break-in(?)

They are people you muppet, not a fucking brand.

Always two steps behind, let me join the dots for you; racial stereotyping and brand image are driven by the same cognitive/neurological processes. The clever people on this thread won't have needed that explaining to them, but I'm always pleased to help the slower readers.

Ha, you always have a little extra pomposity left in reserve don't you tester?

I aim to please.

Is this in The Popcorn Thread yet?

My mate got mugged and beaten up once, when she reported it to the police she said he was black. Is that racist?

Wigan Vs Tester

It's like Scargill Vs Boris if ever such an unholy debate would ever have existed.

The use of the word "black" in the original post was totally unnecessary. Your friend's use of the word was useful in describing the assailant. I am sure she also said whether the assailant was young or old, fat or thin, tall or short, and would have said that he spoke with a scouse accent and had "StevieG forever" tattooed on his forehead, if that had been the case. The OP just focused on the colour of the intruder's skin.

I reckon she was prob racist if his colour was the only thing she noticed ;O)

Wigan Vs Tester

It's like Scargill Vs Boris if ever such an unholy debate would ever have existed.

Probably does in some space/time portal

The use of the word "black" in the original post was totally unnecessary. Your friend's use of the word was useful in describing the assailant..

Err, so what's the difference?

Funnily enough, when my mate was mugged, beaten up, kicked to the ground and spat on when she reported it, plod said they didn't wanna take it any further 'so as not to cause any more racial tension in the area'

WTF!?!

The OP just focused on the colour of the intruder's skin.

'Focused' or just didn't elaborate in his original post, leaving us to guess whether the use of just one adjective was due to a lack of observation or a desire for brevity?

Pisti, dear chap, the difference is that it could and seemingly was a factor that the police needed to take into account. It is irrelevant to readers of the OP.

'Focused' or just didn't elaborate in his original post, leaving us to guess whether the use of just one adjective was due to a lack of observation or a desire for brevity?

If it was unnecessary to say whether the intruder was old or young, why was it necessary to describe his skin colour?

Wigan Vs Tester

It's like Scargill Vs Boris

I'll take that as a compliment, regardless of the politics; Boris is better looking and much more erudite*.

*Than me, never mind the ugly and ignorant Scargy

Pisti, dear chap, the difference is that it could and seemingly was a factor that the police needed to take into account. It is irrelevant to readers of the OP.

Not necessarily irrelevant. It'd be like if a ginger geezer burgled me, I'd describe him as a 'ginger cunt' as it would be my first observation which in turn would distinguish him

Jeeees, this thread is making me wanna run off the The Depression Thread for some cheering up!?

Wigan Vs Tester

It's like Scargill Vs Boris if ever such an unholy debate would ever have existed.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26wEWSUUsUc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26wEWSUUsUc[/ame
]

why was it necessary to describe his skin colour?

Maybe it wasn't necessary, or maybe it was worth remarking upon if we take it as read that black people are under-represented in the burglary "community", so he was just pointing out that it's another field of endeavour which is, despite historic prejudice, now open to entrepreneurs from all of our diverse "communities"

I'll take that as a compliment, regardless of the politics; Boris is better looking and much more erudite*.

*Than me, never mind the ugly and ignorant Scargy

Let's face it, that's hardly an achievement

@Pisti - there is a skewed perception of how much crime is committed by members of the black community. It's a gross generalisation which would be reinforced by the words of the OP (if not then debated). The fact that 'scruffy little white smack'eads' are perhaps the majority of catburglars is not central to this discussion, unless the OP was mentioning that the intruder was black specifically to challenge people's assumption that the he was in fact white. Do you believe this, and would it be a positive statement in any way?

@mdcc_tester - I know you weren't talking about me specifically, but FYI, I don't read the Guardian. I do, however, work within the framework of Equal Opportunities, and see how much the work/service environment can be improved by a concerted effort from everyone to consider things holistically when it comes to interpersonal politics. I've worked in enough places where these values were non-existent to know how detrimental it can be. Racial stereotyping is not always a result of observed behaviours, but more part of a long history of oppression, power struggle, fear, and so on.

Perhaps you've been lucky enough not to be on the receiving end of prejudicial treatment that makes your life more difficult than it need be. I don't begrudge you that; but it shouldn't stop you from empathising a little more with people who have had that kind of shit levelled at them.

The only kind of censorship I'm advocating is self-censorship. If you think that's inherently wrong, I assume you're a slave to impulsivity, and do or say whatever happens to pop up on your conscious/sub-conscious radar?

Had the OP said

"went to check and saw a 6' 2" black male of muscular build, with brown eyes, a shaved head, strong moustaches, a broken nose, an earring in his left ear, wearing an adidas track top, dark jeans and white reebok classics sneaking in through the open vertical sliding window in the kitchen."

would some of you lot have made such a massive fucking deal about it?

If it was unnecessary to say whether the intruder was old or young, why was it necessary to describe his skin colour?

The young ones. Those are the worst. When I was young we had two black and white channels on telly for entertainment and we didn't shank much.

im guessing everyone here has seen this?

if not, go watch it and then come back

Had the OP said

"went to check and saw a 6' 2" black male of muscular build, with brown eyes, a shaved head, strong moustaches, a broken nose, an earring in his left ear, wearing an adidas track top, dark jeans and white reebok classics sneaking in through the open vertical sliding window in the kitchen."

would some of you lot have made such a massive fucking deal about it?

Because Denis Rodman was in his kitchen?

Not necessarily irrelevant. It'd be like if a ginger geezer burgled me, I'd describe him as a 'ginger cunt' as it would be my first observation which in turn would distinguish him

If he was ginger and black then that'd be a bloody good way of narrowing down options, racist or not.