# Are ginger kids the new oppressed minority? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 23, 2008, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155 "2008-11-23T22:13:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/21 "2008-11-24T03:13:31Z")
[Battling the Red Menace](http://www.thesharkguys.com/2008/11/21/battling-the-red-menace-happy-kick-a-ginger-day/) ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/22 "2008-11-24T03:26:16Z")
The main problem with red heads is that they’re always giving bad people a chance to rob banks. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/23 "2008-11-24T03:46:14Z")
Man… I love red hair and green eyes in girls (though I tend not to like the freckles as much). Count me as one of the surprised. Though I’ve heard the phrase “beaten like a red-headed stepchild” but i didn’t actually think that was TRUE… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/24 "2008-11-24T03:50:26Z")
Redheads with freckles are Hot. I always say, “I brake for women; I back up six blocks for redheads.” ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/25 "2008-11-24T04:08:46Z")
So I looked up “ginger” in Wikipedia. The disambiguation said it’s the same as red hair. > **[Red hair](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_hair)** > > Red hair, also known as orange hair or ginger hair, is a human hair color found in 1–2% of the world population, appearing with greater frequency (2–6%) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and lesser frequency in other populations. It is most common in individuals homozygous for a recessive allele on chromosome 16 that produces an altered version of the MC1R protein. > Red hair varies in hue from a deep burgundy or bright copper, or auburn, to burnt orange or red-orange t... The woman looks like someone I’d call redheaded…kinda. The man has reddish-brown hair, IMO. In my environs, the expression “redheaded stepchild” = undesirable people. Like someone really doesn’t want the person (e.g. for the company) but they don’t even feign acceptance because the redheadedness pushes it a step too far. But I don’t know of anyone around here actually being beaten for it. I suspect if you populated an island with 100% redheads, like a Lord of the Flies scenario, they would find something trivially different about certain members and persecute based on that difference. That’s just the kind of bastards they are. KIDDING! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/26 "2008-11-24T04:21:05Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Thanks, I left the house soon after posting & didn’t see the Qs till now. > > As for Esau, his nickname was Edom (Hebrew- “reddish”, similar to Adam) and he was renown for being hairy. Now, he could have been just of a ruddy-complexion and hairy, or he could have been red-haired hairy. Exactly how many people from the region that he supposedly comes from have red hair? You don’t think Jesus had blond hair do you? ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/27 "2008-11-24T04:23:26Z")
My 13 year old grandson admitted that he “kicked a ginger” on the 20th and I was and am disgusted and angry. He’s lost a week’s privileges over this. When I asked him “why” he gave me this look and said, “because it was the DAY” and at that point I wanted to kick him, but I didn’t. It’s bullying and it’s crap. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/28 "2008-11-24T04:46:42Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Send all those poor, oppressed, red-headed Canadian women to me, so I can comfort them. > > Extensively. NAFTA had better prevent this blatant outsourcing, when I’m available locally to kiss it better. Tongue available on request I don’t know where **Shagnasty** is getting that it’s a derogatory term… aren’t the Weasley’s described as ginger in the Harry Potter series? ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/29 "2008-11-24T05:33:57Z")
> [@vison](#): > > My 13 year old grandson admitted that he “kicked a ginger” on the 20th and I was and am disgusted and angry. He’s lost a week’s privileges over this. When I asked him “why” he gave me this look and said, “because it was the DAY” and at that point I wanted to kick him, but I didn’t. > > It’s bullying and it’s crap. I’ve \*\*cked a Ginger on a couple occasions, because it was the day. 😉 It was fabulous. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/30 "2008-11-24T05:45:47Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > I have a hard time taking this seriously. This is like someone saying we should nuke Tibet, or the US should invade Canada. It’s generally accepted as being tongue-in-cheek (though in poor taste) or shocking for the sake of being shocking. The fact that they could find people and quote them as earnestly decrying this as a “hate crime” is what’s wrong with society today. People need to lighten up. Um, I don’t know if you read the article, but these young people were ganged up on and assaulted. That’s not acceptable under any circumstances. IANAL and do not know if this actually fulfils the criteria for a sentencing increase for hatred under the Criminal Code, but regardless, it’s completely unacceptable and they’re right to take it seriously. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/31 "2008-11-24T05:51:37Z")
This is why hate crime legislation is silly. If Assault isn’t a big enough crime, they need to change the consequences for assault. Every random assault is a hate crime. It shouldn’t matter that there is some distinguishing characteristic used as a pretext for random hate. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/32 "2008-11-24T05:56:03Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > Um, I don’t know if you read the article, but these young people were ganged up on and assaulted. That’s not acceptable under any circumstances. IANAL and do not know if this actually fulfils the criteria for a sentencing increase for hatred under the Criminal Code, but regardless, it’s completely unacceptable and they’re right to take it seriously. It doesn’t say anywhere in the article about anyone being ganged up on and assaulted, just that some kids on a Facebook group claimed to have done so. I can pretty much guarantee none of those kids actually did anything. It’s just internet bullshitting. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/33 "2008-11-24T06:03:12Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > It doesn’t say anywhere in the article about anyone being ganged up on and assaulted, just that some kids on a Facebook group claimed to have done so. I can pretty much guarantee none of those kids actually did anything. It’s just internet bullshitting. Sorry about that, wrong article: [but in fact, several kids were assaulted across Canada](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2008/11/23/bc-kick-ginger-anti-bullying.html). > [@](#): > > The Facebook campaign saw incidents of bullying and abuse throughout B.C. and Alberta. > > Twenty students from Journey Middle School in Sooke, B.C., were sent home for kicking their redheaded classmates; a student in Prince George, B.C., went home from school after being kicked in the leg repeatedly; and 13 students in Calgary were suspended for beating up a redheaded teen. [Assault on red-haired student investigated as hate crime](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2008/11/21/calgary-kick-ginger-attack.html): > [@](#): > > Thirteen high school students in Calgary have been suspended after a red-headed teen was beaten because of the colour of his hair. > > The Grade 10 boy was attacked in the locker room of St. Francis High School after gym class Thursday, students told CBC News. […] > > CBC News has also learned that two red-haired, Grade 7 girls at St. Alphonsus Elementary/Junior High School were swarmed and kicked repeatedly by older girls on Thursday. Board spokeswoman Janet Sutherland said two students have been suspended in that case. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/34 "2008-11-24T06:10:26Z")
FWIW [some information](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970519/ai_n14107970) on Russian redheaded prejudices. > [@](#): > > … its most virulent form grows on Russian soil. I became aware of it months ago, when I happened on a Russian language text-book for English students. Readers were encouraged to follow the exploits of a hapless and irritating boy called Jimmy the Carrot. It was never spelt out, but the assumption was that being annoying was part of his nature, an inevitable side effect of redheadedness. Rooted somewhere in the Slavic psyche is the notion that redheads are cunning, dangerous, and too clever by half. There is an old Russian rhyme “ryzhi krasni chelovek apasni” - “a redheaded person is dangerous”. If you miss out someone while handing round, say, chocolates to a group of Russians, they are liable to cry: “Chto ya, Ryzhi, Chto-li?” What am I, a redhead or something? The other day, by way of an experiment, I decided to ask every Russian I met why this prejudice prevails. “It goes backs centuries,” explained Irena, my Russian teacher, “Russians are usually fair or dark. If there was a redhead in the village, and something terrible happened, he or she would always be blamed. It’s like - well, a tradition, but it lives on. Today if there is a redhead in a classroom of children, he will definitely get teased. Without doubt.” I tried Olga, a colleague: “It is just because they are rare,” she replies. However, she ventured, she did recall seeing shows when she was a child with traditional Russian dolls. One of the characters was always a redhead and spoke with a ridiculously high voice. Keen to help, Olga called Professor Natalia Burnikova, of the Institute of Russian Language. “It’s a cultural tradition . . . such people are thought to be a bit special, more delicate than everyone else, so children tend to tease them,” said the professor. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/35 "2008-11-24T06:21:53Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > FWIW [some information](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970519/ai_n14107970) on Russian redheaded prejudices. I think that’s common to all European cultures. ‘Red on the head means fire in the bed.’, redheads are known for their fiery tempers, and well, the one redhead I had a relationship with, fit the stereotype. _shrugs_ Isn’t Carrot Top’s comedy kind of built off of that schtick? ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/36 "2008-11-24T06:52:48Z")
> [@Valteron](#): > > Has anything like this happened in the US? Are “gingers” about to become a new oppressed minority? Not in America. The powerful redhead porn lobby would prevent it. And if such a lobby doesn’t exist, then by god it should. ---
**Author:** ![Tristan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tristan/32/18058_2.png) [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/37 "2008-11-24T12:41:39Z")
Both of my children fit the “ginger” phenotype, redheaded and thickly freckled. My daughter, who has enough of a problem with being picked on, got some of this a few months back. The group that harrasses her the most must have watched that episode of South Park, because suddenly they were teasing her by calling her ginger. That lasted for a day. “Ginger! Hey, ginger! You’re a ginger!” they cried out the 2nd day. “Yep, and proud of it!” she replied, and thus neatly ended that particular form of harassment. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/38 "2008-11-24T22:57:55Z")
Thor is also ginger. As was Henry VIII. We firehairs can whip your puny dun arses. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/39 "2008-11-24T23:56:14Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Thor is also ginger. As was Henry VIII. We firehairs can whip your puny dun arses. You go, girl. Um. Guy. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2008, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155/40 "2008-11-25T09:38:50Z")
Nobody remembers Rita Hayworth ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-ginger-kids-the-new-oppressed-minority/474155.md?page=3)