When you remember what things were like back in those days it makes me realise that the occasional, "pc gone mad" over the top reaction to non existent rascism these days, is a price worth paying.
As well as the Only Fools and Horses episode mentioned, I remember the very rarely repeated, first episode of Minder, where some black kids are holding up a laundrette and Arthur and Terry spend the whole hour, calling them coons.
I remember an episode of Blankety Blank where Les Dawson goes up to Pattie Boulaye ( I think ) and instead of talking to her, starts playing the "jungle drums" on her desk, to howls of laughter from everyone but Pattie, who just gave an embarrased smile.
I'm not saying that makes Les Dawson a bad person. It was just something that people didn't think about being wrong and no one complained because they didn't want to be seen to be making a fuss. And anyone that did complain had a chip on their shoulder and should learn to fit in more.
When I was at school, words like paki, ****** etc were common place in the playground. I don't think most of the people back then, grew up to be mental rascists, people just didn't stop and think about the implications of talking like that.
My children are mixed race and I can not recall a single time when any of them came home from school and said there had a been a racial incident. If it did happen, I think it would be sorted by the kids themselves and not just the black/ asian ones. That sort of language just isn't accepted amongst young people these days. And that's got to be a good thing. Although I'm not so sure the same applies out in the sticks.
