Unless you are James Cagney anyway. :0) Actually he never said "You dirty rat" I believe he actually said "you dirty, yellow-bellied rat."


>>Hi peter,
>>
>>>>If you know the person for example? Maybe I've should have said, the "Black guy" on the corner. Anyways the specification of'"Turk" or "Black guy" or "Chinese", or "Old man" or "Red guy" is just to identify who we are talking about, not an act of discrimination. I do remember an incident on the train station in Hoorn (it was in the papers) where one of the NS staff was trying to catch a black guy who did not pay for the train trip. He said "Get over here, you black rat". I wondered why this is discrimination? He was not saying that every black person was a rat, rather that this individual was both black and a rat.
>>
>>>Yes, that is a clear example of discrimination. It was clear to me within a second. As a judge, I'd not hesitate.
>>
>>Hmmm, I'm confused? Why is the above discrimination? I don't get it. It is making remarks to an individual not a certain groups with same characteristics.
>
>Using the combination of 'black' and 'rat' is a clear indication. First, objectively this person is not a rat, so using that word is humiliating. Second, that he's (she?) black was likely already known and in that case needed no further emphasis. By combining it with rat, the humiliation also strikes black people in general. Compare:
> "Hey, you black rat!"
> "Hey, you rat!"
> "Hey, you there!"
>That it appears to be focussed to an individual rather than to a group is not a guarantee that it's not discrimination.
>
>A non-discriminating person would never say "Hey, you black rat". Would you?
>
>>Would you have judged the same if the man said "Get over here, you red (haired) rat" ? or "Get over here you small rat" ? If no, why is the fact that someone is black a denominator for discrimination as oposed to who is red haired or small ?
>>
>>Discrimination is about making insulting generalisations about certain groups of people and projecting that on one individual. Whether this is on skin colour, religion, physical characteristics, Origin, spoken language, political preference, age, etc, etc..
>>
>>For example:
>>All red haired people are dumb --> discrimination.
>>All blacks have a lower IQ than the average white --> discrimination.
>>The average black has a lower IQ than the average white --> No discrimination (Because it might be a fact: I admit this is difficult one).
>>That black guy has a lower IQ than the average white --> No discrimination (I'm not making generalisations)
>>All people shorter than 1.40 cannot ride a roller coaster --> Discrimination (Even though this has a safety reason)
>>A sign "No blacks allowed" --> Discrimination
>>Women cannot become a member of this party --> Discrimination
>>People below the age 18 are not allowed to drink alcohol --> Discrimination (Though a this accepted)
>>
>>IMO, it is not that difficult to see.
>>
>>Walter,