'working like a black'

connundrum

- The Fianna Fáil Senator, Mary O'Rourke, has said criticism levelled at comments she made at a party selection convention in Mullingar in Co Westmeath last night was 'political correctness gone wrong'.

Ms O'Rourke said she would not be apologising for using the phrase 'working like a black' because she meant it in a complimentary sense about her party workers.

She also said three people she was referring to had accepted it in that manner. - taken from RTE.

This is like the 'Turkish kebab shop' comments from another prominent member of the FF party. Are we the most racist country ever?!?

- I know there is a what is racism thread but this is kinda separate.

super_furry

Interesting that both of those idiots are Fianna Fail members.

Vorsprung

tbh

eeyore's mate

connundrum wrote:

- The Fianna Fáil Senator, Mary O'Rourke, she meant it in a complimentary sense about her party workers.

Haha!! What a cop out! How long did it take her "people" to come up with that one I wonder??

Canis Lupus

It's a handy phrase cos you can put both a good or bad spin on it. Personally I reckon it's your usual storm in a teacup rubbish, it will be forgotten soon enough.

Red Alert

ah chill. political correctness is really starting to lose the run of itself - this is starting to get a bit insane. racism's a no-no but come on you lot seem the type that would ban even the use of the words master/slave in computers like a local authority in the USA did.

MorningStar

There are somethings that are no longer acceptable but no offense is meant. She should have known better but it doesn't make it a racist comment.

Stupid yes but not racist. I really think to call it racist is actually making matters worse and lessens true problems. Over compensation is just as bad

connundrum

bigjimthefirst wrote:

tbh

Sorry for repetition and feel free to take it down, I thought it would have been discussed in a more general forum though.

hullaballoo

I think she was just calling a spade a spade.

RedRaven

connundrum wrote:

- The Fianna Fáil Senator, Mary O'Rourke, has said criticism levelled at comments she made at a party selection convention in Mullingar in Co Westmeath last night was 'political correctness gone wrong'.

Ms O'Rourke said she would not be apologising for using the phrase 'working like a black' because she meant it in a complimentary sense about her party workers.

She also said three people she was referring to had accepted it in that manner. - taken from RTE.

This is like the 'Turkish kebab shop' comments from another prominent member of the FF party. Are we the most racist country ever?!?

- I know there is a what is racism thread but this is kinda separate.

Well if you break the actual saying down... to work like a black means to work very hard....Yes blacks were slaves over 200 years ago and they did work very hard as if there life depended on it in some cases Im sure... a cruel thing indeed. So to use that term work like a black can only be a compliment to the hard work being carried out by the person.

I dont see the racist side to this at all.

Infact the Irish have often been called the blacks of Europe because of the hard work they done in the past.

LovelyHurling

I couldnt believe this actually made the news, obviously a slow news day. A comment like that just meant her campaign people have been working their asses off. I've often heard it said by my parents of all people, hardly racist! Im not one to come to Fianna Fails defence under any circumstances, but I think this was just a cheap shot.

AdviseMan

When I heard it first I was thinking it was the worst thing I've ever heard...but in fairness the woman didn't mean anything racialisticismishness by it. Just a phrase of a old era which she was once part off. Some refugee groups have come out defending her. It's definetely not on a par with Ron Atkitsons(spelling?) remarks about Desailly although again given his background I think those were blown out of all proportion.

Savman

ooh I love it when they cock up

off with her head

TheVan

If it came from someone young I would have thought there might be an element of racism in there but to be honest, from her age group it is just a phrase! As a politician she should have known better though! As anyone from Athlone knows, Mary couldnt care less what you think about her.....can't believe she's a candidate again....although boxer moran aint much better....ok thats off topic!.....In short no-one under 40 should say it but people over 40 should get an allowance!

Kingmaker

Ah yes! It seems we would rather have our politicians be old and very stupid than have them be racist.

The mind boggles

LovelyHurling

Yes, actually!

Savman

nope, old, stoopid AND racist

Sifo

big deal.... if they were burning a cross.. and wearing a white cloak then maybe theyre racist... why do white people sh*te on so much about racism.. Ireland hasn't got a lot of racist people, just a serious amount of dumb people...

connundrum

Sifo wrote:

Ireland hasn't got a lot of racist people, just a serious amount of dumb people...

I would tend to agree with that, and I'd point out that practically no one is given an adequate amount of media training which would help them not to make stupid comments!

rubadub

depends on your definition of racist, one could be "a person with a prejudiced belief that one race is superior to others", seems she could be seen as a racist by inferring that her team worked like blacks, i.e. if they had worked like whites they wouldnt have done so well, whites being lazy-ass crackers and all
If she had said "they worked like whites" she would have been in more trouble.

stevenmu

TheVan wrote:

In short no-one under 40 should say it but people over 40 should get an allowance!

Are you implying that people over 40 are less able to move with the times, or are less capable of racism than younger people ? Surely that's ageist :v:

Victor

A guy I used to work with said he had no problem employing foreigners, once they weren't black. He had spent time in South Africa in the 1960s and wasn't satisfied with the poor work ethic of black workers there. I presume that had something to do with black South Africans doing most/all of the hard work and white South Africans gaining most/all of the benefit. Not only was there legislative discrimination there was political, educational, social and economic discrimination.

So 'working like a black' can have a serious negative connotation.

TheVan

stevenmu wrote:

Are you implying that people over 40 are less able to move with the times, or are less capable of racism than younger people ? Surely that's ageist :v:

No implication....its there! People of a certain age disposition will be more likely to be set in their ways.....40 was an arbitrary age cos its double my age!

spurious

It's like all those ingrained racist phrases, about mean Jews, dirty arabs, etc. The fact that someone says it betrays a fundamental racism acknowledged or not. The fact that some people think it is an OK phrase to use beggars belief.

Never mind though, the FF sheep will ensure she tops the poll.
Baa.

Heinrich

spurious wrote:

The fact that some people think it is an OK phrase to use beggars belief.

Never mind though, the FF sheep will ensure she tops the poll.
Baa.

Beggars are also entitled to their dignity! Why do you use thyat phrase? Different strokes to different folks.

PC overboard...

Wertz

Had to laugh at this on the radio this morning since I did the exact same thing whilst working in the US...was on a building site one saturday morning with some other Irish lads, and we had a sh*t load to get done and also wanted to get away to the beach that afternoon, so I was organising jobs for each of the crew and turned round and said something along the lines of;

"Ah come on lads, let's get started...we're gonna have to work like blacks if we wnat to get away at lunchtime"

To my shock and surprise. standing in the room behind me are four black guys pissing themselves laughing...they saw the funny side of it (must be the accent) but I was embarassed as hell and apologised.

Fact is the phrase is a figure of speech...albeit with racist roots, but it's still a phrase in common usage by people of a certain generation and above.
This PC sh*t has got to stop...what african is really going to be offended by this? Seems to me that the only ones getting offended about this are white Irish, with nothing better to be doing...

Fair enough, O Rourke is a politician (whom I have little time for, or her party) and should prolly watch her speech a little more closely, but it was a turn of phrase...nothing more.

spurious

It is a verb, not a noun, nothing to do with beggars (presuming you're not just trolling).

Beggar: To exceed the limits, resources, or capabilities of.

neacy69

tbh i don't think that comment was too far out of control...v.stupid to use a comment about black people in a country which has lost the run of itself with all this political correctness bullsh*t but certainly not racist....it could in fact be taken as a compliment to the coloured people of the irish community saying that they work very hard unlike some of the lazy arseholes in the country who lay around all week only to get up to buy more drugs or collect their dole cheque on a wednesday..............

Heinrich

spurious wrote:

It is a verb, not a noun, nothing to do with beggars (presuming you're not just trolling).

Beggar: To exceed the limits, resources, or capabilities of.

beg·gar ( P ) Pronunciation Key (bgr)
n.
One who solicits alms for a living.
An impoverished person; a pauper.
Informal. A man or a boy.

tr.v. beg·gared, beg·gar·ing, beg·gars
To make a beggar of; impoverish.
To exceed the limits, resources, or capabilities of: beauty that beggars description.


But many thanks for the English lesson!

connundrum

No doubt most anti-racist groups will now blacklist her.. heh heh heh. Just heard that on Newstalk. Basically it breaks down to the intent doesn't it? She didn't intend to offend.. I think the situation has gone that far that she must apologise to save some face, but it should be left alone then.

Gazza22

connundrum wrote:

This is like the 'Turkish kebab shop' comments from another prominent member of the FF party. Are we the most racist country ever?!?
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Yes bit of a trend on the wrong choice of words, since Mr. Lenihan, responsible for that comment is Mary O'Rourke's nephew

No we aren't the most racist country ever, i'm not saying "working like a black" is a good term, but it is a phrase that i have heard many people using and it is merely a figure of speech....though it was a wrong phrase to be using by the unfortunate Ms. O'Rourke who i think had not bad intentions behind it.

The look on her face when she realized what she said is penance enough imo