Friday, 16 September 2011
ABC’s plea to A**le to revoke "racist" label
In Australia, the national broadcaster, the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) has a TV programme called Spicks and Specks. It is a trivia programme about popular music, hence the name (spicks and specks = unimportant, insignificant, trivial; also a reference to the Bee Gees song of the same name).
In the United States, "spic" (note the different spelling) is a racial slur against people of Latin American descent.
In the iOS App Store, the name of an app based on the TV programme has been changed to "S***ks and Specks".
In a nod to consistency, if not rationality, the name of the Bee Gees song has suffered the same fate in the iTunes Store.
However, one racial slur A**le has overlooked is that amongst indigenous Americans, the term a**le (red on the outside, white on the inside) is used to mean someone who has lost touch with their cultural identity or has otherwise betrayed themselves or others of their culture.
How about it A**le?
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