Julian Cope presents Head Heritage

Oh yes, so you were. That someone who objects to all inceidences of racist language has 'a skin too few and a sociology O level'.

How very helpful to the discussion, and my, how it makes you bathed in the golden light of approval. Now everyone who disagreed with you earlier on agrees, and those of us who were still having intelligent debate have decided that it's all over.

Again, I'd suggest thinking before you post.

No - a point about how easy it is to be offensive - and how those who look for offense can easily find it. you helped me prove my point - thanks

Yeah I know the roots of the expression but it is also used by whites in the manner I speak of, and that's what I'm referring to.

No - but I think you need an IQ higher than mine to get much out of it (and that's coming from someone who enjoyed "Ulysses"). I get the impression it'as one of those books for which you have to learn all the correct punctuation first, and then unlearn it.

So now you are suggesting that I was looking for offense when suggesting to my father that we explain to my grandad that he was being racist? Or am I misinterpreting you?

I don't see what merited your response suggesting that my father would have taken the piss, joke or no joke. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I think all you have proven is that you fail to understand the nature (or seriousness) of racism, and don't much care anyway. From my point of view, to ignore even minor racist comments is to allow racism to fester and grow in our society.

Personally - i think that the older generations racism is beyond curing - it is a cancer that has spread to far into their very being and the only cure is death (I am not advocating murder of racists, for the easily shocked, i am saying that their racism will end with their deaths). For some of the older generation casual racism is inbred. When my grandad was near the end in hospital he said to me "they got a black nurse looking after me - i was a bit worried, but she's alright".
His surprise that a black nurse could be anything other than inferior was amusing, sad and a lesson learned too late.
We accept racism in our elders aa they accept the bed wetting of children - they know no better and bollocking them for it is counter productive. you are going to upset your elderly relative and not change them. So, well done - to make your self feel better an old man with not a lot of idea about what he has done wrong is upset.
Ok, end of rant. for now

I was joking there Mr Vooje, based on the notorious rep of FW as a proper language mangler. Holy fuckbuckets, I'm the last person that would actually, really take such a work to task for punctuation. Twas a poor joke told poorly and I was just making light of it's rep and regard as a classic within the literarti orthodoxy and how that's pretty ironic considering its pulverising of form. x

Did you actually read my other post? If so, you will have noticed that my other grandad did see the error of his racism late in life (he was over 70), and became stridently anti-racist in his later years. But only after my mum and I talked to him about it. This kind of ruins your argument, don't you think? To assume that older people can't think is very negative and rather age-ist. Try to think of them as human beings, it helps. And I wasn't doing it to "make myself feel better" - what an insult to my intelligence. I was doing it precisely because I think that racism is hateful and should be sought out and removed (like the cancer you yourself describe it as) whereever possible.