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View Full Version : That's quite a feat of political correctness

Axxon
06-11-2007, 12:45 AM
I was just watching the local news and they were talking about a car race and they said the winning driver was "an african american from England."

OK. Political correct speech or not, I wonder why even bother. The guys race had zero relevance to the story. It seems really odd.
Eaglesfan27
06-11-2007, 12:58 AM
He's the first African American ever to win that class of racing (F1 I think.) I imagine that was part of the reason they mentioned his race.
LionsFan10
06-11-2007, 01:09 AM
So, I guess that means he won two races then ...
Axxon
06-11-2007, 01:10 AM
Gotcha. It's unfortunate though that we don't really have a better way to identify a brit than by calling him an american.
M GO BLUE!!!
06-11-2007, 01:10 AM
He's the first African American ever to win that class of racing (F1 I think.) I imagine that was part of the reason they mentioned his race.

Umm... wouldn't being African-American require having been not only of African decent, but something to do with America?

Next, we will be dearing all about the African-Americans in Africa... :D
M GO BLUE!!!
06-11-2007, 01:13 AM
I forgot to mention how one time on the Tonight Show, Jay Leno showed a news story where the copy editor had called a sedan used in a bank robbery "African-American."

Hey... I just realized that my socks and underwear are also "African-American." Cool!
Axxon
06-11-2007, 01:16 AM
I forgot to mention how one time on the Tonight Show, Jay Leno showed a news story where the copy editor had called a sedan used in a bank robbery "African-American."

Hey... I just realized that my socks and underwear are also "African-American." Cool!

In that case its definitely time to wash the underwear.
EagleFan
06-11-2007, 01:22 AM
He's the first African American ever to win that class of racing (F1 I think.) I imagine that was part of the reason they mentioned his race.

England became the 51st state? :D
Axxon
06-11-2007, 01:24 AM
Hey, maybe he's FROM England but moved to America. That would make him an African American from England wouldn't it?
Eaglesfan27
06-11-2007, 01:58 AM
I blame it on being a bit tired - I didn't even think how odd it is that a Brit is being called an African American.
JeeberD
06-11-2007, 05:40 AM
OMG, ESPN.com used the "b" word to describe him. Let's get them!!!1!
RPI-Fan
06-11-2007, 08:28 AM
Hey, maybe he's FROM England but moved to America. That would make him an African American from England wouldn't it?

No, he's lived in Britian his whole life. In fact, it gets even worse (PC-wise).

His grandparents are from Grenada (in the Caribbean). So, he's neither African NOR American.
Telle
06-11-2007, 08:51 AM
No, he's lived in Britian his whole life. In fact, it gets even worse (PC-wise).

His grandparents are from Grenada (in the Caribbean). So, he's neither African NOR American.

His grandparents being from Grenada does not rule out him being of African decent.. you'd just have to go further back.
MrDNA
06-11-2007, 10:00 AM
Caribbean-English then? Would anyone know what was being said then?
BrianD
06-11-2007, 10:00 AM
So he's really an African-Grenadan-British-American? Or is he an African-American-Grenadan-Brit?
Telle
06-11-2007, 10:03 AM
I'm thinking African-Caribbean-Brit... maybe.
BrianD
06-11-2007, 10:05 AM
I was just watching the local news and they were talking about a car race and they said the winning driver was "an african american from England."

OK. Political correct speech or not, I wonder why even bother. The guys race had zero relevance to the story. It seems really odd.

Assuming the reporter knew what he/she was saying, it is pretty sad that they have to be willing to sound foolish rather than accidentally say something not PC and get fired over it.
Warhammer
06-11-2007, 10:23 AM
So are there African-Americans in Africa?
FrogMan
06-11-2007, 10:34 AM
So are there African-Americans in Africa?


yes there are, except they are called American-Africans over there. :D

FM
BrianD
06-11-2007, 10:39 AM
So are there African-Americans in Africa?

I would imagine that American news people would call them that.

So what is an acceptable term these days? I thought we can come all the way back around to having "black" be acceptable again. Is this not the case?
Ksyrup
06-11-2007, 10:45 AM
The irony of this whole thing is that I've never seen the guy before, but judging from the small pic on the front page of ESPN.com, I'd have never guessed he was black. He loooks Latino/Hispanic to me.
BrianD
06-11-2007, 10:50 AM
The irony of this whole thing is that I've never seen the guy before, but judging from the small pic on the front page of ESPN.com, I'd have never guessed he was black. He loooks Latino/Hispanic to me.

All the more reason to just describe the driver as "from England".
Ksyrup
06-11-2007, 10:58 AM
Well, I'm not going to get into whether or not it's a notable achievement and whether his race should be specifically mentioned. I'm just saying that it's funny to me, given the number of ways the guy could be described, that the one way he's meant to be described that would resonate with a specific population in America, he doesn't immediately fit the description on first glance.
Desnudo
06-11-2007, 11:00 AM
Why not just say: English-African? If we're going with the hyphens, that sounds accurate to me. Basically, your newscaster is not very bright.
BrianD
06-11-2007, 11:10 AM
Well, I'm not going to get into whether or not it's a notable achievement and whether his race should be specifically mentioned. I'm just saying that it's funny to me, given the number of ways the guy could be described, that the one way he's meant to be described that would resonate with a specific population in America, he doesn't immediately fit the description on first glance.

Oh come on, this board hasn't errupted around that debate in at least two weeks. :)
Oilers9911
06-11-2007, 11:47 AM
A little OT but did you see the Robert Kubica crash in the same Canadian Grand Prix? Guy has a broken leg but it could have been much worse.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=axVawlEBiRA&mode=related&search=
JediKooter
06-11-2007, 12:38 PM
African American from England, huh?? Boy, really rubbing it in from that little misunderstanding back in the late 1700s.
-Mojo Jojo-
06-11-2007, 12:56 PM
It amuses me to refer to Dave Matthews (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_matthews) as an African-American.
Critch
06-11-2007, 01:01 PM
A little OT but did you see the Robert Kubica crash in the same Canadian Grand Prix? Guy has a broken leg but it could have been much worse.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=axVawlEBiRA&mode=related&search=

They've announced now that he doesn't even have a broken leg, just a badly sprained ankle and mild concussion. The work Formula One has done on keeping the drivers safe since Ayrton Senna died is amazing.
Critch
06-11-2007, 01:04 PM
dola

I believe the PC term for British people of African/Caribbean descent is Black Britons.
AlexB
06-11-2007, 01:55 PM
So he's really an African-Grenadan-British-American? Or is he an African-American-Grenadan-Brit?

Over here it's just black - it's not a derogatory term, just descriptive, and only becomes a problem when suffixes are added.
JonInMiddleGA
06-11-2007, 02:00 PM
The guys race had zero relevance to the story.

Umm, Ax. It's F1 racing.

His race was the only reason it was a story in the US.
RPI-Fan
06-11-2007, 09:49 PM
It amuses me to refer to Dave Matthews (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_matthews) as an African-American.

There was a story for a few years ago, when a white American originally from South Africa in a high school campaigned to win "outstanding African-American student" award or somesuch... and got suspended.
Axxon
06-11-2007, 09:50 PM
Umm, Ax. It's F1 racing.

His race was the only reason it was a story in the US.

Umm, Jon. I believe I acknowledged that I was now informed of this in post 4. :)

I don't follow F1 racing and only even heard it because the odd phrasing caught my ear. This isn't meant as a slam on F1 of course, but it's not something I follow.

Actually though, I do believe that they report the winners of F1 racing over here, racial angle or not. They don't lead with it but they didn't lead with this one either. I'd say that the race itself is a story in the United States. This isn't soccer. ;)
Crim
06-11-2007, 10:49 PM
His grandparents being from Grenada does not rule out him being of African decent.. you'd just have to go further back.

Ya go far enough back, I'm pretty sure we're all of African descent.
JonInMiddleGA
06-11-2007, 11:33 PM
Actually though, I do believe that they report the winners of F1 racing over here, racial angle or not.

You may be right, but I can't recall ever hearing an F1 result mentioned on a local newscast anywhere in the US, although I assume any events with some local connection might make it as a one off. Given the lack of interest combined with the trend toward fewer minutes devoted to sports on local newscasts, I'd be amazed if it was given a total of two minutes a year anywhere in the country on any local station.

They don't lead with it but they didn't lead with this one either. I'd say that the race itself is a story in the United States.

It got pretty good play for several hours on espn.com, top right position on the main page. That's much better than they usually get, and it was solely because that was a racial angle to play with.
Oilers9911
06-11-2007, 11:52 PM
Umm, Ax. It's F1 racing.

His race was the only reason it was a story in the US.

That's true. However he is the first person of his race to ever win a Formula 1 race. Which is pretty significant. AMongst anyone that cares about racing anyway.
RPI-Fan
06-12-2007, 04:15 PM
His grandparents being from Grenada does not rule out him being of African decent.. you'd just have to go further back.

So how is it more accurate to refer to him as African-anything instead of Caribbean, or Grenadan-anything?
tanglewood
06-13-2007, 08:16 AM
In Britain we just call him Black.
EagleFan
06-13-2007, 09:03 PM
In Britain we just call him Black.

racist.... ;) :D
JW
06-13-2007, 09:12 PM
If current theories of the origin of modern humans are correct, then we are all of African ancestry.

And, I once knew a white geography professor from South Africa, who had become a US citizen, who would introduce himself to his students by saying something like, "Hi, my name is Professor Smith, and I'm an African-American." He said it would always start a good discussion, though it would sometimes offend the easily offended.
PSUColonel
06-13-2007, 09:53 PM
why not just say he's black?? I don't see the problem with it.
EagleFan
06-13-2007, 10:39 PM
why not just say he's black?? I don't see the problem with it.

Why can't we just say his name and that he is a race car driver? The sooner we can do this; the sooner we get over all the other silliness.

I see the people of the world in two classification: assholes and non-assholes. It makes things much simpler.