Man sends banana to black mans table in Wetherspoons pub

[Yadda]

Is sending bananas to black men still considered funny and acceptable?

Christ.

The land of hope and glory (featuring Jim Davidson).

Edit:

Bish-bosh, speak of the devil, here he is - the pride of modern Britain.

Spoiler: "harmless fun"

Genuinely the funniest thing since I put my shoes on.

 

[neviditelny]

The talk of burning crosses/crucifixes makes me think of a comedian from back home in Sweden. He had been adopted from Iran as a baby (if I remember right, at least somewhere in the middle East). And in the early 90's there was a White Power organisation that were threatening him in various ways, burning a crucifix were one of the methods. He countered with "they were burning crucifixes, a sign of Christianity, I think they forget that I come from a fundamental muslim state, we burn crosses every Friday!"

 

[NVP]

it's not just judges and magistrates!

Having something left burning outside your house is clearly worse than being sent something of a pub menu for a joke!

Regardless of any racial motivation or lack there of.

There is that "clearly" again...

There is another level of commitment needed to ascertain where somebody lives, build a crucifix, install it in their garden, and set it on fire.

Vs tapping a button in an app to send a banana to a table.

One might be done with little/no thought, the other requires planning and real effort. Along with most probably choosing your victim/target based on some critieria, vs sheer opportunism/random in pub.

Not necessarily, not at all. Just as the drunkard hurling bricks, opportunism generally factors. The BananaBumder didn't stake out the guys favourite restaurant (I hope!) just like the coward who sets two strapped branches on fire on their way through the neighbourhood. If both were opportunistic pranks, "clearly" becomes caked in condensation.

Thus my original question to @Caracus2k whom I thought might understand and also know the answer - turns out I was wrong on both counts, but also a third of him being an admirable poster.

Genuinely the funniest thing since I put my shoes on.

Now that is an epic insult, I love it

 

[Bear]

So "in that instance" racism is more important than the other cause of discrimination based on appearance, ie needing corrective glasses?

What makes racism the more important/more equal form of discrimination?

On the face of it you are correct, discrimination based on appearance is the same if you reduce it down to that. The reality is that some racists think people who are non white are sub human and as such are hated and reviled and hate groups exist for them and are not uncommon, I dont believe there is such a movement for people that are spectacle wearers for instance although I could be wrong, who knows in this day and age

 

[Slam62]

On reflection, I'm not sure what the best action would have been here, the bloke was incredibly stupid but also sad.

 

[robj20]

Why? What's the difference between that and a kid being mocked for being ginger? Or wearing glasses? Or someone being short? Or tall?

Absolutely nothing. All are factors generally beyond your control. Why cry over it?

That's exactly how I feel about it all.

 

[jsmoke]

I'm not from London but I thought London was like 50% non white nowadays so how can racism still exist there should it not be the other way around if anything, are these 'white' racists not worried they will be attacked on the street or wherever as a result. Is it not like going into to say Nigeria and giving somebody a pet monkey, what don't I understand?

 

[Freakbro]

Why? What's the difference between that and a kid being mocked for being ginger? Or wearing glasses? Or someone being short? Or tall?

Absolutely nothing. All are factors generally beyond your control. Why cry over it?

The difference is they aren't a protected characteristic in law whereas race, age, sexuality, creed etc are

If you think being ginger, short sighted or vertically challenged should be included in the protections from hate crimes, then lobby your MP, until then you just have to suck up the fact you can't be racist but you can still get your jollies by abusing ginger tossers

 

[jsmoke]

The difference is they aren't a protected characteristic in law whereas race, age, sexuality, creed etc are

If you think being ginger, short sighted or vertically challenged should be included in the protections from hate crimes, then lobby your MP, until then you just have to suck up the fact you can't be racist but you can still get your jollies by abusing ginger tossers

Lol ginger tossers. Gingers are the forgotten minority. I heard a guy from London on twitch the other days spewing out some abuse about gingers. I'd forgotten they took so much abuse.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

I’m still coming to terms with the following:

1. ‘Spoons customers are capable of using Apps.

2. ‘Spoons sells fresh fruit.

 

[NVP]

I'm not from London but I thought London was like 50% non white nowadays so how can racism still exist there should it not be the other way around if anything

Oh dear lord. Us vs Them in 2020. Crikey.

 

[jsmoke]

Oh dear lord. Us vs Them in 2020. Crikey.

Well that's what most things boil down too, fact.

 

[NVP]

Well that's what most things boil down too, fact.

You can say fact all you want, your statement is nonsense.

 

[Nitefly]

You stayed up late arguing about bananas vs. crucifixes? You bunch of plonkers

To the extent I feel that it’s a waste of police resources, I only do so because I resent that anyone would do this in the first place. It is ultimately antisocial behaviour that needs curbing.

Once we are into realms of offence based crimes it all becomes highly subjective but I nevertheless feel that mocking appearance based on race is prone to causing more distressing offence than say, mocking those with ginger hair. It’s not just ‘a joke vs a joke’ as it has to be taken in the whole context of what it means to be ginger and what it means to be, say, black. If we really boil down people mocking ginger hair folk, then it doesn’t really go any further than mocking their appearance and maybe their ability to go out into the sun. With race, say, black, there is a whole other dimension of inferring that person is actually sub-human. For a start, you have groups of people that legitimately think black people ARE sub-human. Then there is the wider historical context too internationally re: slavery and civil rights etc.

I don’t find it a very difficult distinction to make, but I do also sympathise with any person that is subject to unnecessary cruelty.

Generally, the relationship between those involved is also rather key. Strangers mocking complete strangers requires an air of default superiority (or just a global nobbish disregard to everyone). I think in the context of school, it’s all a bit of a free for all and groups of children are more cruel than adults because of their immaturity. So I think adult to adult mocking of strangers is far less tolerated by society.

 

[Diddums]

This one hits pretty close to home to be honest, when I moved from South Africa to Holland at the glorious age of 15, I joined a school in a small city where I promptly became "Token". I was a novelty being from Africa and with kids being 15 years old, bullying was real and it wasn't long before I was given the name "bomenklever" which translates to "tree climber" - they were effectively calling me a monkey because I was from Africa. Bananas were always a good laugh, those little scamps putting them in my bag all the time, great lols hahaha.

Until one day I lost it ofc and put two of them in hospital, then the hahaha great lols stopped and I suddenly became one of the popular kids at school. Go figure.

Anyway, it's no surprise that this crap happened in a Wetherspoons, known for their sophisticated and classy clientele.


Side note: It was honestly astonishing how many people didn't believe I was from Africa as they honestly thought that all Africans are black

 

[Begbie]

The fact most people, or from my skim reading, seem to think this was either a waste of resources or 'hurt feelings' or whatever other crap actually makes me quite sad. You can tell yous haven't been through any form of racial abuse, or watched someone you care about go through the same thing. Proper middle class white guy entitlement.

 

[wesimmo]

What a stupid waste of police resources. Things like this make the term "hate crime" even more of a mockery than it already is.

Quite, what was the idiot doing being racist and causing the police to have to do their job and protect people from abuse.

Imagine if he'd just not been racist in the first place, the police would have had nothing to do.

 

[Bassmansam]

Come on, why's it different? Both are nothing more than uncontrollable aspects of ones appearance.

I'm guessing you've got a bugbear about one because it affects you and so are naturally putting it as a point of focus whereas the other doesn't so you fail to see the relevance.

If you don't think people have been equally hurt by being bullied because they wear glasses or have ginger hair or any other characteristic that's seen as a negative then I'd suggest you have the problem.

i am short and have had many comments about it in my 31 years. Quite rare these days though but certainly up to my early 20s. I do often question why racism is more important than what i have experienced, i find it quite annoying tbh..

 

[Bassmansam]

@FoxEye they literally can't see the difference or rather the equivalence!

I take your glasses and raise you...a height of 5ft 2. Who wins?

i wear glasses and lets just say i am about that height haha.

 

[Dis86]

Quite, what was the idiot doing being racist and causing the police to have to do their job and protect people from abuse.

Imagine if he'd just not been racist in the first place, the police would have had nothing to do.

Imagine if the guy who'd been insulted hadn't gone crying to the police. They'd have been able to get on with dealing with actual crimes instead of just hurt feelings.