"It's all White here" slogan angers West Indies

[Evermind]

Where is the BCCI when you need them?? They should blackmail the ICC about banning this stuff. Its highly insulting to the odd Indian living in that area too.!!

Omg RACIST!

Man, this is a dark, dark thread.

OMG IM RACIST TOO!!!

Lighten up guys.

WHERE WILL IT END?!?!?

 

[krkode]

Omg RACIST!

Man, this is a dark, dark thread.

OMG IM RACIST TOO!!!

Lighten up guys.

WHERE WILL IT END?!?!?

OH NO YOU DIDN'T!!!

 

[Jamee999]

****ing ******** in the sense that during the creative process no one stopped to think, "Ok, a bunch of predominantly black cricketers are coming to tour, from an area of the world with a sad history of slavery and racial segregation. I wonder if its possible that this phrase could be interpreted in any other way..."

This.

 

[NZTailender]

Except pretty much everyone in this thread has repeated that no one is claiming that they meant to cause offense, or were racists, or anything of the sort. All I'm saying is that despite them not meaning to, the slogan is offensive. That's all.

Also, I think people are focusing a lot on simply the word 'white' and it's connection to Test cricket. The word white itself in this case really isn't the problem - it's the combination of it with the words "it's all white here" that makes it insensitive.

 

[GIMH]

You keep saying that, I am not sure what that means. The two options are: ignoring when something offends a large amount of people, or not. So, you just chalk it up to race card and go down the street yelling racial epithets? I mean come on, yes, there could be gray areas, but that means nothing should ever be offensive? I'm not sure what you mean.

Because whatever the gray areas are, this isn't one of them in regards to offensive slogans.

I'm not saying we should ignore when people are offended. I think offence should be avoided, even if I don't think that people should be offended by said statements (ie, common sense). What worries me is where do you draw the line? There are a million different things that could cause offence to a million people and somewhere down the line things could get a little messy.

I'm really not explaining myself well, I'll try again. Yes, I think the right thing has been done to withdraw the slogan, I don't really see it as offensive, but I'm white so am not in a position to comment. What worries me in a broader context is where it ends? I get called a Pommie bastard on these forums, fine by me and most English people I'd have thought, but if one person complains then that could become unacceptable.

Ah **** it I can't explain, makes perfect sense in my head.

 

[NZTailender]

I'm not saying we should ignore when people are offended. I think offence should be avoided, even if I don't think that people should be offended by said statements (ie, common sense). What worries me is where do you draw the line? There are a million different things that could cause offence to a million people and somewhere down the line things could get a little messy.

I'm really not explaining myself well, I'll try again. Yes, I think the right thing has been done to withdraw the slogan, I don't really see it as offensive, but I'm white so am not in a position to comment. What worries me in a broader context is where it ends? I get called a Pommie bastard on these forums, fine by me and most English people I'd have thought, but if one person complains then that could become unacceptable.

Ah **** it I can't explain, makes perfect sense in my head.

What's offensive to one group of people may not be offensive to another, and something that may seem to be similar (like the NZ football team being called the All Whites) may simply be just not as bad, if at all, as something like this slogan.

Things won't always be clear cut, and when dealing things like this you should deal with on it's own, rather than comparing it to other things, because they're simply not the same and doesn't help anyone.

 

[GIMH]

I know they're not the same, that's not what I was trying to say. Nevermind

 

[NZTailender]

I know they're not the same, that's not what I was trying to say. Nevermind

No, I know what you're trying to say. I'm saying it's not always going to be easy in knowing what will be offensive and what won't be, but thinking things through completely before doing something like this helps. Basically, see Bahnz post.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah, I can agree with that. TBH my boss has been giving me feedback constantly about thinking about how others might perceive what I see as harmless words. This is the same, just on a wider scale.

 

[NZTailender]

Indeed.

Why can't we all just get along?

 

[PhoenixFire]

Its only insensitive if they want to take it that way

Err what? People don't choose to be offended by certain things and not others. Being offended is a natural, instinctive reaction to something, not an emotion that one picks and chooses at will....

Otherwise I could complain about the name "Black Caps" as it being insensitive and get a name change (I'd suggest "Can't bat's" but thats a new topic..)

So you can't tell that there is a difference between the 'The Black Caps', which is easily recognised to be relevant to the colour that the NZ team play in, as is fairly obvious to a majority of people that would watch a NZ Rugby/Cricket game and 'It's all white here' which is far too an ambiguous statement?

Ryder and Taylor don't seem to have any issues with it, unless they think its a corny slogan too.

Not sure how that is really relevant in any way, shape or form

 

[Flem274*]

I just cannot believe how people are getting their knickers in a twist over an obvious (corny) promotion of test cricket, which is bloody well needed in this country. Ryder and Taylor are black if you hadn't noticed, so its relevant that they don't seem to care.

In an ideal world (Geg said this before) what happened to black people wouldn't have happened and the offence at this wouldn't be happening. I dunno, maybe I'm too laid back, but as far as I'm concerned all the racist crap is in the past (bar a few despicable countries) and its time to move on with life, not be oversensitive about something which in no way shape or form is an insult unless you're too..what is the diplomatic word I'm looking for...narrow minded...probably not.....aha unless you live too much in the past to realise that not every mention of the word "white" is an intended degradation of the black community (still not what I was looking for but close enough). Its like a batsman thinking about a run of ducks, you can either live in that and believe you'll get a duck every game, or you can think positive and strive for a hundred and whilst you learn from the past, you don't dwell on it and get stuck in it. The slogan is a promotion of test cricket and if we're going to get all uptight at a play on words then God forbid what might happen when they pull on the whites for the test match.

 

[NZTailender]

I just cannot believe how people are getting their knickers in a twist over an obvious (corny) promotion of test cricket, which is bloody well needed in this country. Ryder and Taylor are black if you hadn't noticed, so its relevant that they don't seem to care.

In an ideal world (Geg said this before) what happened to black people wouldn't have happened and the offence at this wouldn't be happening. I dunno, maybe I'm too laid back, but as far as I'm concerned all the racist crap is in the past (bar a few despicable countries) and its time to move on with life, not be oversensitive about something which in no way shape or form is an insult unless you're too..what is the diplomatic word I'm looking for...narrow minded...probably not.....aha unless you live too much in the past to realise that not every mention of the word "white" is an intended degradation of the black community (still not what I was looking for but close enough). Its like a batsman thinking about a run of ducks, you can either live in that and believe you'll get a duck every game, or you can think positive and strive for a hundred and whilst you learn from the past, you don't dwell on it and get stuck in it. The slogan is a promotion of test cricket and if we're going to get all uptight at a play on words then God forbid what might happen when they pull on the whites for the test match.

Err, you're still missing the point.

I could explain it, but I already have, and we'd continue to go in circles.

 

[Flem274*]

Also, I think people are focusing a lot on simply the word 'white' and it's connection to Test cricket. The word white itself in this case really isn't the problem - it's the combination of it with the words "it's all white here" that makes it insensitive.

^So this is what you're saying I presume Geg?

The combo of the words yes, can be taken the wrong way, thats pretty clear cut. However the WI would know the context and intended meaning (presumably). Also it would be a bit hypocritical of Otago to mean the other version when they have a Chinese mayor . I just can't see how its worth getting annoyed about myself. Waste of time. Better to go shoot some neo-nazis and do the world some good.

 

[NZTailender]

I just can't see how its worth getting annoyed about myself.

Obviously, because you don't fall into the group of

"a bunch of predominantly black cricketers are coming to tour, from an area of the world with a sad history of slavery and racial segregation."

 

[silentstriker]

Anyone reminded of the South Park episode "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson"?

 

[_Ed_]

****ing ******** in the sense that during the creative process no one stopped to think, "Ok, a bunch of predominantly black cricketers are coming to tour, from an area of the world with a sad history of slavery and racial segregation. I wonder if its possible that this phrase could be interpreted in any other way..."

Yeah, sums it up pretty nicely.

Obviously it wasn't intentional, but it was really incredibly stupid.

 

[Mahindinho]

*sigh*

Cricket and race make such an intriguing mix, verging on the schizophrenic.

On the one hand, you have teams of (largely) single ethnic origins playing each other as equals, that have done so since considerably less open-minded times. Ranji, the 70s WI side, Indian spin quartet, all respected in England.

No matter the colour of the observer, ask for a list of the greatest ever cricketers and the likes of Richards, Sobers and Tendulkar will appear alongside Bradman, Hobbs and Warne. Just the first three of each that came into my head, BTW.

On the other hand, you have a battleground for conflict. A word here, a dig there, supposed slights all over the place. And that's just the minor things. Symonds vs Harbajan, D'Oliveira, the whole SA apartheid era.

The sad thing is that discrimination tends to work one way -- a white man referring to "those blacks" engenders different reactions to a black man referring to "those whites", no matter what the intentions are. Perhaps one day things will be different, but it's going to take quite some time.

So blackwash = acceptable, whereas (thankfully) "whitewash" is just a word.

You hear tales of Antipodeans being somewhat more rugged than the rest of the world regarding their words and phrases, but to use a slogan like "It's all white here" really should be considered naïve at best.

If it happened in India, perhaps it would be taken in the spirit in which it was meant, as the idea of an all-white team in India is faintly ridiculous. When the phrase is being used in a country where Caucasians dominate the sport, it's all too easy to take the wrong end of the stick. And anyone responsible for marketing should be aware of that.

Phew. That's become a bit of an epic. Sorry, folks.

On a side note, I'm always amused by people trying to use everything but skin colour in a description. Having spent years as the "token non-white" in an amateur dramatics company, I've heard tales of me being described awkwardly as "second pirate from the left" and so on, when "the Asian bloke" would have been the best possible description. The colour of my skin is a fact, so why should I take offence as it being used as a (non-derisive) description, in the same way that I might describe someone as "the blonde girl with glasses"?

 

[Langeveldt]

*sigh*

Cricket and race make such an intriguing mix, verging on the schizophrenic.

On the one hand, you have teams of (largely) single ethnic origins playing each other as equals, that have done so since considerably less open-minded times. Ranji, the 70s WI side, Indian spin quartet, all respected in England.

No matter the colour of the observer, ask for a list of the greatest ever cricketers and the likes of Richards, Sobers and Tendulkar will appear alongside Bradman, Hobbs and Warne. Just the first three of each that came into my head, BTW.

On the other hand, you have a battleground for conflict. A word here, a dig there, supposed slights all over the place. And that's just the minor things. Symonds vs Harbajan, D'Oliveira, the whole SA apartheid era.

The sad thing is that discrimination tends to work one way -- a white man referring to "those blacks" engenders different reactions to a black man referring to "those whites", no matter what the intentions are. Perhaps one day things will be different, but it's going to take quite some time.

So blackwash = acceptable, whereas (thankfully) "whitewash" is just a word.

You hear tales of Antipodeans being somewhat more rugged than the rest of the world regarding their words and phrases, but to use a slogan like "It's all white here" really should be considered naïve at best.

If it happened in India, perhaps it would be taken in the spirit in which it was meant, as the idea of an all-white team in India is faintly ridiculous. When the phrase is being used in a country where Caucasians dominate the sport, it's all too easy to take the wrong end of the stick. And anyone responsible for marketing should be aware of that.

Phew. That's become a bit of an epic. Sorry, folks.

On a side note, I'm always amused by people trying to use everything but skin colour in a description. Having spent years as the "token non-white" in an amateur dramatics company, I've heard tales of me being described awkwardly as "second pirate from the left" and so on, when "the Asian bloke" would have been the best possible description. The colour of my skin is a fact, so why should I take offence as it being used as a (non-derisive) description, in the same way that I might describe someone as "the blonde girl with glasses"?

awesome post

 

[TT Boy]

Clearly something of the storm in a teacup about this, but the phrase "It's all white here" does bring to mind the catchphrase of family entertainer/owner of swimming pool where ***ually injured corpses are discovered Michael Barrymore, so should be banned forthwith.

Funny enough isn't Barrymore now living in New Zealand?