Black Faced Morris Dancers Banned at ShrewsburyFolk Festival

your fridge is not a public space, is it? And guests don't usually go and have a rumble through your fridge- do they?

Your dining room isn't a public space either.

Another analogy then - captured Allied servicemen suffered dreadfully in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps. I knew more than one, none of them could speak of their experiences.

Japanese geisha girls traditionally have very white faces. Are these depictions racist abuse of "whites" ?

Would the veteran servicemen be traumatised at posters advertising Japanese films with geisha characters? Of course, almost all of them are now dead, but should the feelings of their living relatives be considered when a film is being promoted, as the feelings of living relatives of past slaves are considered?

Is their memory sullied by depictions of white faces by the descendants of their torturers?

If the fact that it was a tradition long before WW2 were better known, would some people STILL insist that the women were made-up in tasteful shades of pink? No, I suspect that the cry would be that old tradition should be respected.

Another - my food hate is marzipan, and the peel you get in mincemeat. At Christmas, I am everywhere offered traditional fare, whether at friends houses or in restaurants and cafes. I quietly pass on the cake (marzipan) and mince pies (peel). I don't expect my hostess to keep them out of sight until I have gone home. If she pressed one upon me and insisted that I eat it, like Granjura with the liver I would feel sick, but with my knowledge of the Christmas traditions the sight of other people tucking in doesn't freak me out.

I think there should be more information about black faces and less assumption that it is ALWAYS something that someone is entitled to complain about and get banned, whatever its origins. Otherwise there is a very real danger that one group becomes a sacred cow and all other groups are sacrificed to it. In the long run, that sets them up as a target for resentment - which is the reverse of what action against racism is aiming for.

(My analogy post was directed at granjura, btw)

I realised that after a bit, Ana, but I was in full flow by then. Didn't want to interrupt the muse.

See you there jalima...love the horn dance...traffic doesn't tho !!!!

We don't live near there any more belladonna
Hope you enjoy it!

was in the wrong place

It is Ana if you invite people to share it with you.

Not the same thing at all. You can select the people who come into your dining room, it is not a public space/place.

You wouldn't invite all the neighbourhood and visitors to share a meal with you. (Well, I wouldn't!)

You wouldn't stop a cafe serving liver and bacon with mashed potatoes and green peas.

Haha, gj! Professional Grievance Generators, Inc., much?

Apropos of absolutely nothing Japanese women used to black their teeth with soot as a sign of beauty( according to my reading of novels about Japan)

I am staying in Maldon, Essex for a couple of days and on the quay this evening were a host of Morris dancers in a variety of costumes. Some of the women had white jeans ,not very traditional! Some of them had red raggedy jerkins with feathery hats and half red, half black faces. What's that about? I think some mixed race native Americans might be offended? They were quite good BTW

I can't think anyone on here would deliberately go out to upset someone or hurt someone's feeling by being insensitive or thoughtless.

However sometimes we may inadvertently upset people though our ignorance. When attention is drawn to why we have caused someone to be upset most would apologise and avoid causing that hurt again.

In the case of Morris Dancing I don't suppose that those that black up have any intention of upsetting anyone..they are merely carrying on tradition. It would appear that this tradition is based on 'camouflage' rather than any intention of pretending to be a black person. So nobody needs to be upset.

If however someone is taking the pi** out of black people (or any other group) deliberately or through ignorance then it needs challenging.

The use of 'political correctness' has become a disparaging term but without it racism /sexism/anti gay attitudes etc etc would still be more rife.

But political correctness can go to far, and cause damage in itself.

It was a white person who complained only.

Political correctness was always in danger of becoming a disparaging term. It is so similar to "observing the letter of the law" rather than "the spirit of the law".