Had my thoughts of political correctness, gone wrong?
I watched a couple of Dads interact with their children in Bunning’s the other day. I feel quiet judgemental looking back. One of the Dads had picked up a rope and seemingly joked to his daughter while giving his mate the elbow “listen to this”. He showed his daughter the rope and laughed, “it`s a black fella`s rope, look it`s got black fella colours red, black and yellow”. The two blokes continued to shop. I recall thinking to myself as I maintained focus on finding what I wanted on the shelf; how rude these two blokes were, to be instilling racism in this little girl, who looked all of about four.
As the Dad returned the rope to the shelf, I found what I needed and headed out of the isle with my purchase. This little girl skipped and followed as the two blokes also left the isle. The little girl skipped and began to sing at the top of her voice, a song about the pride she had in her “red, black and yellow” flag. This made me glance up at the two blokes who I now recognised to be Indigenous Australians.
This made me reflect on what is appropriate to call an Indigenous Australian. Had my thoughts of political correctness, gone wrong?
What do I like to be called? Do I mind what people call me? Do I mind what others call my children?
What do you think?
If your husband calls you “sugar cake” is it appropriate for others to call you “sugar cake”?
If a young girl refers to herself as "fat” should others then start to call her “fat”?
If you know “Mr Smith” (a teacher) outside of school does this mean you can call him “Tim” in the classroom?
Have we lost some of our old school manners to the detriment of an inclusive and respectful society?