Harry the racist??

as someone said to me yesterday, seems odd tht it is ok to shoot maim and kill people in the name of peace but call them names and you are pillloried as the devil. well if name callng is such a sin i would like to have a word with the ars**le who make these descisions.
 
Harry is no racist, he is just a typical young man who needs to remember to engage brain before opening his mouth, unfortunately for him somebody will always hear or see when he slips up, why can't the press give him a break?
 
must be a light news week!! editors are perhaps bored with the economy and the depressing situation in the middle east??, I think stupid but inocent remark the way he said it.. wasn't said with the mallice intended the way that some people use those type of words....the sad thing this is another way of keeping the minoritys down ie encorage them to feel like victims and hence sorry for themselves by making a big deal
of name calling
 
I think things have been blown out of all proportion, would it have hit the headlines if he had called someone jock, taffy, paddy etc no I don't think so. We are becoming so careful of Muslim sensitivities that I fear it will harm race relations even more. Whatever people think on the forum a lot of joe public are becoming fed up with this constant tippy toeing around this community.

Our culture is one of banter and 'ribbing' we are not all conservative in our choice of words particularly I would imagine in an army barracks.The tape suggests no malice towards the person and I for one think if anything the only thing Harry is guilty of is not chosing carefully who he ribbed. After all if you don't include Muslims in your daily banter in a way that is also discriminatory as they won't be included fully as a team member.
 
No different to calling someone a Brit, Aussie or a Scot if said in the right context imo
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I totally agree with Bumpy Ride, you are talking about someone who is trying to fit in and show he has no airs and graces.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH I wish the press would leave these lads alone, are they not satisfied is ruining their mothers life whe she was alive and also responsible for triggering the events of that fateful night !
Harry has done nothing more than tried to fit in with his platoon, the words were not that bad has anyone asked Ahmed if he minded ? If he didn't mind why should we !!!
Anyway it was 3 years ago, I think they should be left alone.
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I don't understand why it is an offensive term, if I'm honest.
Surely it's just an abbreviation of a nationality - as Brit is short for Briton, or Scot is short for Scottish?
I get so easily confused.
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I don't understand why it is an offensive term, if I'm honest.
Surely it's just an abbreviation of a nationality - as Brit is short for Briton, or Scot is short for Scottish?
I get so easily confused.
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Yes, I have often wondered that. Funny old world we live in.
 
It IS an offensive term because of the way it has been used by racists in the past.

Having said that I agree I think it was more down to dimness rather than racisim on this occasion.

Also - given it's a bunch of trainee squaddies I imagine they ALL have offensive nicknames (wonder what Harry's is!!)
 
Its about time it was made a non-racist word,

I don't mind being called a Brit and that has generally been used to describe Brits abroad which generally refers to drunken idiots.

Krauts, frogs, wops - lots of names aren't the most PC. However one of my friends still calls the french frogs and she married one!

Americans call us Limeys, Australians call us Poms

Mabe we should call people from Pakistan "Stans" seeing as the first part of their country name seems offensive to them???

Also why is www.paki.com the "Biggest Pakistani online community" not offensive?????

Urgh I hate it when it becomes ok for some people to say it and not for others
 
I don't think it was said in a racist manner.
Asians themselves refer to themselves as Pakis, so can't really see the problem.
 
Agree with all comments made, and I bet in Army banter far worse things are said! Strikes me Prince Harry can't do right for doing wrong. If he sat on his arse doing nothing more strenuous than opening village fetes he'd be pilloried as being lazy; if he got a regular job he'd be accused of taking work from someone less privileged; it he set up a business he'd be accused of using his status to secure work, so he joins the army and puts his life in genuine danger. Result? Accusations of putting other troops' lives in danger because of his very presence! What, exactly, is he supposed to do with his life? Unlike his brother he has no pre-ordained destiny, no role to fulfill. If the worst he ever does is call a fellow soldier 'Paki', then he'll have done well. Bet he gets called all sorts! In view of the fact the soldier in question was not offended, then I cannot see the problem. Like the Jonathan Ross debacle, it is the Press all over it again that has blown it up. No pun intended...
 
I realise a lot of people on this site live in rural areas with non-existent ethnic populations, but I am really rather shocked by some of these comments - it's like going back to the 1970s!

People who originate from Pakistan are Pakistani, and while I can see how some rather naive people might think P*** is a mere derivation of this, it is not. It is a highly charged, highly emotive word, that has been used extensively to denigrate and abuse immigrants (whether they are Pakistani or not - how can you tell?).

In America the N word has been reclaimed by black Americans, and apparently Pakistanis are doing the same. I wouldn't know about that and I certainly wouldn't assume that just because they are using them means that you can.

Employers are obliged to operate under the law and there are laws in place to protect people from racist and sexist behaviour. In most workplaces, anybody referring to a colleague as a p*** would be disciplined, if not dismissed.

I can understand how some of you can't quite see what the problem is, but please do not teach your children to use these words casually. Society as a whole (and that includes the police) takes a very dim view of it and you can get yourself into all sorts of trouble.

Spare a thought for the brown person trying hard to fit into a hostile culture, who just wants to go about their business and be accepted for what they do.

Incidentally, I don't think Harry meant any harm, but he really should have known better. He leads a life of privilege paid for by public money - and that includes the taxes of immigrants.
 
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It IS an offensive term because of the way it has been used by racists in the past.

Having said that I agree I think it was more down to dimness rather than racisim on this occasion.

Also - given it's a bunch of trainee squaddies I imagine they ALL have offensive nicknames (wonder what Harry's is!!)

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Tim Tim Nice But Dim?
 
I realise a lot of people on this site live in rural areas with non-existent ethnic populations, but I am really rather shocked by some of these comments - it's like going back to the 1970s! [ QUOTE ]


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Please don't assume that everyone on here is a country yocal and therefore should have their views dismissed. I have lived in London for 7 years which means I have come across many of your ' brown person' s and in the main most have been able to enjoy light hearted banter and can recognise intent and insults when appropriate. You come across as someone from the deep south of America who has seen the light. Well welcome, that light has been shining for quite a while and no we don't encourage children to adopt this word as common consumption but most of us are balanced enough to know when something is said in an army barrack as one of the lads.
 
Well, I was once a yokel myself, so am not assuming anything. And I was alive and well and shaking my flares in the 1970s, but I'm afraid I've never been anywhere near the Deep South.

The point is that the days when you could casually bandy about words that are now regarded as unacceptable are long gone - something that seems to have escaped some members of this forum.

I don't see why an army barrack room should be any different from any other place of employment. People are entitled to do their jobs without being insulted. How would you feel if Harry had pointed his camera at a female soldier and said 'And there's our little c**t'?
 
Just fed up with this polical correct crap what happed to good manners and consideration of others ??? why do we need a load of semi educated morons telling everybody how to act and ridgidy inforcing a dogma , this is the output of second rate polytecnics now so called universitys, lets teach more people a trade instead, before they wreck whats left of society
and the people of this countrys good will towards everyone and each other...
 
Well, if she came from c**tistan, I'd understand it...
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I just think this was a bit of banter that leaked into the public sector and is being used to make an example of Prince Harry. Whether what he said was offensive or not is purely down to whether the person it was aimed at was offended, and by all accounts he was not. Surely it is not up to anyone else to be offended on his behalf? I was always under the impression that being in the Army was a bit different from run-of-the-mill working situations, and whilst I would never excuse blatant racism, I feel this is not what this was. FWIW, I was born and raised in London.
 
I spent 22 years in the Army and believe me, much worse things were said around me and sometimes to me, you either laugh it off and get on with it or draw even more unwanted attention to yourself by complaining. If I was every offended, by hell did I let that person know.

In the Prince Harry video when he said Paki, I didnt hear the person he referred to utter a word of protest.

The guy was obviously not offended

Its just media hype as usual.

Next time someone calls me a "bloody pom" I'll call the newspapers and they'll just laugh at me I'm sure.

Its pathetic
 
All blown out of propotion IMO. As others have said, had it been any other 'nickname' (call it what you will) ie "Pommie", "Kiwi", "Yank" etc etc nothing would have been said!

Totally totally ridiculous and not newsworthy as far as I'm concerned.
 
A chip off the old block, isn't he
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Good old grandpa has been in hot water for this very thing on more than one occasion...

I'm sorry but I can't get animated about it at all.


Sooty - please behave! When I explode with laughter at a post on here, family members insist I read aloud the cause of the hilarity
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Ha, ha! Very good, Sooty.

I do understand what you're saying. But I don't think the other soldier heard what he was saying, Harry seemed to be talking to himself. It wasn't banter as far as I could see. The other soldier has not commented on it, but his father has just issued a statement saying he is offended and hurt.

I think the army used to be a law unto itself but like the police has had to drag itself into the modern world. And you can't have it both ways - you can't run recruitment drives to encourage ethnic minorities, then allow racist language.

As an aside, I would think Harry's family are pretty p'd off with him - the Prince's Trust has done so much to help minorities and Princess Diana's visit to the Bradford Mosque back in the 80s was iconic.

Anyway, I'll stop now!
 
The father can prob see lots of ££££££££££££'s. It should be down to the individual it is aimed at to say if they feel offended not relations or anyone else.

I am not sure how comfortable I feel about Muslims joining our military, which I know is not entirely rational but I wouldn't have believed NHS doctors could bomb and now that has been the case .....

there is a huge lack of trust on both sides I think
 
Everybody in the world of media seems to have got so excited over this - Harry is to be reprimanded etc., etc., etc., It is a shame that the powers to be didn't have such strong views and hold such ground when it came to standing by the Gurkhas, who fought tooth and nail for this country and unless I am mistaken .... are not 'white'. Had Gordon Brown and his Merry Men, the News of the World and suchlike got half as involved in their plight as Harry's maybe they would have been treated with some dignity instead of feeling like the poor relation with little or no recognition. I do not mean to detract from the argument above but all this so called name calling i.e. Pakki, Aussie, Yank, Pom, Paddy, Jock etc., has got completely out of hand. Racist? No! It makes a mockery of the word as did removing the 'Gollywog' from the Robinsons jam jars! As did Lucozade - Aids recovery!!! How to play with words and offend the small brained minority.
I agree wholeheartedly with Bumpyride, we have become Muslim sensitive and after all (please!) they are in our country! I am sure Harry meant no harm by his remarks and lets just say (to all who are Pakki sensitive) - if you are going to defend the Pakki, defend the Gurkhas!
 
you know what seafarer spaeaking as a 'filthy bubble' i grew up in brixton where i was the ethinic minority so i grew up as non rcist as it is possible to be or else i wouldnt have made it too adult hood.
But you know what i think? if those who you delicately call 'brown persons' dont want to fit into our society then why boter coming. all my greek family are orthodox and celebrate all greek religeous festivals but before that they live as british people.
i have become somewhat racist because who is sticking up for the poor old white person, who gets called rascist because they use a colloquialism (sp) but actually live their lives hand in hand with the rest of the ethnically diverse society we now have.
i have lived in america and it doesnt matter what they say on the surface, when you go there to live, it is as an american first, then you can import your ethnic culture. In Arab states, much as it offends my sense of independance and beliefs in liberty if i go walking about as an unaccompanied woman, i can expect the consequences. Does that make Arabs racist or just protecting their heritage?
its about time political correctness was stopped. i like the fact that diffent countries have different cultures it what makes travel interesting but i sort of figure that if you want that country's culture on a permenant basis, why not stay there? Does that make me a racist (which is a pretty offensive word that Harry is being called). Frankly i dont think so.
Rant over. it just p***es me right off when someone assumes that because we on here are 'horsey' we have no idea what it is to be 'racially aware' or what ever rubbish term the tree huggers will come up with next.
 
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