During the Grand Prix this weekend, commentator Martin Brundle quipped to Bernie Ecclestone that "some pikeys are out resurfacing the road" following, I dunno, something going wrong with the track. Now I hope you're thinking what I'm thinking - he said pikeys?! This has, unsurprisingly, caused something of a stir, with people questioning whether the term is a racial slur. Just to clarify - it is. This word is hugely derogatory, and labels an entire ethnic group as undesirable. Unsurprisingly, a Daily Mail columnist doesn't agree - claiming that if we can't say pikey, then the same goes for words like hippy, hoodie, Sloane, tinker, chav etc etc. So what he's basically saying is that we absolutely have to judge and insult people. I'd question why such awful generalisations are at all necessary, but he's writing for the Daily Mail, which without its life force of prejudice would literally turn to dust in your hands.
Verbally insulting travelling communities is seen as the acceptable face of racism, and far too many people throw the word around in a way that generally alludes to people being below society. It's quite possible that people don't know that it refers to Roma communities, but ignorance isn't an excuse. The same goes for people who swallow media reports of travellers being disruptive and unpleasant. My view is that there probably are people in travelling communities who act inappropriately, but only because there are jerks like that in every social group. I've met people from travelling communites, they were intelligent, ambitious and welcoming - but that's not even the point. You shouldn't have to meet a nice traveller to think about not using racial slurs. I have never felt the need to generalise about any group - I wish other people felt the same. Anyway, to the fact:
The term 'pikey' comes from the phrase 'turnpike traveller'.
Well, that was all a bit heavy, so a little Apprentice chat to round it off. How on Earth did Lee win? He looked a bit confused when it was announced - he wanted it so bad, he just couldn't want it any harder, and ended up looking like he didn't really want it at all. I give him six months - though to be honest, I thought his chances had been blown when he chose to give a presentation about a guy called Wyan, who wore a fwagwance called Woolette...
1 comment:
It's a bit weird really, while racism on the whole is generally becoming far less acceptable (as of course it should have done some several thousand years ago), there are a few pockets of.. ahem "acceptable racism" that as far as I can tell will never go away. English vs. the French is a prime example. I cannot for the life of me understand why, in 2008, saying "well, I think the French are alright, really," puts you in a tiny minority. This is why I'm backing France for Euro 2008 - as a form of weird rebellion - or maybe I'm just standing up for common decency. Sorry if that was rambling and incoherent - It's 2am and I'm a bit tipsy. Keep up the good work!
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