| Coloured Comments |
May 19, 2008 12:59 am
Mood: Annoyed, 807 Views | I deliberately avoided everyone this weekend since I wanted to take a break from all the petty bitching that seems even more rampant than normal.
Yet, someone managed to locate me and called me over the mobile.
She was looking for a team for a big show later in the year and was asking my opinion on the line-up. We were discussing the merits, advantages and synergy between a few combinations of dancers, when this supposedly well-travelled and educated dancer asked,
"We need to make it politically correct. So how about Z? We need a blackie."
My jaw dropped as I tried not to drop my mobile.
There was a deep silence before she asked me what I thought again. And I very icily and curtly told her that she should be careful how she uses her words as it would definitely offend not only Z but a lot of people.
She had the audacity to claim that English was not her first language and she was just trying for some flippant humour that was not meant to be racist.
I just replied that that would seem like a poor excuse to many people. Pleading language barrier and humour in some cases is a cop-out. Malice and poor manners are hard to disguise, whatever language you couch them in.
I ended the conversation very quickly, pleading another call.
I may not like what Z does on a professional basis but no one has the right to attack her on such a personal and unjustifiably bigoted platform.
I also told the poor excuse for a human being on the phone that I was too busy to work with her this year. I did not add, or any other year.
Far from the madding crowd ... is it such a difficult dream? | |
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