Prejudice in all it's Glory.

[EireEmerald]

Is calling a French person a "frog" to be considered offensive? An Irish person Paddy? Pakki? I won't even ask about "".

I have many English friends who are very dear to me and I have noticed that, especially one in particular whom i visited recently for a week in Bristol that, no matter how good a friendship you have with them, many of my english friends seem to have a need to bring Ireland down or at least bring me down about my irishness. Now I have also noticed that usually the ones that are like this are the ones that spent most or a lot of their life in Ireland and are now going to university in England. I very very rarely ever discuss their Britishness in a negative way so why do they feel the need to do so with me. Ocassionally we have political debates
( usually when we are under the influence) about British and irish history and general British politics like the BNP and what not.
Do you think calling and irishman a " Paddy" and reffering to the famine in jokes is a step too far with friends, especially with people whose family in particular was badly affected , or just bringing Ireland down in general for no particular reason? Some of my Anglo/ Irish friends have pointed out that even they are offended by what some of my mates are saying about the irish, even my English friends' English friends are quite suprised! Anyway, it has been really bothering me lately. This topic doesn't just apply to British and irish people but on the topic of discrimination and prejudice in general.

My English friends has told me to stick up for myself more when he says these things and says sometimes he is just a , but I generally don't like slagging of my friends especially in a personal way .

[Noodlegasm]

a negative is a positive with friend's were i live, you slag each other off but are best chum's.

just do it back

[The Dude]

A friend of mine has a german father and we call him "ing german" all the time. He laughs at it just as hard as we do.

The famine is of course a sensitive issue though, I understand that. But I think some joking about ethnicities/nationalities should be ok.

[Guy]

I had a post very, very similar to this. I used to get called "Nazi" or such at school, it soon died down and people simply refer to me as "German".
(I'm German but live in England).
It's tough but you have to understand what it's like to be in the position of the reciever, depending on how old you are too can change your views and opinions.

[EireEmerald]

A friend of mine has a german father and we call him "ing german" all the time. He laughs at it just as hard as we do.

The famine is of course a sensitive issue though, I understand that. But I think some joking about ethnicities/nationalities should be ok.

I am alright with just friendly banter but it sometimes feels like more than that. It hurts sometimes because this guy in particular is my mate. Some of my other mates are angry with him now because of how anti-Irish he is, he called me his " Irish pet " once in a joke, but I just laugh at that kind of stuff, but it is just said over and over and over again. I still hang out with him because I like to see his good points and ignore the rest. But it is hard sometimes.

He sometimes uses the excuse of " I was teased about my englishness back in Ireland" but he was more teased because of his difficult personality. There were other English guys there who were just as popular as the Catholic/ Irish students ( It was a protestant/ Catholic school which drew English families living in Irelnad to send their children )

[Kamos]

Me and my friends rip on each other all the time about these sort of things, it's all in jest though.

As it goes (jokingly):
I have Scottish and Irish ancestry so I'm a degenerate drunk
I have a buddy with Jewish ancestry so he's money grubbing and condescending
Another friend who has French ancestry so he is excessively feminine and likes his lovin' on a stick
So on and so forth...

I don't see anything wrong with poking fun like that as long as you don't really mean anything hurtful by it.

[EireEmerald]

Me and my friends rip on each other all the time about these sort of things, it's all in jest though.

As it goes (jokingly):
I have Scottish and Irish ancestry so I'm a degenerate drunk
I have a buddy with Jewish ancestry so he's money grubbing and condescending
Another friend who has French ancestry so he is excessively feminine and likes his lovin' on a stick
So on and so forth...

I don't see anything wrong with poking fun like that as long as you don't really mean anything hurtful by it.

That stuff is alright with me, being called a drunk, but what about constantly bringing down ones country, comparing to other more established countries like britain who have much more of a solid foundation in terms of wealth.

We were on a bus once and we were talking about Ireland and Britain and the Lisbon treaty and general irish politics, he was talking at the top of his voice so everyone on the bus could hear. When we got off an old woman and her husband got off, they were irish. He start giving out to my friend and was very very angry, I forget exactly what she said but I agreed with her on a few points. He didn't like admitting he was wrong x)

[Treize]

It is quite funny, as long you know what is true and untrue...

[Muagan_ra]

Oh how my English friends delight in my colloquial accent, and how my English non-friends seem to think that I bear responsibility for the Manchester bombing. When asked about my politics, I explain my "Irish Republican" position, only for people to cunningly retort "What you doin' over 'ere then?"

It's mystifying, really.

English society seems endemically racist, or at the very least extremely conscious of race. I say "racist", but not goose-stepping-lets-send-them-to-camps racist, just filled with this sense of superiority, if ever so slight. I fully expect every English person here to descend upon this thread with angry rebuttles, but I don't care; it's what I've experienced, and that makes what I'm saying absolutely and completely true, because I can't debate on a foundation of non-experience. There are exceptions to the rule, obviously, people whom I'm glad to know, but variations do not alter the rule.

I know it's frequently thought of as "friendly ribbing", and that would be alright if it wheren't so ever-present in most day-to-day conversation. To be frank, when your State has presided over the wholesale slaughter of thousands of someone elses people, it's in poor taste to behave like that - but then again, English people are nothing if not unknowledgeable about the recent history of their neighbours.

I like England, but this is an aspect of it that I find uncomfortable.

[EireEmerald]

Oh how my English friends delight in my colloquial accent, and how my English non-friends seem to think that I bear responsibility for the Manchester bombing. When asked about my politics, I explain my "Irish Republican" position, only for people to cunningly retort "What you doin' over 'ere then?"

It's mystifying, really.

English society seems endemically racist, or at the very least extremely conscious of race. I say "racist", but not goose-stepping-lets-send-them-to-camps racist, just filled with this sense of superiority, if ever so slight. I fully expect every English person here to descend upon this thread with angry rebuttles, but I don't care; it's what I've experienced, and that makes what I'm saying absolutely and completely true, because I can't debate on a foundation of non-experience. There are exceptions to the rule, obviously, people whom I'm glad to know, but variations do not alter the rule.

I know it's frequently thought of as "friendly ribbing", and that would be alright if it wheren't so ever-present in most day-to-day conversation. To be frank, when your State has presided over the wholesale slaughter of thousands of someone elses people, it's in poor taste to behave like that - but then again, English people are nothing if not unknowledgeable about the recent history of their neighbours.

I like England, but this is an aspect of it that I find uncomfortable.

A view shared by Dylan Moran as well. I completely agree. I have already said many of my friends are Enhlish or Anglo irish but this is something that I have noticed over a long time with them. Also, my friends who are half irish half english usually find it quite offensive as well but are usually quite torn in an argument about irish history and Britain. I told my friends how I felt about famine jokes, I told him so many times that it really pissed me off, even his English friends went quiet. It just enrages me, like a collective empathy with the discrimination Irish people in general have been victim to, like an atavistic understanding, half expecting to hear " Dirty Paddy! " walking down a street. Some Irish people I know just ignore it or try to or just tell that person to off but this guy is my friend. I am dissapointed that he does not mutually recognise that I am his friend and I think that he genuinely cannot help himself. The worst part of it all was some of his English friends joined in thinking it was funny.

Then when he realises he has done wrong he immedietly shoot back to " oh but i love the irish, as a people" and then say something like " they just can't run their country "

When I told him about nearly half of my family dying during the famine he still continued to make famine jokes, and really really bad ones at that.

Anyways, it pissed me off. But the topic in general is more important than what happened to just me.

[Markas]

Maugan_Ra and Eire Emerald, you seem to have alot of English friends. How many English people live in Ireland?

[EireEmerald]

Maugan_Ra and Eire Emerald, you seem to have alot of English friends. How many English people live in Ireland?

Well I was particularily exposed to English people going to a protestant/ Catholic school. British families living in Ireland sent their children there. And the answer is about 3% if not less.

[Markas]

Well I was particularily exposed to English people going to a protestant/ Catholic school. British families living in Ireland sent their children there. And the answer is about 3% if not less.

At school? That hardly counts, especially as it was in Ireland (I assume). You must have experianced a great voulme of prejudice if the population of Ireland is 3% English. That 3% must be some sort of group stuck in the 1950's.

[EireEmerald]

At school? That hardly counts, especially as it was in Ireland (I assume). You must have experianced a great voulme of prejudice if the population of Ireland is 3% English. That 3% must be some sort of group stuck in the 1950's.

I visited them and thier families and friends in England quite a bit. One of my friends is particulariy patriotic and anti Irish, but then again he is ant - a lot of things.

[Mr. Pink]

I slag my mate for being an ethnic minority all the time.

[Xen]

I get called a sheep shagger but mates sometimes, I dont really care though, and I'd say it's more offensive than Paddy.

I have a huge ass welsh flag on my back, and in the army it got me the name welshy.

[S-te-Fan]

Frogs? You watched Sharpe? You've seen Patty the irish and Hans the prussian ?

[EireEmerald]

I get called a sheep shagger but mates sometimes, I dont really care though, and I'd say it's more offensive than Paddy.

I have a huge ass welsh flag on my back, and in the army it got me the name welshy.

Paddy has been used fir a very very long time. It symbolises Irish discrimination. It isn't as bad as " niggr" but it is very offensive to some people.

Another that pisses me off is when people bring up the Catholic priest issue when you are Irish as if every Irish priest is a full time pedofile.

[Player44]

I, even though I'm not Jewish, live in a predominantly Jewish community, and I joke with my friends all the time about how he's a greedy douche. I get told that I love eating dog (I'm Vietnamese), or I'm a pussy (I'm French). It's just messing around.

[Markas]

Paddy has been used fir a very very long time. It symbolises Irish discrimination. It isn't as bad as " niggr" but it is very offensive to some people.

Bollocks. Is calling a scot 'jock' as bad as calling a black person ?. 'Paddy', being a diminuative of patrick or padraig, is apparently only seen by overly-sensitive and victimhood Irish people as discriminatory. I don't particularly like being called a Limey by Americans but I'm a grown-up and don't see it as some sort of vendetta for 1776. Frankly, if you find being called 'paddy' hard to take you are going to cry many many tears into your pillow in the coming years.

Another that pisses me off is when people bring up the Catholic priest issue when you are Irish as if every Irish priest is a full time pedofile.

I find this very hard to believe.