French perfume-maker Jean-Paul Guerlain faces prosecution by anti-racist groups after telling a television interviewer that he “worked like a n*****” to produce one of his most successful scents.
— From Guerlain heir in racism storm at RFI. You can also read more at CNN. As it happens, I am on the road today so will be slow to answer comments; since this news is likely to upset many people, I do most kindly ask that everyone keep the conversation civil.
Update: for the most part people have remained civil, but the conversation is getting a little frayed around the edges and lots of varying viewpoints have already been expressed, so I'm closing the comments.
Certainly a stupid, thoughtless remark, but I’d stick it under the heading “Oh shut up, Grandpa” and move on!
Very stupid and thoughtless, but ditto…it is a shame to see this cap his career. He has a book just out and has just said he has probably done his last two fragrances (which I’ll announce tomorrow…the Arsene Lupin scents). And he has apologized profusely.
It’s disheartening to learn that someone revered in one area can be such a disappointment in others. Just because a person has a talented nose doesn’t mean they can’t be an insensitive jerk in other areas. An apology was absolutely necessary but still falls under the category of closing the barn door after the horse gets out. As for filing a lawsuit? That is a frivolous waste of court time and public expense. Last I knew, being a narrow-minded jerk might be offensive but it wasn’t a CRIMINAL offense. We already live in an overly litigious society, suing someone for having a big mouth doesn’t help anyone. I agree with Lilydale : “Oh shut up, Grandpa” and move on!
What Daisy said! You go girl.
It is really too bad…
yup, he’s had an illustrious career as a perfumer and now that will be tainted by these unfortunate words. I have no idea what his feelings truly are …and I don’t really think his political or social views really have anything to do with his history as a nose. I don’t suddenly dislike his fragrances….I’m just disappointed in his choice of words, yet , not knowing the man I’m not willing to make any judgements against him. (not that he’d be upset if I didn’t like him) 😉
i think I would prefer stupid and thoughtless, to sincerely meaning it! Lets hope it was stupid and impulsive and that he sincerely regrets it!!
Apologizing profusely is a good sign, so I agree with all of u above and….move on
This quote from the CNN report is very telling to me:
“Until now we thought that Mr. Guerlain was the ambassador of grace, and he made comments particularly disgraceful, even a bit foul,” Tin said.
“That’s why we are shocked. These comments are racist, of course, which harken back to the colonial period and it seems unacceptable. For now, we are planning to file a complaint,” he said.
My grandmother suffered from alzheimer’s and wasn’t diagnosed until it became extremely obvious. One of the first signs of the disease is a change in personality…this could explain his ahmm “lack of grace” in this instance.
I feel sympathy for him , for the company of Guerlain and for those who felt the sting of the racial slur. But I would hope that people would be able to forgive such a distinguished man and move on. Hanging on and spreading more hatred never does anyone any good. Otherwise, I feel there is no hope to heal the ever lingering wounds of racism in this whole wide world and I really don’t want to lose that hope. I ‘d be willing to bet Monsieur Guerlain would not want the next generation to lose that hope either.
Oh my. The second part of the comment, that he did not think a (rhythms with rigger) ever worked as hard he did when he created Samsara.
In the U.S., “anti-racism” groups could not sue, but employees could assert that his statement shows they were discriminated against.
Yeah, I don’t know think it’s worthy of a criminal or civil lawsuit here- but it may be in France. (being ignorant of the French legal system)
It is so incredibly unfortunate that he made these statements. I can understand that he comes from a different time and place, but that is no excuse (especially the second sentence!). It just poisons the Guerlain name and legacy, at least in my mind. I would not be surprised by a widespread boycott.
I was thinking of splurging on L’heurre Bleu, but won’t be now.
ah, true–I know nothing of the French legal system. However I certainly hope that there is not a boycott of Guerlain products….that would only serve to damage innocent employees of the company (who are probably just as offended as we are!). According to the article, he hasn’t been employed by Guerlain since 2002 , and he’s likely filthy rich already….so a boycott wouldn’t even touch him. He’s sure done a number on his personal reputation!
to avoid boycott today I ordered a L’Heure Bleue
see? now that’s humanitarianism at its best: Ami is looking out for the work-a-day guerlain staff that has a family to feed!
I would be very surprised by a widespread boycott. A blip in sales, maybe.
Oopsie just doesn’t quite cover it. How totally unfortunate something like that can still even be formulated in one’s brain. Seriously sad – but suing?
As a native French speaker, I have to put in my two cents here, as “travailler comme un nègre” is actually an old, attested French idiom. It means, more or less, “to work like a slave”, referring to an exhausting, arduous work, and it’s not racist per se (we still routinely refer to a ghostwriter as “un nègre”, without any racial slur intended ). So, it would be missing the point to be shocked by the sole use of the N-word.
Thing is, “travailler comme un nègre” is now obsolete, for obvious reasons, and the vast majority of French people didn’t realize he was “only” using an old idiom… so much that there was indeed an immediate outcry in France after M.Guerlain’s interview.
The real issue is actually what he said immediately afterwards: “not that N*** always worked that much, but well”.
I just don’t know what crossed his mind then. Maybe he panicked when he heard himself utter the N-word and just blabbered something (that worsened his case), but this indeed sounds embarrassingly colonial.
But we have to remember M.Guerlain’s age and social class, too…. I think his words “just” reflected certain – thankfully no longer socially acceptable – manners of speech and ways of thinking that may be typical of his time and milieu, more so than a real, personal hatred. Not that I’m excusing any of what he said, mind you, but to me, that makes him an old fart, for sure – just not a French Hitler. A lawsuit, a call for a total boycott of Guerlain (it’s starting over here)? Wayyyy overreacting, methinks.
As the sometimes not-very-proud granddaughter of 97 and 95 year-olds who do their share of hopelessly embarrassing un-PC mishaps, because they just don’t know any better, I’m firmly in the “shut up, grandpa” camp.
It’s good to have a good grasp of the background of the context. Thank you for that, and I agree with Natalie in the 1st comment.
Thank you for offering some additional context for us non-French (or young French :)).
As the horrified grandchild of people who think it’s politically correct to refer to Asian’s as “Orientals,” I too, place myself squarely in the “Shut up, grandpa” camp as well.
I was thinking of the same thing. My grandparents used to say some of the most horrific things, and it used to boggle my mind, since they (in my mind) should have been more sensitive, having endured their own discrimination. But we’re all ignorant about something, I guess.
Right on, Miss Kitty! Ignorance knows no race, religion, gender, age or orientation.
Not to mention social class.
Adding my own “merci” for your in put, Six. I thought there might be something to do with translation as well as a generational issue. Buckingham Palace is always having to issue apologies for things said by Prince Philip, he of the uber-privledged class and age group similar to M. Guerlain. I was young in the 70s but I used to hear the “n” word slung about often, even on television and in the movies. Fortunately it wasn’t a word that stuck in my vernacular, so I don’t have too much trouble *not* using it.
And Six, don’t feel ashamed of your grandparents if slurs are the worst of their habits. Old habits are hard to break and even more so as you become older, more stubborn and crotchety. lol A friend of mine who is a good 10 years younger than me is constantly correcting me when I refer to her as a “stewardess” not “flight attendant”! 😛
Six, I agree: As perfumeshrine puts it, most European languages have an equivalent of the expression “travailler comme un nègre” (an old and not-so-uncommon expression usually used as depreciative of the boss or the work) and “worked like a n*****” is quite a coarse/inaccurate translation of the expression.
The stupid and irritating boutade “Je ne sais pas si les nègres ont toujours travaillé, enfin” that followed, just shows that some people should better close it, and avoid making public statements. Definitely “shut up, grandpa!”!
What IS funny, is how promptly Guerlain said that JP wasn’t involved with the house since 2002: with two of his perfumes coming out now, and several collaborations through the years – attrape coeur was attributed to JP, eventually, as one of the many iterations of Shalimar light and more than one aqua allegoria. And what about spiritueuse double vanilla?
When his name reassured perfume lovers, his involvement with the house was boasted, but when JP becomes embarrassing…
Jean-Paul Guerlain dérape : “Pour une fois, je me suis mis à travailler comme un nègre. Je ne sais pas si les nègres ont toujours travaillé, enfin…”
I assume the word “derape” means something along the line of “explained,” in which case I would (with admittedly poor command of French” translate the statement as “For a time, I worked myself like a negro. I do not know if the negroes always worked so hard. Finally…:”
Te question of whether “negre” should be translated as Negro, Colored Person (which was once the polite name for African American, but by the 1950 was regarded as retrograde), “–igger,” does make a difference. However, the sentiment is still offensive, reviving notions that Blacks have themselves never worked incredibly hard either for others or for their own business efforts.
I have never heard the phrase “work like a negro,” although in the U.S. one sometimes uses the phrase “work like a dog.” Since dogs tend not to be terribly hard work creatures, (most dogs do sleep all day).I suspect at some point, Americans substituted the word dog into the European phrase. (Yes, I am aware that such substitution itself equated Blacks with animals).
Still, if the phrase has gone out of use in Europe, I suspect, it did so because most Europeans have recognized the phrase was troublesome.
Several people posting have suggested that M. Guerlain should be excused because of his age. Does this mean that he should be excused because racism is permissible in older generations who should never have become enlightened as times have changed? Does this mean that M. Guerlain might no longer in absolute full possession of his faculties? In either case, he probably should not be serving as a spokesman for the product, even as a consultant.
Dilana, I agree that if you literally translate the sentence it sounds terrible.
what I want to point out is that is that when you translate “he put everything but the kitchen sink” into another language, you should translate the meaning of the expression for the people who use it, not the words. This expression means to work really hard… and it says it with a stupid and irritating choice of words, but that’s the meaning.
I don’t really think JP is excusable because of his age, but I assume (or wish to assume) that at first he didn’t fully realise what he was saying and then…. As someone said, he used a common expression, realised it was a risky one, and tried to make a stupid joke to cover it up. And things got much much much worse, becasue his boutade is so dumb. But I think that filing a lawsuit against him, as some french associations plan to do, is almost as stupid.
Zazie, I totally agree with you
yes, shut up granndpa!!! and file suits you idiots!!!! just like the americans of color a few years back who wanted to sue some commentator or other for stating that ‘school budgets were really niggardly………….’
ignorance is everywhere……
sometimes i just wish people–people everywhere–would lighten up some…..yes, what he said was racist and gross and disgusting, but, for sure, nobody died because of it. yes, his reputation as a man died a bunch, but he is still a perfumer of note, after all. we cannot eliminate every objectionable statement or word or whatever from everything…….sometimes, it is best just to get over it……
Indeed. Shame on Guerlain (the company) for being so self-serving. All they have to do is quickly aplogize also for the faux pas and say excuse him for his age and move on. There is no need for them to distance themselves from him for this. If it wasn’t for him, there would be no “House of Guerlain” to protect. They should be ashamed of their own behavior. Whatever happened to loyalty?
Dear Dilana,
Sorry, we must sue you.
Yours sincerely,
The dogs
I apologize to canines everywhere.
Dilana 😀
There are plenty of people in the U.S. today who use the phrase “work like a negro” or its less polite version with exactly the same racist connotations. We must have grown up in different areas!
I wonder when “like a dog” was substituted in areas where the more racist version became unacceptable.
I also grew up where people still would occasionally say “That’s mighty white of you!”, indicating that it was magnanimous, kind, or fair – a wildly inaccurate phrase, I thought even as a child, as well as also quite racist (intimating that there is an innate difference between people based on the color of their skin). Or the similar idea “I’m free, white, and 21, I can do what I want.” You’ve never heard that one?
*feeling rather rural*
Does anyone know what the “politically correct” word (i.e., the one used by liberals, mainstream newspapers etc.) is for what in America are now called “Black” or “African American”?
I know that I have sometimes seen the word “Black” in Brittish mysteries, etc. to refer to both Asians (particularly Pakistani and Indian”) as well as Africans and descendants of Africans.
Dilana, I don’t know that it will ever be decided. When I was in college in the PC-rabid early 90s, if you said anything *but* African-American, you were looked down on as provincial and stupid (and I mean stupid, not ignorant). But of the African-American people I worked with they referred to themselves as “black”, which is the term I was used to using as I grew up. They also refer to us light-skinned European descendants as “white” and I actually referred to myself as white not “Caucasian” – unless filling out a form. 🙂 And my Indian and Filipino friends refer to themselves as “brown”. So, what I’m trying to say is, I’ll call you whatever you are comfortable with and if I offend you in some way, for pity’s sake, please let me know and don’t sue me!
Same issues at my college. The phrase “people of color” was also considered the plus ultra correct, since it would recognize the multi-racial heritage of many. On the other hand, my roommate (descendant of German Americans and Appalachian Scoth Iris) commented that she was a person of color-pink white!. Ultimately I agree with TIger Woods, who when asked about his race, answered “Human?”
However, I was really asking a very straigtforward question, what is the French translation of “Black” (i.e. most common, non-perjoritive description)
Love the pink-white distinction! I’m more of the yellow-white myself. Ah! That just reminded me of my friend Alex, who was Japanese, who always used to say “They (authority) can’t keep the Yellow Man down!”, but usually during situations where he had to appear in traffic court or pay for a parking ticket. 😛
Anyhoo, I can’t really speak of the European press, but I believe the PC term used in the American press is still “African-American”.
I just remember that about that time of the early 90s, there came the expression “vertically challenged” for “short”. And there may have been substitions for the word “fat” but it certainly didn’t stop frat guys from yelling the three-letter word from their cars or on the street. I’ll always thank my friend Josh for introducing me to the word “zaftig” though. 😀
I am short.
I am not vertically challenged. To suggest that I am vertically challenged, indicates to me that there is something “challenged” or lacking in my height. This, to me, is far more of a put-down than to simply identify me as short.
Others are vertically excessive.
Thanks for the “eye-opening”. Perspective is a valuable thing.
Actually, it is just as time-honored – and just as racist – an idiom in English as well.
Il n’a pas utilisé le mot «esclave». En Amérique, ce n’est pas OK, pas plus d’appeler quelqu’un un nègre. Votre âge n’est pas important.
I’m glad a native French speaker weighed in on this, Six.
Also, it’s strange to me that in the media that the word noir or nègre is being translated as “the n-word”… which I’m pretty sure it is clearly NOT equivalent to, no?
I worked with a woman about 20 years my senior who often peppered her speech with Yiddish who more than once said, “They expect us to work like schvartse.” While it is certainly NOT a polite expression and is based on bad stereotypes (even if you twist it to think they’re “positive” stereotypes, as in “they’re hard workers”), there’s still, to my mind, a degree of difference between that and the n-word.
Just my 2 cents.
I’m not a native speaker, but I’ve lived in France and Belgium. I’m familiar with the expression too–in fact, I think I first met it in the very high-minded children’s books of the Comtesse de Ségur (http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/13456/pg13456.html, in Ch. XXV)., where it means “to work very hard”, with positive connotations.
There are many things that bother me about that statement, but one of the things is, as Six mentioned, his follow-up comment which just speaks volumes about his sense of entitlement. First, that statement is just wrong. Wrong in fact and wrong in all of its awful implications. Secondly, to be an heir to a multimillion-dollar fortune working in a clean lab in a nice office with hundreds of workers and expensive materials at your every command– to contrast that with the backbreaking physical labor performed under heartbreaking conditions–well, I’m just astounded.
Yes, I was thinking it was “worked like a slave” or “slaved away” so the first part of what he said could be dismissed. But the next phrase should certainly not have been said. And on the video clip I watched, he said it with a nonchalance (he didn’t seem panicked) that was indeed disturbing. It’s clear he comes from another era and social mileu and is quite ignorant about much of the real world.
Is that how you read the 2nd part of his statement? If you take the first part of his statement in the sense of ‘ i worked like a slave’ as you say, i took the second part as meaning ‘ sometimes i worked even harder than slaves did’ – not as suggesting that ‘slaves’ did not do any work at all but that sometimes he worked even harder than they did
Very stupid remark indeed. It doesn’t really surprise me because in the perfume industry Mr Guerlain is notorious not only for his genius but also for his “acid” tongue and tough manners. He speaks like a colonialist which is awfull of course but, given his age, it is easier to understand (understand not approve).
This is not meant to be a challenge to your statement, Revelflower but rather a curiosity on my part – but when you refer to the industry, are you speaking as someone from the industry or with a direct connection to within?
I’m wondering, if only those could leave a comment who never said anything that anyone else in this world would find offensive or non-PC, how many comments we would have…
everybody is a racist, to some degree
but everyone should work really hard not to be one
I agree totally! I live in the UK & have to say that some of the most racist comments i have ever heard have been from black people towards whites/indians & anyone who happened to be non-black! I have friends of mine who are black & are very PC when it comes to racial issues yet will happily engaged in homophobic comments which they don’t seem to view as being just as bad!
Sure, working on a perfume = working hard in fields day in and day out and being treated like dirt.
Um, whatever.
When I first read this post my immediate reaction was “Oh God, you idiot – how could you say that?”
It is hard to watch someone we respect and revere for the beauty they have created, such as Mr. Guerlain, show us that they are not what we imagined them to bed.
The truth is that most people are not all good or all bad. Every one on this board had had family, friends, lovers or worked for someone who has uttered phrases like Mr. Guerlain.
The point is that we recognize this is wrong and that we teach our children to speak civilly and to BELIEVE that all creeds and cultures be treated with respect.
Gee, Mr. Guerlain- What would you call all those other people in the world who work hard?
On second thought, your opinion really doesn’t matter.
Dolly do you really think that the only opinions that matter are the ones you agree with ? Surely everyone is entitled to an opinion whether you like it or not
And she’s entitled to her opinion that she doesn’t care about his opinion! 😉
That’s our Kitty!
hi miss Kitty, how was your first day? and what scent did you wear eventually?
I start the 1st, so I’m still in the planning stages. 🙂 Thanks for asking, though! So nice of you to think of me. I do sort of have a half-plan: Crazy Lullibelle (or whatever) and the Poppies solid the first two days, see how that goes, then transition into a few dabs of SSS Opal… and then see how that goes. I don’t have a plan beyond that, yet. Working on it!
wow, cool plan miss kitty. keep my fingers crossed for you on the 1st : )
You know Nathan, it is 2010 and I was raised to be prejudiced against people of bad intent, not their color, sexual orientation,gender, age, social class,etc. Yes Mr.Guerlain is entitled to his opinion. It’s a shame that these attitudes still exist.
I’m not sure we can claim to *know* his intent, without personally knowing the man. I know I’ve said equally awkward things myself, but anyone who knows me can tell you whether I had bad intent, or unfortunate phrasing. Perhaps I’m naive, and he’s a racist pig, but I think if he’d chosen to use the word slave instead, the resulting “outcry” would have been nothing more than an eyeroll. Personally, I’d give him the benefit of the doubt, unless it came to light he had a history of nasty remarks or behaviors.
Boo, I love your attitude : D
Very well put Boojum. I too wonder why he chose that word and not something else, like the example you gave. Everyone at some point in their lives can encounter some form of discrimination. No one is exempt, however wrong it may be.
im not French so cant claim to know the history of the colloquialism he used – maybe its just been badly translated by a newspaper wanting to make a story. As you mentioned re slavery, at work we always call our bosses slave-drivers – is that racist because it refers to slavery & identifies us with slaves & in some way belittles the real suffering that real slaves suffered? I find living in a PC world where what you can & cant say changes every 6 months very confusing!
Nathanthomas: I think it’s safe to say that the “n-word” has been on the un-PC list for a very long time and can safely be considered offensive, regardless of which half of the year somebody uses it in.
That is certainly not the point I was trying to make. Of course I don’t think the only opinions that matter are the ones I agree with. I don’t see where in my post one would read into that, but like I posted earlier, ignorance knows no boundaries, whether they are racial, gendered, etc. I agree with Miss Kitty- We are all ignorant about something…….
It’s not just a tasteless thing to say; it doesn’t even make sense. What a shame.
People should really think before they speak.
You just put the icing on the cake, Copasetic!
I haven’t read all the comments yet but my reaction to the first one is that attributing Guerlain’s racist comment to a “grandpa” as a way of excusing it is in itself ageist. I am a grandmother (“grandma”?) and would never use the “n” word! I was brought up in a community in which the “n” word was used casually but I am an adult now and have learned manners and consideration for others. One would expect that Guerlain would have learned the same things particularly as he was traveling in a fairly elite and educated world. I would not feel comfortable buying his perfumes at this point.
Oh dear! I really believe no one meant any ageist slurs. I can’t speak for them, but i remember thinking the same myself. So my apologies to you – I do not mean anything negative.
Being PC can be difficult. Maybe there is a reason “silence is golden”. Unfortunately it is not very conducive to communication.
Claresparkle- Absolutely! Excusing behavior like that is just that- an excuse.
Bringing the discussion back to perfume, I found the following comments on race and perfume in an article called “Color Coded” originally published in the New York Times and indexed on Chandler Burr’s website:
The article begins with a conversation he had with a white friend who noted that everyone who had complimented her on a new perfume was Black. Burr says he was not surprised because:
“Tastes in art, fashion, music, food and books vary between cultures (indeed, that’s what creates and defines cultures), and the perfume business has known this for years. Kenzo’s Jungle, for example, is spicy and strong and sells well in the heavily black Caribbean. But it is loathed in Japan, where it’s anathema to draw attention to yourself: customers would step back from salespeople and motion frantically to avoid getting the scent on them.
[rest of quote removed by editor: that is more copyrighted text than you can repeat here, sorry — people can of course look up the original article]
Fascinating! I knew there were cultural differences, just not to that degree.
I remember reading this. Very interesting stuff. I have noticed a similar pattern among my friends.
I wonder if the fact that my perfume tastes are all over the place has anything to do with the face that I am a racial mutt 😛
Lol – Good one!
There is so much about these people whose work we admire, yet know so little about. Some of the greatest artists in history are also some of the biggest jerks, yet we still continue to admire their artistic achievements.
I don’t think I can stop admiring the beauty of Chamade and Samsara just because they were created by an over-privileged man who is out of touch with – and therefore insensitive to the real world. I just think it’s a shame – and as others have said – an unfortunate way to cap his otherwise very distinguished career…
What I love about fragrance is that it is is about self and the personal experience you, the user, have with it. To have a good or bad experience, doesn’t depend on what your race, ethnic origin, sex, age, politics, how much weight you gained or lost etc. It is pure – you and the scent. It’s one of the few things that if it works you absorb all of the positives associated with it (beautiful, handsome, confident, elegant, etc). But if it doesnt smell good on you – you don’t absorb the negatives – you just feel bad about the fragrance. I’m choosing not to spend anytime allowing his comment to negatively influence my relationship with Guerlain specifically or scent in general. Moving on.
In my country, or rathermore, in my province to “work like a n****” is not really a used expression, but it is know, and it’s not seen as racism, but more like, as if you said I worked really hard on something, so, I do not think that JPG having said that is terrible, though he could’ve use another expression.
Disrespect is disrespect. Now back to the perfume!!
As a native French speaker myself, I agree with Six: the phrase ‘travailler comme un nègre’ doesn’t really have racist connotations. In fact, I would even say that it is a testament to how hard black people, i.e. slaves, worked. Of course, JPG should have stopped there: as Six says, it’s the second part of the statement that is objectionable.
But JPG did *not* use the ‘n’-word: ‘nègre’ does not translate here as ‘n*****’ here. There is no French equivalent of that word: the context determines how the word ‘nègre’ is to be translated.
If he’d used the more common phrase ‘travailler comme un forçat’ (to work like a convict, like someone condemned to hard labour), there would have been no hoo-ha. The fact that he didn’t use that innocuous phrase is probably significant.
Still, I wonder how many commenters (here and elsewhere) are black: surely, they, and only they, have the right to say whether they find what JPG said offensive (after being told the exact meaning of what he said, not the version meant to provoke outrage). I am Jewish and no one who is not Jewish can tell *me* whether someone’s statement is or isn’t anti-Semitic, or can be more upset than I am by it when it is.
Bela, with all due respect, I completely disagree with your last point. I think it is imperative that people are free to speak out against offensive talk whenever and wherever it occurs, to or in front of anyone. I would not like to live in a world where only “authentic” individuals get to determine whether I am to be offended by disrespectful anti-Semitic, homophobic or racist talk.
I have to agree with you there, too, Erin. Everyone has different life experiences that have shaped them, no matter who they are or where they’re from. The more views and opinions we hear, the better. But the better you speak, the longer I’ll be inclined to listen! 😀
LaMaroc: Agreed – people are too various and mutil-faceted for a blanket rule to work. One of the problems with the argument that you must be black to determine whether this is offensive or not is: how do you determine when a mixed race person can be in a position to determine whether this is offensive? Do you have to have at least one black parent? My mother is half-Native Canadian (Mohawk nation): do I have permission to be offended by the very prevelant anti-“Indian” remarks made in my area?
I agree that everyone should be allowed to comment and give their ‘opinion’, but I believe that only the people directly concerned ‘can’, i.e. are in a position, to say whether something is *actually* racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, etc. Some of the reactions, coming presumably from white people who have never experienced prejudice and who possibly have forebears who acted on their prejudices, have been out of proportion with the offence. In French we call it ‘être plus royaliste que le roi’ (to be more of a royalist than the king). It verges on hypocrisy, imo.
Certainly, my bilingual black friend who saw this yesterday was saddened and offended and told me so. I understand what you’re saying about hypocrisy, Bela, but I still diagree. I was disturbed, upset and, yes, offended when I found out a few years ago that my beloved paternal grandfather, who had the greater part of his knee shot off in France in WWII, told me he didn’t believe the Holocaust happened. I don’t believe I should have checked with my Jewish friends to see if they were hurt before telling him how offenisve his remarks were.
“Never experienced prejudice”? Unless you were raised in a void, that is actually impossible.
I have to say, as offensive as the “n” word is–and I would NEVER use it–I have still heard it used quite casually by some people of my parents’ generation. Why they have not figured out just how offensive it is I cannot explain, except that old habits and old attitudes die hard. I am in my mid-40’s, and over the last 20 years in a traditionally male-dominated field (I am an analytical chemist), I myself have been on the receiving end of some horrifyingly sexist comments. I have been told right to my face that married women should not be employed outside the home and that women shouldn’t be in positions of authority because their hormonal fluctuations prevent them from making rational decisions. Many of these comments were made by people currently in their 40’s and 50’s, so they *should* have known better. I am just grateful that as the older workers (who are the worst offenders) retire and die off, they are being replaced by younger workers who grew up with working mothers and who are less prejudiced.
50_Roses, I’m so sorry! Isn’t it crazy? I think as long as there are men and women in the world there will always be these problems. I have seen harrassment of many kinds at every job I’ve had and have been on the receiving end. You can go to HR if things get really out of control, but I’ve experienced the backlash this can cause and often it’s worse! Until HR improves, I’ve decided to deal with much of it on my own. You more than likely intimidate the men who say these stupid things. Laugh at these comments and the guys’ll either think you don’t value their opinion or that you have a good sense of humor. Win/win! Use that female power and throw it right back at ’em!
You are obviously a fiercely intelligent woman, 50_Roses. Don’t let any of those old crotchety bastards tell you otherwise!
I was always afraid to go to HR as well. It has gotten better over the years, and it has been quite a while since I have encountered anything really blatant. As I mentioned, some of the worst offenders are gone now, and the ones who are left have been forced to recognize that I am very good at what I do. It also has gotten better as more women have entered the field. When I started 20 years ago, I was the only female chemist in my workplace, and in fact, only 10% of the employees in my department were women. We now have about 1/3 fewer total employees (doing more work with fewer people), but about 25% of the total number are women, including 4 chemists. There is strength in numbers. Conflict and prejudice will always exist, yes, but attitudes do change, it just takes time, sometimes generations of time.
More power to 50!
50 Roses- I cannot believe that you had to endure this. I have heard some male co-workers make comments to certain women in various jobs I have had over the years things that I have too much respect for my fellow bloggers to repeat here, but you get the idea. They too were afraid to report it. If it is any consolation, my theory is that anyone who feels threatened by another individual on an intellectual level resorts to that kind of cheap and disgusting behavior.
To me freedom of choice is not about choosing where we want to shop or what perfume we want to wear, or where we want to eat dinner…that is feedom of taste or preference. Our freedom of choice is to choose between doing good(and that involves speech) or bad, being positive or negative…our freedom of choice is in our behaviour!
He chose negative, which breeds darkness. I would not talk about my dog like that, let alone another human being. For that is what sets us apart from the animals-the ability to be good.
That being said, the consequences need to be balanced….which in this world is hard to find…so I say lets move on again
I find it fascinating that in this day and age an off-the-cuff remark can destroy a person. We are so over-informed – before the internet, how many people would know about this? How many days would it take outraged letters to the editor to appear in the newspaper? They would publish maybe 2 and it wold be over. And hopefully someone would do a little research and not do a knee-jerk translation to “n*****”.
Yes, it may have been inappropriate, but nothing to inspire outrage and boycotts. Good grief. As said above, who here can really cast the first stone??
Yes what a sad, wrong thing for him to do. It has tarnished his own reputation and the brand.
It’s also sad how many anti “Political Correctness” people came out of the woodwork to complain about how hard and confusing and frustrating it is for them to be labelled a racist when they’re just speaking plainly, (only a couple on here thankfully but plenty on another forum I visited.) It’s actually not difficult or confusing to be “politically correct”, in fact it’s easy to do if you if you’re conscious and mindful of how your view of the world differs from other people.
It’s definitely not being sensitive to decry the sort of comments Guerlain made. I’m glad he apologised immediately, and I hope the negative publicity will stop other elderly French people from forgetting the colonial skeletons buried not too far back in their closet.
I am sorry for the americans fellows here but Europe doesn’t take political corectness to such an extend. We are not so sensitive here about a single word used, we rather consider attitudes and how they are expressed. Of course, it’s the job of anti-racists groups to watch and point out these kind of remarks. But the general public won’t be so affected as you there by this solely unhappy word.
Anyway, I would like to be a fly in Sylavaine Delacourte room when she goes to deal with that. I suppose american market hurts. Hard job.
Our voices are powerful.
Words can cause hurt and misunderstanding, intended or not.
They can also heal, and help to bring about unity.
Choose words that heal, words that unify, words that commend ourselves to others.
Our voices are powerful.