HUSSAIN'S STORY - Who's insulting?
 

Presenting their discussion to class in PSHE

				Racist bullying might mean any of these Offensive language towards members of a particular group Mocking colour, appearance, dress, customs, language, or accent Making racist jokes Trying to persuade others to take on racist viewpoints Making racist graffiti or wearing racist badges or signs Exclusion people from social or work groups on racial grounds Directly or indirectly threatening people, or physically attacking them

	Worrying about which words to use Some people worry a bit about which words are okay to use when they're talking about 'race'. Most people know words which are meant to be insulting, which are meant to put people down, but aren't so sure about other words. Take someone who has a mother who is black and a father who is white. At one time they would have been called a 'half-caste' but this is now usually thought to be a bit insulting. 'Mixed race' was used next, but nowadays most people in this situation seem to prefer 'dual heritage'. Remember the old playground rhyme [says Sarah] 'Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me' This is not true - anyone who has been called names they don't like knows that. But how do we know which names and words will hurt? The best way is to ask, but this is not always easy or possible for everyone. All the same, the people who ought to decide whether a name or 'label' is okay (or not) are the people who the name is used for, the people who have to wear the label. If young people don't like being called 'kids' then adults should ask them what they want to be called. If someone who can't walk doesn't like being called a 'cripple' then others should respect that. The same goes for girls who don't like to be referred to as 'birds'.

				Words which people don't like much Coloured An old-fashioned word which seems to want to avoid saying 'black'. White people are often more comfortable with it than, say, 'black ......' Immigrant This simply means someone who has moved their home from one country to another. It is often disliked because most of Britain's black and Asian people are not immigrants, they were born here. British people who moved their homes from here to somewhere else (like Australia, America, India or Africa) were usually called 'settlers'. Funny that. Paki, Chinky Sometimes people use these words as a shortened form of the full word, as an abbreviation. Pakistanis and Chinese people hate it. More often, Paki is used on purpose as a general, insulting word for anyone with Pakistani, Indian or Bangladeshi roots, and then it's just as insulting as the range of other words which most people know (so there's no need to spell them out here).

	Insults might not be insults, it depends who says them and why. But be really careful I was saying in our discussion that rappers use the n***** word for each other, so that must mean it's not insulting. Big mistake. Some words have been used for years and years to put people down, and one way of taking the sting out of the word is to try to 'claim it back' by using it positively. Gay people have been called 'queer' for years, and always as an insult, but now they might call themselves queer to take the power out of the word (I know Chris does sometimes). It's not used as a put down, so it makes it less powerful when it is. The thing is, you have to be really careful, if you're white you can't go calling people n*****, if you're not gay, don't go calling people queers. Like Sarah says, you should ask the person and listen to what they say.