Posted by:
Nightingale
(
)
Date: August 17, 2019 05:09PM
saucie: [CZ wrote] "They aren't kinda racist, they are totally racist."
Not that it matters, I guess, but I'll say anyway that I took CZ's words as being ironic or understated or sarcastic, actually meaning: "Those are racist remarks".
I always wonder why someone would say or write racist comments, at least where they could take a good guess that their words will not be viewed with appreciation, such as here, where most posters would push back and such posts inevitably get removed. And where maybe you wouldn't want to overtly reveal your racist attitudes.
So I have to think that either the poster doesn't care about any of that or maybe there's a chance they didn't intend it the way it comes across or even that they don't realize that they are portraying racist ideas.
On another note, as others have mentioned, it's amazing to see criticism of people who speak more than one language, which is a major skill, when most of us make do with one only. Lucky for us that English is so widespread. It can make we English-speakers lazy. If we had to use our brain cells in pursuit of a second language we might see what a major challenge it can be to achieve such a feat.
I had a few years of French language instruction at school as well as extra classes that my parents signed us up for. It was taught in isolation with no useful application at all for me at the time. Regrets. When I moved to Quebec (French-speaking areas), it was an eye-opener to find out how difficult it can be to become bilingual. Even knowing the structure of the language and quite a bit of vocab, so a good head start, I did not blossom into a fluent speaker of French, ever. It was slightly useful for me when I traipsed around Paris one weekend but not really necessary. Everybody I ran into spoke English. So I didn't really try. And when I did it hurt their ears, judging by their wincy faces. Embarrassing. So, yeah, I lapsed into the lazy way - letting others be the bilingual ones while I basked in the ease of being fortunate enough to know English, thereby negating a real need for me to put in the effort of getting to grips with a second language. My loss.
Embarrassing too is the smug attitude of some who feel they are superior, be it for their skin colour or the language of their birth, when neither occurs through any effort, action or merit on their part. If they were jostled out of their comfort zone, undoubtedly epic fails would result.
So, best to be a bit humble to start with. Less far to fall. Or something like that.