Shirley Brown (pictured) and Jay Jethwa are two Bristol councillors. During a City Council meeting Ms Brown called Mrs Jethwa a coconut. Mrs Jethwa said she did not hear the term used during the meeting but was alerted by a fellow councillor and she later watched it on the council's website.
The alleged victim, who moved to England from India 24 years ago, wept in the witness box as she recalled the 'deeply upsetting' moment she saw the footage. She said: "I heard her say there was a word in her community for people like me and that word is coconut. I was completely shocked and numb. I was very, very upset and distressed. The word is doubly insulting as it insults both me and the white population".
The jibe is used to accuse someone of betraying their heritage by pandering to 'white' opinion, as a coconut is white in the inside but brown on the outside, Bristol magistrates heard. Ms Brown was found guilty of racially aggravated harassment. She is Bristol City Council's first black Liberal Democrat councillor and is responsible for the ethnically diverse ward of Ashley.
Political correctness has reached such impossible levels that even a humorous comment can now be classed as an offence. You can see from this article the action taken was a political move and little to do with the insult itself. The Scots will have to be careful. Often I hear the term 'yer a real turnip'. Not in this house of course!
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23 comments:
Oh well, it was 'Bounty' happen...
As a kid we were told "Sticks & Stones may break your bones, but names will never hurt you."
How can such a sensitive 24 year-old who cries after a little name-calling (which she didn't hear when it was first uttered), be appointed to a responsible position as a councillor?
She really is not fit to hold that appointment, and should be immediately dismissed.
Turnip? There's posh! Dae ye no mean tumshie or neep?
A little while back at work was asked to see HR and was told whilst organizing my shift.
I had called someone a Black Bastard to which i replied that is not true one bit(believe me i know how to use Gender/sex and ethnicity neutral language i even went on a course)
I have got a witness she said so i names all the people there at the time and all were within 6 feet in semi circle.
If the witness was not one of those then they could not of possibly heard a thing i says.
By the look on her face they weren't well lets have a disciplinary i says and you call your witness and i have mine and we will see the result...
she says to me with 'real fear' in her voice that she believed my version and would rather drop the matter.
Not being happy with that i says if she dont i will make a formal complaint....
the reply was -------(real name) can we please just drop it if this starts i just dont know where it will end.
so i let it go and the guy was moved onto another shift and then left a few weeks later.
I wasn't happy with being accused of racial abuse even if i was cleared but the fact was the thought of having a potential incident escalating to who knows where frightened the head of HR to death....
in the real world i dont even call an Irish man paddy even if everybody else does and he is not bothered..
me i find out his name and thats what i call him and thats the same for any nationality.
I dont consider Jock a term of endearment either.
Sadly yes Rab. The writing has been on the cards for years.
Ah but Joe, we don't live in a sensible country any more. Sadly it's only the feelings of ethnic minorities which are respected these days.
Scunnert! I live in the east. We're awfy posh here. None o' yer tumshies in Dundee. :)
A course at taxpayers expense Niko - many of us have been on them.
I can see your experience hasn't made you a politically correct person totally, but they've worked on you. How sad.
Is it all right for me still to be cooking my swedes?
I think swedes could be acceptable Tcheuchter as long as they're what the English call neeps. As for buying them, well I'd look over my shoulder these days. :)
If it points to anything it is that racism is not just a white on black thing (cause I do belive this instance was the real McCoy). I understand that in London some African people look down their snoots at West indian Africans and refer to them in derogatory terms as "the slaves". I also noted in my many years in England when some people refered to me as Jock and I refered back to them in the American term Limey - they usualy didn't like it. Thereafter a truce was called and first names then resumed and despite being long gone from the area I still keep in touch with quite a few of them. So, careful with insults, that person could turn out to be your next best pal.
It shows that the old "We is all Black innit" ideology of the Left is breaking down.
The juiciness of watching a black councillor hauled through the court for racially harassing a black sista is priceless.
We don't live in a sensible country, but things might be changing because it looks as if the councillor really didn't think she could ever be racist, because of her race.
Remember all the fuss about Prince Charles, and was it Carol Thatcher who lost her job because of a comment she made?
Things might have been bad once, but those days should be behind us. Equality should be a two way street, maybe soon it will be.
"The juiciness of watching a black councillor hauled through the court for racially harassing a black sista is priceless."
Indeed. It's a joy to see their daft laws used against them!
In all my years in England being called Jock repeatedly used to really grip me Dram, but I never had the thought to retaliate. It still grates when I hear it but I now say something along the lines of what a poor education they must have had not even learning the differences in the sexes.
I don't know what Diane Abbot would make of it Harry.
Indeed Mrs R, maybe it soon will be. But why are we spending taxpayer's money taking these matters to a court when there was no punishment other than a label given? The woman is still in her job too.
It is Julia, and proves the old saying about things coming back to bite you.
Mornin' Rosa!
" it was 'Bounty' happen..."
Thanks for that Rab ah pished ma sel, an sprayed ma 'puter wi ma tae! ROTFLMAO!!! Excellent!!!
When will we get to a state/place where we do not need to label each other with such names. The trouble being that such terms as 'coconut' were deeply perceptive humour by someone originally that is now being mis-used to insult, that is a shame as the more we regulate then the less we 'can' say, which in turn leads to the spectacle of comedians standing silent on stage, take 'oor Rab' above what a wonderful one liner that was, but what a lovely depth there was there too, as Bounty bars are exactly the same as coconuts when you think on it!!!
Priceless!!!!
I hope yer keyboard's ok Indyan. :)
They are too and his comment is certainly classy. It's working too much in that shop of his that makes him think so smartly.
No permanent damage to it ta Rosa!, I have had to purchase a new 'laptop' which is why I've not been on much (getting to know the thing) and fortunately its fairly robust and idiot proof, just as well with it being me as uses it!
Its not a laptop at all really its what is called a digital media centre, and is an all in one desktop thingy, very nice, 20" screen and it will fit in a laptop bag, so is quite portable, luckily it's keyboard is wireless and was not in the line of fire, so just a wet screen really, and with Rab about dropping pearls like that one I will probably have to wipe it fairly often!
Took me a few mins to get the tea out my nostrils though, before i was fit to wipe it all up!
Sounds a posh machine Indyan. I've a 20" Mac here but it's not portable. Hopefully get my iPad next week which is. (Big treat to myself).
Its like a super sized iPod really Rosa, touch screen 500Gb hard disk, 3Gb Ram, windy's 7 proper graphics card etc, not like laptops with their cheap and nasty graphics!, nearest spec lappie was £400 more so a real bargain! weighs quite a lot about 7 Kg, but as its an all in one its still portable, though its mains only.
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