ThePickards
standards, accessibility, and ranting and general stuff by the web chemist

I’m a believer in equality. I believe in equality of opportunity, although to be that’s a fancy way of saying I believe in fairness. Which is why I’ve produced a set of posts on the theme of equality, rambling through my beliefs and experiences as regards equalities and politics, sexism, sexuality, racism and disability. A little something for everyone…

Racism By Numbers

I came across some racist typography the other day. Yeah, I thought “eh?” when I first came across the concept too, but Joe Clark has made an interesting point about race and fonts, suggesting that the use of a particular type of font in film posters is racist typography, implying that American blacks are dolts. He also draws a second, unrelated conclusion that a film using that typography is unlikely to be one he’ll enjoy (and I’m minded to agree: of the 9 films listed, I have seen only one, and that was on telly).

I don’t quite understand why those fonts give that impression, but they do, and presumably the people behind these films have got sufficient money and expertise that the impression created is done so deliberately.

Of course, what I find more common is low-grade racism, what I call ‘racism by numbers’, where you encounter people “who have nothing against…” whichever minority it is and then throw phrases like “I went to the Paki shop on the corner” into the conversation. Paki is used as an offensive term.

No, he meant the general store on the corner that is run by Asians. Not that it’s a general store: that asians are running it. I fail to see how that can be anything other than racist in nature, and indeed made a point of telling him that I found that particular word offensive and racist, and I’d rather he didn’t use it again in front of me.

He said that he hadn’t meant anything by it, but I think he was missing the point. He didn’t realise that he had meant anything by it would in my opinion have been nearer the mark.

Have you ever been in a discussion with someone about Islam — it’s usually Islam, although it doesn’t have to be — when someone comes out with a statement like this:

Well if they want to live in an Islamic country so much, why don’t they go and live in one, then?

You can almost here the bit “go and live in one, then?” metamorphosing into “go back home, then?” can’t you? Firstly, there’s an unspoken — or sometimes spoken — implication that the UK isn’t their home in the first place, irrespective of what nationality passport they hold, whether they were born here or not because it’s just not cricket, it’s not the way we jolly well do things.

Secondly, it begs the return question:

Well if you want to live in a rabid intolerant country so much, why don’t you go and live in one?

Of course, if it does turn out that they can play cricket (or indeed any other sport) well, we’ll forgive them their little eccentricities, such as being religious and all that, and welcome them with open arms. This anti-religious bias also seems to extend to Christianity too, though: why else would people like Jonathon Edwards have been continually asked about his belief (or lack of it)? Frankly, if they’re good at what they do, and they qualify to play for England, Britain, or Newcastle United, then they could be bright green Betelgeusians with telephone dials on their foreheads for all I care.

And I’d hope you notice me demonstrating the same attitude even if they were just Mr. and Mrs. Ordinary Public.

But racism isn’t always white-to-other.

For example, from the BBC Editors blog’s Questions of Identity, I discovered that “a coconut” is a derogatory term used by Asians to describe other Asians who act or think like white people. If it wasn’t for the unacknowledged racism, I’d think it was actually quite witty (brown on the outside, white on the inside).

But the mere fact that it’s becoming a widespread term suggests two things:

• Asian youths feel they need to associate more with ‘white culture’ in order to get ahead
• Asian youths perceive white people as different

I’m also reading into it an implication that it’s somehow wrong to embrace “white culture” (whatever that is). How come that isn’t being challenged? If someone used a derogatory term to refer to someone who embraced Asian culture, they’d be pilloried for being a racist. So how come it’s okay to attack ‘white culture’?

Although to be honest, I’m not sure I’ve ever come across ‘white culture’. I wouldn’t know what it was if it came up and bit me. But then again, it may be that ‘white culture’ is blogging, and listening to Jonathon Ross on a saturday, and watching the news, and not watching films with titles printed in Flyer extra bold.

Whatever it is, my culture doesn’t tolerate racism, and that’s a thing I think other cultures should embrace.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 at 3:57 am and is filed under Articles, Equality, Faith & Forteana, Language, Life, Politics. You can follow responses via my RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your site.