Speaking as a long-haired person, I think it would be sensible to position a name badge where it isn't hidden by hair, or the hair where it doesn't hide the badge. That's just plain common sense when visiting places where you need to wear visible ID. However the person who wanted to see the badge should have asked, not touched someone's hair.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
I am mostly resident in France and I'm regularly asked where I'm from and often in detail. I don't take offense. It's not an insult. Having just watched the film "Schindler's List" the whole thing seems incredibly trivial in comparison. More than 6 times the population of Norfolk, 6000,000 Jews were killed in WW2. So horribly sad and unjust, words can't cover it. I think racism is so picked on and pointed out nowadays it almost makes it worse. Why on earth can't people just accept that people are people whatever colour or race they are without making such a fuss about it?
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Prince William's Godmother apparently @Fairygirl, she has done the right thing and stepped down from her duties.
What P's me off though is the press claiming this reflects badly on Prince William. This lady was a friend/associate of Camilla. I don't expect William had any input into the choice of his Godmother.
The question which has apparently caused such offence was along the lines of "Where are you from?" A question which is and of itself not in the least unreasonable irrespective of the colour of the questioner or the person being asked. I was asked precisely the same question during a coffee break a meeting because the person asking the question couldn't decipher my accent. Was I wrong not to take offence? I didn't because my accent is very mixed due to living all over the place when my Dad was in the RAF, and the fact that I pick up on accents very quickly and, although I generally don't realise it, my speech picks up on the accents of those around me.
I'm also interested in the origin of names at my materal grandfather's name is Scandinavian origin, although spelling is Anglicised. I have on occasion asked somebody if they know where the name originated. Is that a racist question? Not to me it isn't, but I'm sure somebody would scream blue murder if they heard me ask the question. I agree with @Busy-Lizzie.
Prince William's Godmother apparently @Fairygirl, she has done the right thing and stepped down from her duties.
What P's me off though is the press claiming this reflects badly on Prince William. This lady was a friend/associate of Camilla. I don't expect William had any input into the choice of his Godmother.
The question which has apparently caused such offence was along the lines of "Where are you from?" A question which is and of itself not in the least unreasonable irrespective of the colour of the questioner or the person being asked. I was asked precisely the same question during a coffee break a meeting because the person asking the question couldn't decipher my accent. Was I wrong not to take offence? I didn't because my accent is very mixed due to living all over the place when my Dad was in the RAF, and the fact that I pick up on accents very quickly and, although I generally don't realise it, my speech picks up on the accents of those around me.
I'm also interested in the origin of names at my materal grandfather's name is Scandinavian origin, although spelling is Anglicised. I have on occasion asked somebody if they know where the name originated. Is that a racist question? Not to me it isn't, but I'm sure somebody would scream blue murder if they heard me ask the question. I agree with @Busy-Lizzie.
Again, why the assumption that accent played a part here? Ms Fulani said she's British, born in the UK. I've obviously not heard her speak but why assume that she has anything other than a British accent? It wasn't just one question, it was a sustained series of questions, insisting on asking where her people were from and each answer she gave was deemed insufficient.
Just to cheer up the curmudgeons a bit, can you imagine the misfortune of growing a strawberry plant from seed for six months.. only to now question why the leaves are 'stingy'? I really enjoyed seeing their carefully crafted cane support system.
Personally, I don't think that's enough. She should be made to fully apologise for her disgraceful comments to that woman.
It's odd - I took the opposite view. I still can't see what is
racist in asking somebody where they're from. It was just a person
making conversation.
I make an assumption here - you have
a Scottish accent (like the woman in this case also had traits that
meant her ancestry wasn't English) - If you moved to London @Fairygirl
and decades later were at a Palace do, would you really take umbrage, if the person you
were talking to said '...where are you from...' picking up ion your
accent? Would that be racist?
If my
parents/grand-parents/... had for some reason gone to China or wherever,
where it was obvious I wasn't from that country, and someone asked me,
in a city in that country, '..where are you from...' I may have
misunderstood the real meaning of the question and replied as the woman
did, but once I realised what they were asking, why wouldn't I just
reply with how my family came to be there? What is/was the issue?
I
must be appalling - I have worked with people whose origins were
Chinese, African, Indian, Thai, American.... and always I have been
asked and I have asked at some point 'where are you from'. Never had an issue.
Why is it OK to pick up on sound but not visual things?
I worked with a Guillermo Turner and Peter Spielmann in Argentina - 'Bill' Turner was from Wales (or his family were) and Peter was from German extraction. I asked. They told me. I asked because their names implied something. Was that racist? They asked me where I was from - where they being racist?
The point is - she kept banging on...and on...and on, when the lady had already explained where she was from. She should have been asked about the vital work she was doing. Read the full story. I think some of you are missing the point.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I did read the story. I don't think the answers were very clear to an elderly lady who could well have been just interested. Aristocratic elderly ladies often speak in a rather abrupt barking sort of way. Maybe she was a bit deaf too. I think a mountain was made of a molehill. That British journalist beaten up in China by Chinese police is far more shocking.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
Fair enough. I'm clearly in the minority. I personally think the Royals need to take a long hard look at who they're still employing and in what role. Some of them are clearly still living in the 18th century. I'm more appalled that we still have to campaign against the abuse of women and young girls..... I take my hat off to that woman and her organisation.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Posts
It wasn't just one question, it was a sustained series of questions, insisting on asking where her people were from and each answer she gave was deemed insufficient.
I worked with a Guillermo Turner and Peter Spielmann in Argentina - 'Bill' Turner was from Wales (or his family were) and Peter was from German extraction. I asked. They told me. I asked because their names implied something. Was that racist? They asked me where I was from - where they being racist?
Read the full story.
I think some of you are missing the point.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I'm more appalled that we still have to campaign against the abuse of women and young girls.....
I take my hat off to that woman and her organisation.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...