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Saturday, January 30, 2010

Saturday Night Card Game (Cornish Inbreds)

This is the latest in the Saturday Night Card Game series on the use of the race card for political gain:

Tonight's post proves that the use of the race card does not stop at our shores, and does not depend upon the race of the aggrieved, or there even being a race. So powerful is an accusation of racism, that everyone wants in on the action.

This, from the Mirror in Britain, Insulting people from Cornwall is not racist, say Equality and Human Rights Commission:

Insulting people because they come from Cornwall is not racist, said human rights officials yesterday.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission ruled that mocking the county's folk with names such as "inbred" is not illegal under race laws.

The Kernow branch of the Celtic League asked it to condemn such behaviour in the media and internet.

But Qaiser Razzak of the EHRC said it would be "powerless" to prosecute as the Cornish are not established as a "racial group" under the Race Relations Act.

As further explained in The Telegraph:

In this reply to the Celtic League, Qaiser Razzak, the South West regional manager of the EHRC, said that in order for any remedy to be available in domestic (UK) legal proceedings, the Cornish would need to be defined as a "racial group" under the Race Relations Act, which had not yet been done.

"To date, case law has not established the Cornish as a 'racial group', for the purposes of the Race Relations Act, so currently, it is not clear whether any claim of racial discrimination against Cornish people would be successful."

So it is permissible to call the people of Cornwall "inbred" or anything else you want. It may be rude, but it's not "racist."

Just don't call them Cornwallians.

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Saturday Night Card Game

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1 comment:

  1. As a Cornishman, I must admit that I have never heard the term Cornwallian before and personally refer to myself as Cornish or a Cornishman.

    People also need to worry less about such things. Non-Cornish are just jealous that they didn't invent the pasty! :-)

    An interesting rhyme that I've heard in many different parts of the country goes as follows:

    [county name here] born, [county name here] bred,
    Strong in the arm and thick in the head

    It seems that county rivalry has been alive and well in the UK for longer than any of us have been alive. I find a little rivalry and good natured ribbing to be a healthy thing. But maybe I enjoyed a few too many pasties when I was a young lad.

    ReplyDelete