) used a term that can be offensive

I will continue to call a spade a spade

That's ridiculous

Perhaps she didn't know the little boy's name? There are 950 kids in my local primary school, no-one's going to know everyone else's name.

And given they all wear the same uniform, of course a child would point and say 'the black boy' or 'the white boy' if that was the quickest and easiest way to describe them.

An adult might try to avoid those phrases but kids think more simply and innocently than we do.