John Terry Again

And there lies the problem…..he used racist language but says he is not a racist

Does this mean if you use a racist word on the odd occasion in the heat of the moment but wouldn’t dream of using said racist words day to day you are a racist?
Some will think yes and some will think no….
I have on a few occasions sustained racist abuse in the chat room…but when I have complained I have been accused of “using the race card”….that has been said to me just because I dared speak up and defend myself…all because some chatters thought what was said to me wasn’t racist…my opinion often differed from theirs….well it would wouldn’t it?
The police actually ask when taking statements if verbal racist abuse was a racial attack…..still all said and done the one thing I am proud of is…

I have never felt the need to be racially abusive back and neither have my kids

Mmmmmmm?

If I was being positive about it I would say, he had issues with the guy he yelled at, he used racially charged terms, what he said was therefore racist, but his close friends reckon he’s a good guy, who doesn’t go around abusing people.

That sounds possible to me. He’s apologised for saying something he shouldn’t have and he’s going to try harder in the future.

In a world where racist abuse often leads to the victim’s life being ruined or someone being beaten up in the street, a major public figure has made a public admission of wrong-doing and a public apology. That’s not a bad outcome.

OK it was a bit long in coming, but we are where we are.

8)

@kent f OBE wrote:

I agree with you Momes….personally I don’t think JT is a racist……he certainly used inappropriate language and is paying for it…if he had come across a Ginger haired person would he have ranted abuse relevant to that person….ie the immediate obvious thing? We will never know
However having said that….why couldn’t he have called him a fucking stupid tvvat or somthing without referring to his colour? Again I don’t know….those offensive words did come out of his mouth…im my earlier post I did say that that even when I have had racial abuse thrown at me I have NEVER retaliated with similar back……..ie you honkey or white trash….are those words offensive or are there worse words used against white people?
I had to report an incident once…theft…and I was asked what the person said blah blah I said…blah blah p@ki….I was then asked if this was a racial attack…….and I said no….the person was ignorant, uneducated and the only way they thought they could get to me was making me feel small by calling me names….the person was a thief

The trouble is, when passions are roused words come to mind which we might never use otherwise and we all probably have some taboo area into which we stray. The words we use might not come from our essential character but maybe from something ingrained from key experiences.

However Terry was in a professionally ‘normal’ situation. His failure to deal with it ‘professionally’ reflects upon him and upon his profession.

Having said that: is there a way to remove instinctual reactions from life completely without moving towards sociopathy?

@jen_jen wrote:

OK I’m struggling with something here…how can someone deliberately use racially offensive language with the intention to provoke, antogonise or belittle yet not be considered a racist?

I started something wordy and learned (lol), but in short, I can crawl, growl and bark without being a dog, but is my behaviour dog-like? Yes, even when unconvincing.

As to intent, it is less important to me than impact. I think it’s possible to display racism (sexism or anything else) without intending to as it remains to some extent or other in language and other aspects of culture. But that doesn’t stop words from wounding harshly and destroying trust and confidence.

Add conflict, mob culture, shock reactions, drink/drugs and degrees of passion and it’s quite possible for words and behaviour to be out of character but racist in themselves.

However, in my opinion, John Terry was in a professional situation where he is being highly paid to be professional. People on far less money than him would be heavily disciplined for the language he used, even if it seemed unavoidable at the time. So even if it was out of character, some form of discipline and apology was definitely called for.