Prince Harry apologists are morons

[almostwitty]

So, the man third in line to the British throne is caught on camera joking around and calling one of his Army colleagues and ‘mates’ a “Paki”. Apparently, it was all just a bit of joking, Harry gets called ginger quite often (so that’s alright then) and anyway it was all three years ago, he’s a different man, we apologise on Harry’s behalf, can we please all forget it now? Lest it be forgotten, this is also the same guy who wore a Nazi uniform to a fancy dress party.

Er…. no.

It points out the huge flaw in British society where the guy is so cut-off from the rest of British society, he’s missed the fact it’s been an insult for the last thirty-or-so years. And unless said Army colleague goes around saying “Hello, I’m a Paki” (which, frankly, seems a tad unlikely), you certainly don’t call a friend that.

What amazes me are the people who rush to his defence. Have they not been anywhere in the last decade or so? You rather expect latent knee-jerk racism from his grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh, since he’s 2000 years old. But from a 24-year-old?

Personally, unless I see an actual apology from Harry - not his office or whatever - then I’ll continue to believe he’s ignorant at best, a Hooray-Henry racist thug at worst.

Originally published at almost witty. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[madmosh-uk.livejournal.com]

Already had a lot of this conversation on my blog, but to sum up:

1) It was 3 years ago. People fuck up, they change, they're in different situations, they grow up.

2) He was in the army. A coloured guy being called a "Paki" is getting off lightly, from what I gather. He went on to pass the course with the highest marks of any of the foreign candidates who joined, so it didn't seem to affect his work or commitment.

3) The "afflicted" chap himself hasn't come forward and complained. He doesn't seem to care enough to step into the limelight, so why should we be bothered?

4) I heard the term plenty of times when I was in Bradford - and often by the South Asian community itself. It seems they're taking the term "Paki" the same way the African American crowd are taking the word "xxxxxx" (you know the one, but someone will likely complain even if I use it in this context).

5) I still argue that the use is contextual. I've heard the soundtrack - Harry's voice doesn't sound in the least spiteful or bitter or abusive. If anything, it sounds like he's using the word as an abbreviation of "Pakistani" - in which case nobody would have said a word and this issue would never have come up.

I'd say the most offence in this day and age that a person could feel if the word "Paki" was thrown at them would be if they were Indian, or Bangladeshi and just pissed off at everyone using a generic term to describe a whole bunch of nationalities.

Oh, and PS

[madmosh-uk.livejournal.com]

Because you have to laugh at "*everything* in this life...

http://www.b3ta.com/board/9084859