Dear Sir,
Re: Reforming
the fire service; a Tory opportunity
Your use of "Spanish practices" is both racist
and incorrect. Please replace
with "British practices."
Kind regards,
Warren Edwardes
Dear Warren,
The term "Spanish practices" is a well-established phrase meaning
"long-standing but unauthorised working methods". I am not
a racist and the fact that I use the expression does not make me one.
If you want to oppose real racism (unjustified discrimination against people on
the basis of the irrelevant grounds of their racial origin) I will be delighted
to support you. The sort of language policing you're engaged in makes the
legitimate opposition to racism a laughing stock. Lighten up.
Best wishes
Jim Thornton
Dear Jim,
OK - maybe not racist - just offensive to many of my Spanish friends and clients
(and my wife who happens to be Spanish)
I agree that the term "Spanish practices" is a well established phrase
but my point is not a question of "language police."
You favour using well-established phrases.
How about using the even older Nigger and Wog?
It is no different than calling miserly people Jewish or Scottish.
The former has been current since before Shakespeare.
You would not dare to write "He is so Jewish with his money" or
words to that effect - an equally long established phrase.
As it happens I agree with what you write but there was no call for a pejorative
term when “restrictive practices” would have done quite nicely. The English
language is rich enough without being making generalisations about another
nation when one is referring to inadequacies amongst the British themselves.
It is no surprise to me that Portillo wasn't elected Leader of The Conservative
Party. But you are in good company. Sir John Egan President of the CBI
used "Spanish practices" on BBC Radio 5 on Monday. The Spanish Embassy
is said to have complained.
Remember the "English Disease"? It's back under a different guise.
Regards, Warren
Dear Warren,
OK. I'll give some ground too. I agree the long usage of any phrase is not
relevant.
However, I stand by my belief that if your wife really told you she was upset
she is being unduly sensitive, and that you are being excessively PC.
You suggest that there is equivalence between calling a black man a Nigger or
Wog, using Jewishness as a term for miserliness, my use of the term Spanish
practices, or joking about Scottish miserliness.
I disagree. The former is
the most deplorable and the remainder much less so.
This matters because many racist people who wish to use the truly offensive
terms Wog and Nigger also claim equivalence. They argue that if we can
make a Scottish joke without causing offence why not a Nigger joke. They
are wrong, because the jokes are not equivalent. A joke against a group
like the Scots that is not really discriminated against does no real damage.
I agree it is often difficult for people who are not involved to realise how
much some groups feel hard done by. It's easy to get it wrong for
women, gays, and some other minorities. Jewish remarks ditto. But
the Spanish? You can't be serious.
My reading of Portillo's failure to get elected is not his Spanish father; I
think many people regard that as a plus, but the latent homophobia in the Tory
party. Personally I think he's by far the most able Tory politician.
Best wishes, and if I have offended her, my apologies to
your wife.
Jim
Dear Jim,
Good point.
I suppose that it's not the joke itself that may be damaging but the
hidden agenda. Ann Robinson's
remark about putting Wales in the rubbish bin was largely ignored by the Welsh.
It is perhaps a question of whether the object of ridicule has a history
of being ridiculed / persecuted. You’ve
convinced me - almost.
As you say, it's easy to get it wrong. I
am from the Indian sub-continent so I know a bit about snide remarks.
So you would be happy to refer to "Scottish miserliness" and not
"Jewish miserliness"? I
still think using "Scottish miserliness" and "Spanish
practices" open the gates for people who seek to make negative
racial/national stereotypes.
Portillo really is quite engaging and I could even change my pro-euro views! I
have been almost faithfully Liberal since 1970 but voted
Labour at the last two general elections.
Tony Blair seemed a soul mate. I suspect I'll vote Liberal once again at
the next election. I would be
inclined to vote for Chris Patten or Michael Portillo.
I suppose I am socially and economically (in the Adam Smith sense)
liberal
as well.
As it happens my wife hadn't noticed the comment about
“Spanish practices” until I wound her up about it - and she’s long
forgotten about it. You see I am a troublemaker! But the Spanish embassy
apparently isn’t too pleased.
Oh and the next time I come across one of Barcelona Football Club’s missile-chucking
hooligans I’ll tell him to be a good chap and stop being so terribly
British!
Kind regards, Warren Edwardes
Publications: http://dc3.co.uk/publish/
Note to the Tory Party.
I
think Warren is just the sort of previously Liberal/New Labour voter that
Portillo as leader might win over.
