The not so Great Racism in Canada Thread

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by Pavlov

Well, like many things, it would depend on the apparent intent of the person doing so. If it was held by someone who had been called that name and experienced racial discrimination in his or her life and was holding up that sign to decry such things, I doubt very many (if any) people would be offended.

If it was held by someone in bad faith or just for the sake of being a provocateur etc, I expect it may well offend some people. Depending on that person's type of employment and the publicity such a stunt received, it might even cause his or employer enough reputational damage to prompt that employer for terminate this employee for cause. Or maybe the employer will just terminate this person without cause for any number of reasons (which, in the absence of a collective agreement, it is likely perfectly entitled to do). Maybe this sign-holder will also lose see friends or family members who personally find such behaviour repugnant or offensive. These all seem like natural and foreseeable consequences of such actions. People should weigh the costs and benefits of engaging in such behaviour prior to doing so.

This all seems pretty reasonable to me.

Just trying to wrap my head around the idea that just hearing certain words or seeing certain symbols is intolerably hurtful to some on the one hand, but that there is also some slack on the other. And how it's sometimes difficult to keep track of the interplay between the two. As Wendy Mesley found out.