Hello,

I have a question about cultural differences.

I own a holiday rental house in France and received an email enquiry that included the sentence "We are a white South African family".

I found this very offensive, the implication to me being, "don't worry, we are not black!"

Am I right to read it in this way, or is it normal in South Africa for people to describe themselves as 'white South African' or 'black South African'?

Thanks for any input you can give me.

If you find that offensive, perhaps you need a thicker skin.

Mmm, sense a stir. So, they are describing themselves and you take offense. Perhaps you are the one with offensive issues.

Thought I would add that what is really the absolutely ignorance of some people is to assume just because of their nationality, these people are considered to be racist. Clearly indicative of their own prejudice. Thanks for exposing yourself to us all on the www!

Ermmm I think it's a sad state of affairs when people assume they're going to face prejudice for the country they come from.

Thanks for your responses. Sorry to say I don't really understand them. My objection has nothing to do with nationality. If I had an email asking to rent my house saying "We are a white English family" or "We are a white American family" my reaction would be the same, except in those cases I would know enough about the cultures of those countries to know the meaning of these statements. I don't know anything about the culture of South Africa, and was asking if this could be an innocent expression.

I think you got your answer.

You are right to pose the question.

The statement is not offensive in itself but tells you all you need to know about the people who made it!!!

Really? That in itself is a very racist statement .... it tells us all we need to know about you.

Offensive to whom? To you obviously yes.

I'm not sure thats actually the question you are trying to ask though.




Well, either that or they think that you may be are a racist!

1066

You are on shaky ground here dude, I have just seen the comment you posted on one of my threads and I consider that comment may possibly be racist.

You claim you are offended yet acknowledge you don't know the culture. So what does that say about your reaction based on an assumption of what these people had indicated about their description of themselves. They did not imply anything other than tell you a bit about themselves. There are many that discriminate against South Africans of all colour and creeds based on generalized assumptions. I still think this is a stir.

So ........ even though you found it offensive, did you rent your house to them?

Would you have been equally offended if they had emailed you and said they were a black south african family?

No it isn't normal, and even if it was, it wouldn't make it right. I think implication you have taken from it is 100% correct.

Absolute bullshit - in a nutshell! There is nothing normal about most of Africa. A continent in constant turmoil and divide. Just look at us, we are showing our differences. Oh, and just to make myself perfectly identifiable, I am purple and known to be a purple people eater. Discriminate against that!