One claims he was told it might prove offensive to visitors from other parts of the UK.Contrast this with my own local council (Newham) who recently put up several banners in support of West Ham football club despite many in the borough supporting a different club (such as me) or none at all. People should be allowed to show their support. And what appears to be double standards by Blackpool council will do nothing but stir up prejudice.
The angry drivers have accused the local council - which is currently flying a flag in support of a Gay Pride event above the Town Hall - of taking political correctness to ridiculous limits.
And where are the people who are offended by these shirts? Remember the row over the teacher who banned Three Little Pigs because it might offend Muslims despite not even consulting any? All too often actions taken "to prevent offence" to certain groups are done without properly consulting them. Bans like these do nothing but cause resentment and divide people.
7 comments:
Just to play Devil's Advocate, how many non-English people did you consult to before writing this post?
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What ever happened to common sense?
I can see your point Tim, and to an extent agree with it. But I think Jo is right that sometimes people need to be consulted and that, whilst some issues are political correctness gone mad, these issues are not always as cut and dried as they appear
Jo/paul - having lived with both Welsh and Scots (the Welshman is currently away otherwise I'd put a bait in here to see how long the outcry next door takes!) and with my all exes coming from Northern Ireland this point has come up before if not the specific ban. (And personally I don't consider myself "English" but "British".)
I guess some Scots might be offended by being reminded that there's a decent football team in these isles but when has anyone ever tried to curtail the Tartan Army which offends a lot of people, especially when they support England's opponents?
I agree there's a need for consultation but also a need for explanation. And cultural tolerance is not created by clamping down on one tradition in the name of another.
Very true Tim!
Its a joke.
Dont they have something better to do like sort out all the yobs who descend on Blackpool.
"Jo/paul - having lived with both Welsh and Scots (the Welshman is currently away otherwise I'd put a bait in here to see how long the outcry next door takes!) and with my all exes coming from Northern Ireland this point has come up before if not the specific ban. (And personally I don't consider myself "English" but "British".)"
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Tim I know all about baiting other nationals. I frequently used to tease my late friend Tammy for being Welsh and in my year out, I had a Dutch colleague who frequently got teased by me with jokes about the Dutch reputation of being more liberal than anyone else (stuff like an elderly couple in Amsterdam being arrested by police for calling them about burglars in their apartment!). But I would never have dreamed of being like that if I did not know them well enough beforehand, as I am sure it is with you.
As for Northern Ireland, I can see now how you got interested in the provence. With me it was a 1998 visit to Belfast (just after the Good Friday agreement) to give a paper to the C.S. Lewis Centenary Group (for those who don't know he was an Ulsterman by birth).
As for Scots offence, I am of Scottish descent myself (and very proud of it as well. My ancestors were the Heitons, whom Sir Walter Scott apparently once sneered at as 'noveau riche'), but attitudes to nationalism take to varying degrees, as does tolerance. It's not so simple 'for or against' as The Daily Mail would have us believe.
"I agree there's a need for consultation but also a need for explanation. And cultural tolerance is not created by clamping down on one tradition in the name of another."
I agree with that, which makes me suspect that we may be talking cross purposes somewhere!
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