Racism

[brommers]

This morning I happened to accompany three overseas friends to a certain DIY 'professional' home store adjacent to the Superhighway to buy items like household fixtures etc. As we were walking around we came across a prominent display of floor brushes & mops etc branded BLACK MAN. As a person who has lived in South Africa and been through all the racism there I found that for a Thai national chain to stock & display such a blatantly derogatory brand was deeply offensive.

I have tried to reach the company via their website Contact Us section but after four attempts and three phone calls I was not able to make contact.

I have taken this matter up with the SA embassy and with a Johannesburg radio station & hope that this matter is resolved. In the meantime I urge anyone with a sense of human decency NOT to patronise this store.

[NaiGreg]

I have not seen the display that you are referring to but I believe it is intended as a tribute to the glory, honor and history of the BLACK MAN and you have completely misconstrued the message behind the product branding. Shame on you.

There is a competing product called WHINY-WHITE-MAN chrome polisher that some people have found offensive as well.

[Dellboy218]

Its a common brand available everwhere.

This has to be a wind up.

[Ulysses G.]

Do they also carry Darkie toothpaste by any chance?

[mrclough]

No offence meant in any way at all but you may as well book a ticket now if you're going to create a fuss everytime you see or hear anything that can be classed as racist whilst you're in Thailand.

If you are not a Thai national you will not be treated with equality most of the time and the more time you spend here the more you will see this.

Go to the zoo and pay more as a foreigner, or even the hot springs. This is of course unless you take your Thai driving license with you.

As I said, I mean no offence in anyway by this comment. I just wanted to make you aware that racism is common here and occurs on a daily basis in some way or other.

[realthaideal]

Fight the System ! Take the Power Back !

Or.....

Leave your easily offended sensibilities back home.

Come on, you've been here awhile. It's just a picture. See it through their eyes. They dress their kids in shirts with pictures of pot leaves and more, FCS. They just see a picture, no value judgment assigned to it. Not think too much.

I'd even venture that if it isn't a wind-up and you are for equality, you'd do better to invest your time going to volunteer with an organization aiding Burmese refugees here, rather than trying to contact a nebulous company. Make a real impact - today.

[Jingthing]

They're good products. I recommend them highly.

[MrBrad]

If you are not a Thai national you will not be treated with equality most of the time and the more time you spend here the more you will see this.

Even if you are a Thai national, you will experience inequality. That's the way the culture is and has been forever. I've heard it said that you can take the entire population of the country and line them up, and always someone will have to show deference to a superior, whether because of age, education, skin tone, wealth, family name, military or police rank, monastic order, and so on. And they like it that way, or it wouldn't be so.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Dude.. <deleted>.

[happyrobert]

Try to get the company to agree to change it to "Person of Color" mops and brooms.

Sorta looses its ring, huh?

[powderpuff]

President Grant, impressive as always.

[cardholder]

I think you have too much time on your hands.

Thailand is as racist as anywhere I have been - I stopped being shocked when my girlfriend referred to blacks as 'chocolate men' .

[Langsuan Man]

[whybother]

I think you have too much time on your hands.

Thailand is as racist as anywhere I have been - I stopped being shocked when my girlfriend referred to blacks as 'chocolate men' .

That's ridiculous. They're not "chocolate men", they are "chocolate coloured men".

[Beetlejuice]

They're good products. I recommend them highly.

I expect you do, providing these products names do not pertain to your religion and your own race of course.

As one poster has already mentioned; this is Thailand and we are foreigners here, so let the whole thing wash over your head.

If some find these products offensive, then the simple answer is, don`t buy them. Hit them in the till and ignore it, is the best way.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I think you have too much time on your hands.

Thailand is as racist as anywhere I have been - I stopped being shocked when my girlfriend referred to blacks as 'chocolate men' .

Classy girlfriend.

[powderpuff]

The OP is trying to make a lot out of nothing.

But I'm sure the South African government is gonna be all over this. LOL.

[Jingthing]

They're good products. I recommend them highly.

I expect you do, providing these products names do not pertain to your religion and your own race of course.

...

No, you di'int ... yes you did ...

That's insulting and wrong and typical of your weird personal vendetta against me, so stop it please, once and for all, OK?

As I posted before (but it appears was deleted, mysterious?!?) I would be most happy (and amused) to buy a "Jewboy" Money Counting machine IF I was ever fortunate enough to require such a device. But I don't expect a need for it, brokeassed as I am.

I repeat, try the Black Man products, you will love them!

BTW, for those with black friends back in the home countries, they make great stocking stuffers.

Edited March 23, 2011 by Jingthing

[transam]

Because of people like you the UK is going down hill fast. TAKE ANOTHER LOOK, at other stuff for sale that has WHITE man references. When l was a kid we had the black and white minstrel show, white men singing BLACK songs but a crime now. GET a LIFE.

[Jingthing]

Are minstrel shows REALLY a crime, or merely criminally bad taste?

[BB1955]

Maybe they will discount the brushes to get rid of them and we can all go buy them and get a deal .....

[transam]

Are minstrel shows REALLY a crime, or merely criminally bad taste?

Noooo, the cast dressed up in great gear, made up to look, eeeer black and sang great stuff, long time ago though as we hardly EVER saw a black person. Nooooooooo bad reflection on black folks.

Imagine in Africa and a national dressed like a white man, put talc on his face and sang My Way, any problem, Nooooooo. Fun.

[bifftastic]

Because of people like you the UK is going down hill fast. TAKE ANOTHER LOOK, at other stuff for sale that has WHITE man references. When l was a kid we had the black and white minstrel show, white men singing BLACK songs but a crime now. GET a LIFE.

I think, if you take a look at the Black and White Minstrel Show, it could be classed as a crime on many other levels too!

To the OP;

I do think that it would be difficult to explain to a Thai company all the nuances of having cleaning products associated with black people. Even if you got past that, you'd probably get a response something like 'so, in your country this would be bad, right? Because in your country, you treated black people badly, right? So, because of what happened in your country, we should now, even though we've barely even heard of your country and most people would have difficulty even pointing to it on a map, not have a company called 'Black Man' right?'

I think that would generate the 'my country not you country' response and any boycott you organise would struggle to achieve the results obtained by the boycott of South African companies during the apartheid regime, which, as far as I recall, had more objectionable policies than selling mops, but good luck with it anyway

[Jingthing]

African men in Thailand wouldn't be granted WORK PERMITS to do cleaning work in Thailand.

So the products are stereotyping a group of people to do this lower level work in a country where you never see them doing this lower level work?

It really doesn't mean the same thing it would in a western country racialized on black-white grounds.

Next ...

Edited March 23, 2011 by Jingthing

[Gonzo the Face]

Brings something to mind.

Some years ago, one of the Bond girls was named ' Honor Blackman '.

By the opinion of some, she should be entitled to a double whammy.

Black as to objectional color/colour

&

Man and gender specificity

Her name perhaps would be better or more P/C as

Honor Transparentperson

[whatsupdoc]

I once saw a boy in Carrefour wearing a t-shirt with NSDAP (and the full text of what it stands for in German) along with a big swastika.

Now THAT can be called offensive.

But I am quite sure the poor boy didn't have a clue what kind of shirt he was wearing.......

[cardholder]

I think you have too much time on your hands.

Thailand is as racist as anywhere I have been - I stopped being shocked when my girlfriend referred to blacks as 'chocolate men' .

Classy girlfriend.

Just Thai.

[transam]

I once saw a boy in Carrefour wearing a t-shirt with NSDAP (and the full text of what it stands for in German) along with a big swastika.

Now THAT can be called offensive.

But I am quite sure the poor boy didn't have a clue what kind of shirt he was wearing.......

In Ubon there selling red shirts with the black and white Swastika on . Of course the lads think it looks cool. .

I get angry and tell the mrs, but she has never heard of the second world war.

[CMSteve]

Ok ok.... at risk of deletion, I guess I'm the one that's going to have to ask.......

by any chance, do the mops have extra long handles?

Does anyone take offense to the other post in the CM section about black chickens? Who has the right to be offended on that one? The blacks, chinese, or just chickens in general?

I have not seen the display that you are referring to but I believe it is intended as a tribute to the glory, honor and history of the BLACK MAN and you have completely misconstrued the message behind the product branding. Shame on you.

There is a competing product called WHINY-WHITE-MAN chrome polisher that some people have found offensive as well.

Edited March 23, 2011 by CMSteve

[jdinasia]

No offence meant in any way at all but you may as well book a ticket now if you're going to create a fuss everytime you see or hear anything that can be classed as racist whilst you're in Thailand.

If you are not a Thai national you will not be treated with equality most of the time and the more time you spend here the more you will see this.

Go to the zoo and pay more as a foreigner, or even the hot springs. This is of course unless you take your Thai driving license with you.

As I said, I mean no offence in anyway by this comment. I just wanted to make you aware that racism is common here and occurs on a daily basis in some way or other.

Your post doesn't give a single demonstration of 'racism'.

Nationalism? possibly. An assumption that a foreigner isn't a tax-payer, probably.

to the OP Brommers .... honestly if you get worked up that much over PC crap, you really should just head back home now.

Edited March 23, 2011 by jdinasia