All of the same race

SIR – I don’t know about all this clever stuff called ‘racism’ by those who are miffed at someone else’s use of language and become ‘outraged’ and ‘offended,’ usually for others, when a choice of words become the latest ‘racist’ attack on a person, usually African or Asian, but not exclusively.

It is impossible to describe one human being as being ‘racist’ towards another

of the same species. We are all of the same race – the human race.

It ought to be commonplace to call an offender ‘continent-ist’ when disparaging language is employed to decry or accuse someone from another hemisphere. There are five of those which we generally call continents ... with a few lesser lumps of land getting roped in, depending who you are talking to.

If you want, use some other form of words to emphasise the perceived slight one uses when referring to another nationality. For example: ‘colourist’ to describe verbal abuse of a white or black person – ‘Africa-ist, Asia-ist, Europe-ist, America-ist and

Australia-ist – covers most of the world where we see most action and life as we know it.

To take it a little further, and so nobody could take offence to the point of taking your

very life because the politically correct liberati will be ‘understanding’ if it is because

someone feels insulted by what is said to them, or about them; so why not outlaw the over-used terms ‘racist’ and ‘racism’ altogether?

Anyone who feels this is an attack on their nationality, colour, or place of birth, has my permission to feel so, but be assured it cannot be said to be ‘racist’. I am one of you.

Robert Sullivan,

Bantry.