'Racist' Taxi Driver

[KimyReizeger]

Scotsman.com News - 'Racism' on trial… or a hammer to crack a nut?

What are your views?

I'm pretty sure there was a time when people took taxi drivers to court if they didn't lump all of society's problems onto minorities.

[Guest idol_wild]

Well, I guess if you take the literal meaning:

Paki /ˈpki, ˈpɑki/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pak-ee, pah-kee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

noun, plural Pakis. Chiefly British Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. 1. a Pakistani, esp. one who has emigrated to Britain.

2. any emigrant to Britain from the Indian subcontinent.

Then it's considered an offensive word to use.

That sad, I don't think anyone can deny that the passangers in the taxi over-reacted immensely. Calling the police? The taxi driver is obviously just ignorant. It's something my father would say, yet I know that he's not actually a racist.

[Pierre Von Mondragon]

He sounds like a bigoted auld bastard, the court decision is probably right though, hopefully it will make these twisted fucks think twice about what they say, but given the difficulty they seem to have with any kind of thought, thats probably too much to hope for.

[Lemonade]

Quote - "It doesn't matter where they're from, Pakies are pakis, chinkies are chinkies, darkies are darkies".

How can anyone question that this a racist statement? He sounds like a proper cunt.

[KimyReizeger]

Taxi drivers of his age, at this time, will always have these thoughts; frightening them into keeping their traps shut serves no positive purpose, other than as a reminder of the widening mistrust between members of this society.

[Lemonade]

Taxi drivers of his age, at this time, will always have these thoughts; frightening them into keeping their traps shut serves no positive purpose, other than as a reminder of the widening mistrust between members of this society.

True, but allowing them to air their bigoted shite and influence another generation in the same way is much worse. I know a guy who constantly uses all three of those words above (he's 28) and every time I pull him up for it I get the same excuse - "Well that's the words my dad uses, I was brought up hearing them".

[KimyReizeger]

Quote - "It doesn't matter where they're from, Pakies are pakis, chinkies are chinkies, darkies are darkies".

.

And stupid old bastards are stupid old bastards. There's no hope for him, why bother pestering? What would be achieved, were he prosecuted?

[Lemonade]

Well I don't think someone should be above the law simply because they're old and stupid. Anybody else would be prosecuted for it so why shouldn't he?

[Sue Denim..]

You've got to understand, people of a certain age.. and mental aptitude are not going to become PC overnight.

They were brought up (as were my parents) with blacks being called Darkies etc.

Obviously this is a bit shocking to the sensitivities of a younger generation but they should just see it as being the spoutings of an older and less (PC) knowledgable generation and just appreciate that we still have some kind of freedom of speech. Whether we agree with it or not.

Calling the Police.... fuck sake. Get over it.

[JaseyBoi]

In my honest opinion i reckon more than half of us if not all of us have parents or grandparents who would be concidered racist to a certain degree....Fuck my my entire female side of the family were given golly wogs as dolls right throught the 80's....Racism is a difficult and complicated subject..

I was pulled up at work one time for saying "there was a coloured lady on the bus" instead of the word 'black'..It was found to be hurtful and very racist...I honestly felt fucking taken aback and was made to feel like i had to take a step back on my self and appreciate wether i was racist or not...

I came to the conclusion that NO im not racist just bloody ignorant.....I dont mean ignorant as in the bad way just ive never really been friends or knew many "black" people so didnt realise that calling them "coloured" was totaly rasict......I was brought up to say coloured not black...........

On another note i know of a few older people and are all on the feeling that if there traveling on the bus to he bingo and certain nationalitys are on the bus with rucksacks they feel very uneasy...Now is this racism or the lack of education?.....THese older people are all above 65....

[Guest Neutral]

Does anyone ever attempt to avoid eye contact with coloureds whilst in the street because they have a slight feeling that maybe if they see you making eye contact they may think you are a racist

or

describing something as black to a black person it just feels weird like they are scrutinising every word?

[Chris]

Does anyone ever attempt to avoid eye contact with coloureds whilst in the street because they have a slight feeling that maybe if they see you making eye contact they may think you are a racist

or

describing something as black to a black person it just feels weird like they are scrutinising every word?

Who has the time to live life like that? If someone thinks you're racist just because you make eye contact with them or they take exception to using the word black to describe something that is black then it's them that has the problem. Don't waste your time tip toeing around because of it.

And if people are uncomfortable being on a bus with people of certain race or obvious religious persuasion because they're carrying backpacks then I don't think it's racist as such, just bloody ignorant.

[JaseyBoi]

Does anyone ever attempt to avoid eye contact with coloureds whilst in the street because they have a slight feeling that maybe if they see you making eye contact they may think you are a racist

or

describing something as black to a black person it just feels weird like they are scrutinising every word?

I dont believe i Have to do this.....I feel im FORCED to do it...

And i dont for 1 minute believe we can just put elderly people thinking the way they think is 'bloody ignorant'...Media fear factor maybe but not simply ignorant...

[Guest Tam o' Shantie]

to be fair, it's not just the term he used, he made an offensive generalisation about any south asian/indian person living in the UK. If he had said 'all black people are criminals' but didn't actually refer to them as 'niggers' would he be in the clear?

[Jamie]

And stupid old bastards are stupid old bastards. There's no hope for him, why bother pestering? What would be achieved, were he prosecuted?

When I pay for a service I don't expect to be subjected to someone else's political views whatever they are. A bit of small talk, "where you off to tonight?" "crap weather" even asking what you do for a living fair enough, but why the fuck would you start spouting your politics to

a stranger / customer - that's Peter Dow behaviour. Would have been well over the top for this guy to have been found guilty, but if it makes Taxi drivers (or anyone dealing with customers) think twice about what they are saying then it has served a purpose I reckon.

[Jamie]

When I pay for a service I don't expect to be subjected to someone else's political views whatever they are.

But particularly when it's ignorant racist pish like this guy was talking.

[Stripey]

they should have prosecuted the fucker to send a message to these morons that it is not acceptable to talk like that, regardless of how they were brought up. It makes me sick every time I hear people up here using words like that in casual conversation, and the idea that it's ok because thats how their elders speak is a pathetic excuse.

[Jamie]

It makes me sick every time I hear people up here using words like that in casual conversation

The problem is by no means confined to the North East.

[Guest Neutral]

The problem is by no means confined to the North East.

On the top of it all Aberdeen is not a very racist city at all, grumpy, ignorant yes but quite tolerant

[Sue Denim..]

I think it's a sad world where I can't call someone a nasty name ... racist or not. Free country my fucking arse.

[Le Stu]

LOL @ white people. I can't believe they called the cops. o_O

[Stichman]

LOL @ white people. I can't believe they called the cops. o_O

Yeah, getting the police involved was surely a bit of an overreaction?

This guy was obviously just ignorant. His primary view on school places being tight because of 'pakis' was simply ignorant. His use of the term 'paki' was racist, but as has been said, he probabaly grew up using that word - that doesn't make it right, but it does make it understandable.

The woman should have engaged and challenged him on the subject rather than running off and calling up the police. Even when she did phone them up, the most he should have got was a talking to by a few officers. Words like "darkies" and "paki" are racist, there is no getting away from that. But this was just an old boy that didn't know any better. A stern warning would have done the job. Dragging him backwards through the courts was just ridiculous.

[Guest Neutral]

Remember Calling someone a Scot is fine because we arent a race

But calling someone from pakistan a paki is bad?

fair enough if you call an indian a paki but not a pakistani

At work the other day i had to do a drug search on an off-white gentleman of asian descent he came out with the line "why are you doing this to me im no terrorist im indian not a paki" then he started crying see this as you will

[Neil]

Remember Calling someone a Scot is fine because we arent a race

But calling someone from pakistan a paki is bad?

fair enough if you call an indian a paki but not a pakistani

At work the other day i had to do a drug search on an off-white gentleman of asian descent he came out with the line "why are you doing this to me im no terrorist im indian not a paki" then he started crying see this as you will

What people have to understand is that words like "paki" and "chinky" are considered racist terms because of their etymology and intent. Calling someone who is Scottish a "Scot" is not similar because it isn't derogatory and therefore isn't offensive to anyone.

[Le Stu]

Out of interest, do you think it's offensive to call somebody who IS Pakistani a "Paki"? Or to call a Chinese man a "chink"? Or is it only wrong if these words are used to generalise people of a particular skin colour?

It is derogatory in the UK to say Paki. In other parts of the world it isn't.

But this is how working class people speak. They'd have to sling two thirds of Scotland in the clink and then the other third for being classist!

*Oh wait, I didn't really get what you were saying due to being really tired. Um. Good question. Maybe not, actually. I've never been to Pakistan, but in the US it isn't very offensive, but NEVER say Oriental.