# No, you ignoramuses, this \*isn't\* racist (or, "Here we go again..") **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 6, 2010, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886 "2010-01-06T11:09:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/341 "2010-01-07T16:33:50Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > If I were to confirm your inferrence, it could be construed as an insult in and of itself, which would violate the rules of this forum. My comment was intended to be ambiguous, and it shall remain that way. I apologize if you find that unsatisfying. AFAIK once you don’t insult the poster directly you shuld be good to go. Americans and christians as a group get a lot of shite thrown at them in GD so I think you can insult the Irish as a group without too much of a problem. **Fuji** ’s probably just a narky Cork fecker pee’d off with the snow and cold 😃 😃 I kid, I swear **Fuji** ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/342 "2010-01-07T16:34:16Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > How is that an insult? Or racist? Talk about political correctness run amuck. :rolleyes: So _specifically_, what did your “straight lines” comment mean? In this thread you’ve done a lot of hinting and indulging in rhetorical obtuseness rather than direct argument. So, directly, **Fear Itself** , what did you actually mean by that comment? ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/343 "2010-01-07T16:37:26Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Come on - the Irish are the last group us Americans are still allowed to make fun of. The leprechauns in these ads was actually sober so I would say they are pretty tame as St. Patrick’s day ads go. Speaking as an Irish person IMO you’re good to go with the Irish stuff. It’s generally meant without malice. Our two countries have quite close ties due to the amount of Irish decendants in the US (10x the population of my little Island) These are pics from Dublin BTW [http://travel.sky.com/images/inspiration/st-patricks-day-parades/St-patricks-day-dublin-REXFEATURES-510x286.jpg](http://travel.sky.com/images/inspiration/st-patricks-day-parades/St-patricks-day-dublin-REXFEATURES-510x286.jpg) [http://www.nhtt.com/getfile/d77deaa7-28ff-4ddf-8e35-57d1bc0e538f/stpaddysm-1-.aspx](http://www.nhtt.com/getfile/d77deaa7-28ff-4ddf-8e35-57d1bc0e538f/stpaddysm-1-.aspx) [![](https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/image-files/stps-day-dublin08.jpg) ](https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/image-files/stps-day-dublin08.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/344 "2010-01-07T16:38:09Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > So _specifically_, what did your “straight lines” comment mean? It meant there was a gaping hole for merry riposte. It was meant to be ambiguous. Some people cannot abide ambiguity. Pity. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/345 "2010-01-07T16:42:37Z")
> [@yojimbo](#): > > Americans and christians as a group get a lot of shite thrown at them in GD so I think you can insult the Irish as a group without too much of a problem. I wan’t saying that _I_ was offended by those stupid St. Patrick’s Day Sale ads - I was just trying to point out the motes in some people’s eyes, is all. > [@](#): > > **Fuji** ’s probably just a narky Cork fecker pee’d off with the snow and cold 😃 😃 > > I kid, I swear **Fuji** An accurate assessment. It’s not supposed to be this cold for this long in bloody Ireland! ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/346 "2010-01-07T16:44:04Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Talk about political correctness run amuck. :rolleyes: You’re not really big on self-awareness, are you? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/347 "2010-01-07T16:47:31Z")
> [@Fuji](#): > > You’re not really big on self-awareness, are you? Sir, I may have to Pit you for that scurrilous contumely. ---
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/348 "2010-01-07T16:50:16Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Because the fan loyalty was not clear to me. That has been cleared up. But that does not negate the likelihood that there was also racial content. Correct, your initial lines of reasoning as to why you thought this ad has racial undertones has been cleared up. But, strangely, you’ve kept trumpeting that the ad has racial undertones. Based on _what_? ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/349 "2010-01-07T16:51:08Z")
Based on a crowd of blacks not having enough white supervision, apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Fuji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Fuji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuji)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/350 "2010-01-07T16:51:30Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Sir, I may have to Pit you for that scurrilous contumely. Have at it. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/351 "2010-01-07T16:52:58Z")
> [@KellyCriterion](#): > > Based on _what_? Based on the historic and current racial tension in Australia, and the marketing value of appealing to such feelings in an environment that does not find it as outrageous as many do elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![KellyCriterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b3f665/32.png) [@KellyCriterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyCriterion)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/352 "2010-01-07T17:27:18Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Based on the historic and current racial tension in Australia, and the marketing value of appealing to such feelings in an environment that does not find it as outrageous as many do elsewhere. I want to know about the ad, specifically. What is it about the ad that makes you think it has racial undertones? Initially, you thought it was because the ad wasn’t clearly portraying a lone supporter of one team (who happened to be white) sitting amongst the supporters of the other team (who happened to be black). You stuck with this argument for multiple pages, but finally dropped it. With that aspect of the ad cleared up for you, what is it about the ad (specifically, the _ad_) that makes you think it is playing up to “racial tension” in the country it’s being shown? ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/353 "2010-01-07T17:31:47Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Based on the historic and current racial tension in Australia, and the marketing value of appealing to such feelings in an environment that does not find it as outrageous as many do elsewhere. Yes there are racial tensions in Australia. It is possible an advertiser would want to pick up on those. But what you completely and utterly fail to understand is that use of a West Indian cricket crowd is a singularly bad way to exploit that, and the reason you fail to understand that is that you have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of the dynamics of international cricket, as proven repeatedly in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/354 "2010-01-07T17:34:13Z")
Specifically, the “awkward” comment and the “awkward” facial expressions. That is consistent with racial anxiety. Even if there are more than one explanation, I believe advertisers in OZ are not above exploiting racial tension, especially when they know they are less likely to be called on it in that market, and they construct plausible deniability with the fan rivalry explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/355 "2010-01-07T17:41:05Z")
> [@villa](#): > > Yes there are racial tensions in Australia. It is possible an advertiser would want to pick up on those. But what you completely and utterly fail to understand is that use of a West Indian cricket crowd is a singularly bad way to exploit that, and the reason you fail to understand that is that you have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of the dynamics of international cricket, as proven repeatedly in this thread. Sounds like an opinion. Why is yours superior to mine? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/356 "2010-01-07T17:43:28Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Specifically, the “awkward” comment and the “awkward” facial expressions. That is consistent with racial anxiety. There is no racial anxiety towards any group that could be mistaken for one of the West Indian fans in the ad. You _do_ realise that not all brown people look the same, right? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/357 "2010-01-07T17:46:47Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Sounds like an opinion. Why is yours superior to mine? He displays greater knowledge of context, hence more expertise. And before anyone says it, this is soooo not an appeal to authority. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/358 "2010-01-07T17:47:33Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Sounds like an opinion. Why is yours superior to mine? Because I am speaking from a position of some knowledge whereas you are speaking from whatever position you can pull things from your butt. Makes my opinion superior to yours. You don’t know a thing about the dynamics involved in international cricket and its fan base, and as a result you don’t realize how staggeringly unlikely what you are suggesting is. I’d have a modicum of respect for your opinion if you were trying to claim that the ad was accidentally racist; but to suggest a deliberate policy on behalf of KFC Australia is, for want of a better term, fucked up. I tell you what - go look at KFC Australia’s advertising history. I would imagine if they are appealing to racists this wouldn’t be the first or last time. Find me a history of prior ads that, to a reasonable person, would include this kind of racist intent you see and dinner for you and your partner is on me. I’ll even allow you a year from now to develop a pattern into the future. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/359 "2010-01-07T17:49:19Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > There is no racial anxiety towards any group that could be mistaken for one of the West Indian fans in the ad. This “debate” has been reduce to duelling opinions, which is fitting because that is how it was constructed in the OP, so we should not be surprised that it hasn’t progressed much. Until one of you produces the keys to the Vault of Ultimate Knowledge, and reveals the utterly uncontrovertible intent of the advertiser, I don’t see the likelihood of agreement. You disagree with me; I get it. Apparently that is very upsetting to many of you. Sounds like a personal problem. ---
**Author:** ![Hallucinex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ba9def/32.png) [@Hallucinex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hallucinex)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886/360 "2010-01-07T17:51:23Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Specifically, the “awkward” comment and the “awkward” facial expressions. That is consistent with racial anxiety. …and entirely consistent with a fan that’s ended up seated in a stand full of the opposing team’s supporters, while he’s sitting there in his team’s uniform feeling out of place.. awkward. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-you-ignoramuses-this-isnt-racist-or-here-we-go-again/523886.md?page=19)