Re: The 'n-word' was Be nice to me..

"black-dog" <blthecat@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:vf727398gre4fkddinpahposjvl08qi02h@xxxxxxxxxx
Message-ID: <Dq8ci.3664$uZ6.2058@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> from John E
contained the following:

On a related subject I was interested to hear on the radio this week a
reference to "Eeny Meeny Miney Mo..." saying that its origins go back
before the slave trade in the USA, which suggests that the version which I
(and I guess several people here) grew up with is not the original.

Oddly enough, though the man who buys the biscuits was brought up
knowing that version, there was never any racial animosity attached.
Where he lived the sight of a black face was extremely rare. His mother
uses the term '*** brown' to this day.

As with everything, it depends on how you say it. I didn't see the big
bro incident but from what I've heard I'd say it was an over-reaction
and an arse covering exercise.

Sheesh, I'll have to change my name next.

With regard to the colour - my family used that too. In fact it was 'de rigeur' for my elder sister, whose school colours included exactly that description. I also recall something about finding a black person in the woodpile, and a book by Agatha Christie. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Then_There_Were_None). However, times change, and we should try to keep up with the current culture. I recall when I started teaching that someone said that I should watch children's TV to keep up with the culture. That proved to be useful advice, and I have wasted many hours watching Grange Hill and Byker Grove. (Have they really cut that? What a waste!). As an adult, I assume that Big Brother occupies the same useful slot.

I suspect that if we have anything to accuse the 'dog' species of, it might be occasional killing of small persons by deviant individuals, but a lot more common would be the depositing of smelly packages on the pavement. Of course it is not the depositing that we mind, it is only the discovery later on our shoes.

I'm sure you would never do that.

;-)

John.

.