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IS "MURZYN" word RACIST?


Polonius3 993 | 12,357
2 Dec 2008 #1
Black footballer Paulo Ferreira, who plays on Poland's national squad, said the word "Murzyn" in Polish is racist. Most Poles believe it to be is a netural, descriptive, generic term with no racial overtones. "Czarnuch" would be offensive.

He also said Tuwim's "Murzynek Bambo" should be removed from schools and lirbaries. Do you agree?
Seanus 15 | 19,672
2 Dec 2008 #2
Czarnuch is much stronger but Murzyn, with the correct intonation, is racist. Neutral my ass.
Misty 5 | 144
2 Dec 2008 #3
So people with Murzyn as a surname have a racist surname?
polishgirltx
2 Dec 2008 #4
if i want to buy 'black coffee' in the coffee shop in the us, should i rather ask for 'afroamerican coffee'?

;)

i used to know a family with the last name Murzyn... nobody was making any jokes about them...
osiol 55 | 3,921
2 Dec 2008 #5
There is the English surname Ramsbottom. It is still rude to call someone a ram's bottom, eh Seanus?

my ass.

Seanus 15 | 19,672
2 Dec 2008 #6
My ass is hip slang, like my n****. Yo, my ass it ain't

Hmm...the above proves that it's my bed time :(
McCoy 27 | 1,268
2 Dec 2008 #7
Black footballer Paulo Ferreira, who plays on Poland's national squad

???
osiol 55 | 3,921
2 Dec 2008 #8
hip slang

Being in the farmyard, perhaps we should familiarise ourselves with calf slang.
Kasz 1 | 75
2 Dec 2008 #9
well its hard topic... im from poland and when i say " Murzyn " i dont have nothing bad on mind, as far as i know those few black ppl they dont get it as offensive. And yea i belive " Czarnuch " it is offensive for me . But still this is very hard for black ppl to notice when someone offending them and when not. I play football with black ppl sometimes and rly i can say anything and they dont get it as a abusive, but same word in someone else mounth can hurt them rly bad... its about black ppl fears and suspicion about all non black... and i understand that ofc. its about time, more dif color skin ppl gona come to poland and then in few yr all that racist topics in tv,net etc will die. Ofc there goan be always some racist like in every country but we cant do anything with that. And Murzynek Bambo in same way can be taken as racist but i bet when Tuwim was writing it, he dont mind about anything like that. Those times (1894-1915) ppl, wasnt think in this way, for most poles someone black was almost same amazing as UFO so text " Murzynek Bambo w Afryce mieszkal" (Murzynek Bambo was living in Africa) was more like imagination about black ppl not racist poem.
northrop 1 | 30
2 Dec 2008 #10
???

??? indeed. Ferreira plays for Portugal.
McCoy 27 | 1,268
2 Dec 2008 #11
& hes aint negro
Matyjasz 2 | 1,544
2 Dec 2008 #12
A word in itself, and here I mean any word, is not offensive but the intentions can be. The word "murzyn" for me is a neutral word, however it can be used as a derogatory word if the person who uses it will have the intentions to offend.

Let’s take the word Paki for example. For a person from the US it’s just a short form of the word Pakistani. Nothing insulting about that. The situation is totally different in the UK where the word Paki is commonly known as a very racist term. It’s all about intentions.

And “Murzynek Bambo” is definitely not racist.
Polson 5 | 1,768
2 Dec 2008 #13
What should a man called 'Dick' think?..
nunczka 8 | 458
2 Dec 2008 #14
He also said Tuwim's "Murzynek Bambo" should be removed from schools and lirbaries. Do you agree?

I might agree if it would be "Murzynek Sambo"
Prince 15 | 590
2 Dec 2008 #15
/mapa/kompletny/murzyn.html

There is 2600 people with Murzyn surname in Poland. I doubt that they are black or they fell offended when somebody uses their surname...

I don't find Murzyn racist.
Matyjasz 2 | 1,544
2 Dec 2008 #16
There is 2600 with Murzyn surname in Poland.

I don't find Murzyn racist.

Ahh but have you met all of them? ;)

What should a man called 'Dick' think?..

Or DICKinSON? ;)
Polson 5 | 1,768
2 Dec 2008 #17
DICKinSON

Yuk. Death penalty, huh? ^^
Easy_Terran 3 | 312
2 Dec 2008 #18
"Murzynek Bambo" should be removed from schools and lirbaries

Long Live Political Correctness, whoo-hoo!!!!!
Bzibzioh
2 Dec 2008 #19
Problem is we don't have anything else in Polish than "murzyn". Do we? What else we can call black peoples from Africa so not to offend them?
McCoy 27 | 1,268
2 Dec 2008 #20
kuntakinte
Filios1 8 | 1,336
2 Dec 2008 #21
What else we can call black peoples from Africa so not to offend them?

Afrikanczycy? lol...
Moonlighting 31 | 234
3 Dec 2008 #23
I'm really annoyed by all that political correctness. Soon, each language and culture will have to loose their identity and references just because it annoys some minority. When it's not some minority, it's another one. Can't people just accept who they are?
ShelleyS 14 | 2,893
3 Dec 2008 #24
Or DICKinSON? ;)

I worked with a girl who married a guy called Hardcok - now that's an offensive surname :)

then in few yr all that racist topics in tv,net etc will die.

Nope, what will happen will be a lot of PC rubbish and having books removed and logos removed and anything else that might offend the guests in your country!

Should Cilla Black change her surname? Oh and my friend has an uncle Paki (pet name for Patrick in Ireland)

Welcome to our lovely multi-cultural society :)
Daisy 3 | 1,224
3 Dec 2008 #25
I used to know a man named Michael Hunt, he was known as Mike, honestly that's true, he had a real hang up about it
IronsE11 2 | 442
3 Dec 2008 #26
My aunt used to teach a young man from a religious family with the same surname. They called him Isaac.

True story.

Should Cilla Black change her surname? Oh and my friend has an uncle Paki (pet name for Patrick in Ireland)

Welcome to our lovely multi-cultural society :)

It's all about context, as has already been demonstrated:

A word in itself, and here I mean any word, is not offensive but the intentions can be. The word "murzyn" for me is a neutral word, however it can be used as a derogatory word if the person who uses it will have the intentions to offend.

Lotnik767 3 | 145
3 Dec 2008 #27
Q. IS "MURZYN" word RACIST?

A. Not at all it's who they are
Switezianka - | 463
3 Dec 2008 #28
MURZYN wasn't racist until the fashion for political correctness was imported to Poland from the US :P Without PC nobody would even think there can be something offensive about. Any word can be offensive if used with such intention. The racist word in Polish is CZARNUCH.

I've heard that African immigrants (mainly African students :) ) want themselves to be called CZARNOSKÓRZY (lit. black-skinned). But for me it's artificial.
lesser 4 | 1,311
3 Dec 2008 #29
Lets ban murzynek cake as well.

I've heard that African immigrants (mainly African students :) ) want themselves to be called CZARNOSKÓRZY (lit. black-skinned). But for me it's artificial.

They should call us białoskórzy (white-skinned) following this logic.
Switezianka - | 463
3 Dec 2008 #30
They should call us białoskórzy (white-skinned) following this logic.

LOL. Or maybe "bladolicy"? That just sounds so silly...

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