Political correctness gone mad

**V8Ian** · 24th February 2021, 08:55 PM

Originally Posted by 101RRS

I thought Coon Brand Cheese had gone but I bought a 12 pack from Woolies this afternoon.

NOS?

**Tins** · 24th February 2021, 09:53 PM

Originally Posted by 101RRS

I thought Coon Brand Cheese had gone but I bought a 12 pack from Woolies this afternoon.

Coon cheese was named after the bloke who patented the process by which it's made, one Edward Coon.

**Tins** · 24th February 2021, 09:58 PM

Originally Posted by Old Farang

'Racist' name of idyllic Aussie suburb set to change

Coon Island set for name change over racism claims (yahoo.com)

A motion has been passed to rename an area in the NSW Hunter Region after it was deemed “racist”.

Lake Macquarie Council tweeted on Monday after a meeting that it had decided to now hold community consultations to determine alternative names for Coon Island and Coon Island Point.

There is a wonderful book by Nevil Shute called "in The Wet", in which a central character is called ****** Anderson ( let's see what the swear filter makes of that ). I suppose the works of the great Mr Shute must now be expunged as well.

**Tins** · 24th February 2021, 10:00 PM

Originally Posted by Tins

called ****** Anderson

Thought so.

**edddo** · 25th February 2021, 07:28 AM

.....very interesting how we are 'encouraged' to change our language, the words we use and the ideas that are deemed acceptable.
Digital forces at play, social forces at play.
Very concerning in many ways..... not being critical of Aulro, just observing all of this in this era we live in....

**Saitch** · 25th February 2021, 07:38 AM

You can all call me an 'Honky' and I won't give a rats!

It's OK because it's only derogatory to Whities.

Dictionary

honky

/ˈhɒŋki/

Learn to pronounce

nounDEROGATORY•INFORMAL

a derogatory term used by black people for a white person or for white people collectively.

**shwza** · 25th February 2021, 08:38 AM

Originally Posted by Saitch

You can all call me an 'Honky' and I won't give a rats!

It's OK because it's only derogatory to Whities.

Dictionary

honky

/ˈhɒŋki/

Learn to pronounce

nounDEROGATORY•INFORMAL

a derogatory term used by black people for a white person or for white people collectively.

I think that's only one side of an argument though. The historical relevance of both terms are completely different. One is used by a section of the population that was actively degrading segregating and using forced labour on the other while using the n word as a derogatory and divisive slur. The other is almost weightless in it's offense. If white people were in the opposite situation and the terms were reversed, then the terms would be the same but reversed and white people could claim that saying the n word is not as bad. It's not about colour it's about power and who ultimately benefited the most. Black people weren't lynching white people calling them crackers. Black people weren't profiting off keeping white people in slavery while calling them honkys.. and so on and so on. It's very American though, I don't find Australians use the term as often offensively.

**Tins** · 25th February 2021, 09:27 AM

Originally Posted by shwza

n word as a derogatory and divisive slur.

The n word was merely a diminutive of Negro ( a member of a dark-skinned group of peoples originally native to Africa south of the Sahara.) Sure, people of a certain type used it in a derogatory manner, but that was the fault of the person, not the word. I find it amusing that the people who scream 'racist!' the loudest in that community have no problem using the n word amongst themselves. Surely the discrimination about who can or cannot use the word is racist in and of itself.

I dunno about 'honky', but when I was working in Mitchell, Qld, in the early 80s I was called, loudly, a "white ****" when I walked into the wrong pub. I wasn't offended. Intimidated? Definitely, but not offended.

**Saitch** · 25th February 2021, 09:31 AM

Originally Posted by shwza

I think that's only one side of an argument though. The historical relevance of both terms are completely different. One is used by a section of the population that was actively degrading segregating and using forced labour on the other while using the n word as a derogatory and divisive slur. The other is almost weightless in it's offense. If white people were in the opposite situation and the terms were reversed, then the terms would be the same but reversed and white people could claim that saying the n word is not as bad. It's not about colour it's about power and who ultimately benefited the most. Black people weren't lynching white people calling them crackers. Black people weren't profiting off keeping white people in slavery while calling them honkys.. and so on and so on. It's very American though, I don't find Australians use the term as often offensively.

I tend to agree with you but, when I was working in Northern Australia in the '90s, I was referred to by the term 'Honky' many times, in a most disparaging manner.

Sadly, it was in the time when Indigenous people here, especially the youths, were trying to be Afro/American/Australians.

**shwza** · 25th February 2021, 09:57 AM

Originally Posted by Saitch

I tend to agree with you but, when I was working in Northern Australia in the '90s, I was referred to by the term 'Honky' many times, in a most disparaging manner.

Sadly, it was in the time when Indigenous people here, especially the youths, were trying to be Afro/American/Australians.

I think a lot of indigenous youths looked for inspiration from people that they thought have similar struggles. The statistics don't lie that the indigenous population is very under privileged in Australia compared to other groups. It's a much more complicated situation in Australia in some ways, especially since the settlers were not only putting the indigenous population into slavery and worse, they were doing it to a lesser degree to their own people as well as the Irish and others. There was a class divide and a race divide in the settlement of Australia, which I believe makes it very hard for Australians to be as empathetic. My opinion is that a lot of convict background families believed that they went through the same struggle as the indigenous, and therefore don't believe it is a race thing. It's not entirely true though. The convict families were given much better prospects to be part of the community. The flora and fauna act didn't even recognize indigenous as human unless they were land owners. It's a huge topic!

I'm also getting more and more divided over the use of the n word by the people that are now "owning it". It's my opinion that it's actually becoming a tool of segregation again rather than the original intention of retaking the word and trying to remove the negative connotations in it. That's why there's a huge argument in the states about the hard R or finishing the word with an A. It's not a huge difference in the pronounciation and we're getting to a point that the biggest music acts in the world are using the words in their songs prolifically, selling the songs to people that can't sing along with the words. There's a great moment recently when Kendrick Lamar got a white girl up on stage to sing his lyrics with him and she dropped the n bomb. But it was his lyrics. She said but you wrote them and you asked me to sing along. It's an interesting time and it's hard to navigate the waters but I feel it's best to just tread lightly with an always open mind

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