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As for the smoking ban, although I will not break the law I still think of it as my right to smoke inside my local public house, and the do-gooders who don't like it should sit outside or go to a nice little air wick scented cafe in a leisure centre. Sorry if this gets anyones' goat but smoking and pubs go together like bubble and squeak to me. They have done for centuries.
Before the smoking ban when we had smoking pubs, pubs with smoking and non-smoking areas, and non-smoking pubs, there was plenty of choice for everyone. The pubs had it right. It's just the MPs were bored and needed to look like they were doing something for the money, like they're doing now with their waste of time plastic bag talks (the supermarkets are doing enough to help thank you).
And now nearly every week in our local papers we hear of another great pub shutting because the smoking ban has all but ripped the heart out of our pubs.
You're right, I perhaps phrased it a bit harshly.
I guess what I am driving at is much of the focus on sexuality or race seems to emphasise the difference, not that we are all basically the same.
The 'fuss' I was refering to is people defining themselves almost purely by their race or sexual preference, a practice I've always found deeply strange.
I think the difference is that it shows more if somebody from a minority group sticks by the (sub)culture that they feel most comfortable in, if the culture and/or subculture is the norm.
If that makes sense.
That is very valid. I suppose what I am trying to get at is my desire for there not have to be support groups for this or that 'minority'.
Race is an almost entirely man made construct and sexuality really makes next to no difference to who you are - why do they continue to be such big issues?
Homophobia and racism runs deeper than hate crime though.
As thesite's BEM/POC rep :wave: (btw people this side of the pond don't generally go in for the POC thang!!!) I'd say that the lumping together can make things more complicated. Obviously we have some shared concerns but even more differing ones ie language, religion, culture etc
eg I have little in common with Somalians apart from skin tone, in fact I have more in common culturally in some aspects with White Britons. The trouble is grouping everyone together under race classifications means that issues get ignored or misunderstood.
Maybe it is different for POC/BEM then (hence I only talk for 'groups' in which I belong). What issues would you say are ignored or misunderstood?
One example would be the issues associated with being a refugee/asylum-seeker. I have heard strong anecdotal evidence of problems with children associated with the circumstances that lead to them coming to this country ie psychological trauma/PTSD from witnessing war, rape, genocide etc
This isn't an issue generally associated with people from West Indian backgrounds who traditionally make up the majority of the Black population. I think its something that seriously needs to be looked into considering this kind of trauma can manifest itself in behavioural problems that might be misidentified as criminal rather than a cry for help.
This is very true. I used to work for a big college and we had lots of kids from Somalia among other trouble spots and they really struggled to sit and learn. They were disruptive and occasionally violent, which given their recent past wasnt altogether surprising.
But how does having BME support groups harm this issue?
I'm specifically talking about the 'lumping together' of culturally different groups based on skin colour. Sometimes it just doesn't work as perceived members of the group have vastly different support needs to other members. Harm can be caused when those needs are unintentionally ignored because of a lack of awareness of the differing issues.