The effort by some Left-leaning blacks to make a racial issue out of the Winter Olympics continues. The remarks by Bryant Gumbel are well known and now we read this as the very beginning of a comment on the games:
"These Winter Olympics, oh, how white they are! And I'm not talking about the snow."
Blacks do very well in some sports and athletic events so what is wrong with whites doing well in some other sports and athletic events? Let's have more white sprinters in America's next Olympic team! It's obviously racism that keeps them out at the moment!
"Boy" Incorrect
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision says that using the term "boy" could be discriminatory.
"The decision makes sense to Kay Dickey, a Montgomery attorney who practices employment discrimination law. She said in the South the term "boy" is derogatory toward blacks. She said the term shouldn't be used in the workplace".
Source
The court recognized that it all depended on the tone of voice etc. So pity help you if you ever use the word while you are in a bad mood! But how pathetic that such things as tone of voice can now be the subject of court cases in the highest courts of the land! One would think there were much bigger things to worry about.
There is an extended comment on how dangerous the word has now become here
Reference to Minority Politics Incorrect
In Australia, as in the USA, the major party of the Left (the Labor Party) gets particularly strong support from minorities -- though the minorities concerned in Australia differ from those in the USA. Apparently, however, it is incorrect to refer to that. Tony Abbott, a minister in Australia's conservative government, was speaking of the sources of support for a prominent Leftist legislator when he said:
"I'm reading in The Australian last Friday, he's (Mr Crean) still got the Greek branches but he's lost the Spanish branches and he's lost the Vietnamese branches as well as the Cambodian branches. "And I couldn't help but think - are there any Australians left in the so-called Australian Labor Party today?"
Source
He was forced to withdraw his remarks on the grounds that they were derogatory to minorities but it is not at all clear why. If certain minorities have a lot of influence in a political party, is that demeaning to them? It could just as well be a compliment to their hard work and committment.
The argument no doubt is that you can be a good Australian even if you or your parents were born elsewhere -- and that is no doubt true -- but if you want to be regarded as simply an Australian, why band together as groups of Vietnamese Australians, Cambodian Australians etc.? To act ethnic without wanting to be regarded as ethnic is wanting to have your cake and eat it too.
I think the minister was perfectly within his rights to question how many members of the Labor Party identified as simply Australian. I am pleased to note that many American blacks (though not of course all) identify themselves as simply Americans. If they can do that so can any minority.
