Gadgetgirlie went off to Tooting with a young Asian friend of mine to have her hand decorated in celebration of Eid ul-fitr today. As they walked around Tooting apparently Ggirlie asked why there were only 'coloured' people there and declared that she didn't like the smell of curries.
On the way to her cub swimming gala this evening we talked about why the word 'coloured' is offensive, and that 'Asian' would be a more appropriate word to use in the above situation. We talked about 'Hushna' in her class being Asian, even though she speaks German, and 'Niesha' being African, but the problem came, as far as she was concerned, with how she should describe 'Dayle', because he is 'very light brown'. 'He's mixed race,' I replied. Then there was the....'But mummy, Nailah is from Pakistan, why would we say Asian when she is from Pakistan? ...and before I could reply....'Look mummy, there's a scouts sign over there. Is that where we are going?' I realised that we would need to work on her politically and racially correct use of language a little bit more....another time.
5 comments:
I sympathise with G girlie. My grand-children find they have work to do on me also.
Awww, it does sound difficult there, here we just wing it. To be honest, I don't find the word 'coloured' offensive...we ARE people with colour, just like all the beautiful colours in the world, all hues of brown...we should celebrate.
Pat - Alot of black women of my mother's age refer to themselves as 'coloured' too, It can be difficult to stay current unless you're in the working environment where political correctness is essential.
guyana-gal - Welcome! Ain't seen you around these parts before! as you say, we are all people of colour, but here we use 'black', 'white', 'mixed race', asian', and in fact there is a list of about 15 different categories depending on where you're from. Then of course there's respecting folk that are challenged in some form, be it physically or mentally. Oh and PC words change too....Yes, it can be hard to keep up with the current PC terminology. Maybe I could do a degree in it but at the end of the day it's all about treating folk with equal respect innit? Thanks for popping by.....
Gadget girlie doesn't like the smell of curries?!?!?
She DOES need educating - otherwise she'll miss out on some culinary delights.
And what better place to get her education started than in Tooting!
:0D
Winter here again then?
Post a Comment