Naomi Cambell threatens sue over "racist" advert - Page 8

A central point of debate in this topic seems to be the American hypersensitivity towards anything discriminatory. This has, of course, developed in part as a conscious counter-action to the extreme discrimination and oppression that blacks experienced, and bad period that people are still trying to mend. In contrast to this, you have a small and very homogenous country like Denmark, where we have quite crude and very depricating humour. An extreme example of this would be the reactions to the recent statements of Lars von Trier at the Cannes Film Fesvital.

The fact that Americans often strive to achieve this kind of neutrality in their society can definitely have some positives. When you're situated outside a culture, you might easily be alienated due to cultural misunderstandings. In a way, this very visible effort to "stand up" for minorities shows them some kind of respect, adding an inclusive function to society. At the same time, though, it makes society more insensitive. By setting a standard for how people should speak to avoid misunderstandings, you also ensure that people will more easily be offended by the actions of others. This eventually limits the freedom of people. In Denmark, people will speak very freely and have very honest conversations about issues, and are able to disregard many disruptive elements of the debate that might not relate to the core of a problem (ie. "how do we get this done", not "how do people feel about us doing this, that"). This is good for democracy and social cohesion. In the end, it is simply a cultural difference, which will change over time, depending on the needs of a society.

Where this goes to far is when you throw common sense out of the window and have people like lorkac commentating that courts will decide whether this is racist. Courts don't dictate common sense - they use it. Only, USA (and to some degree the rest of the world) has gone berserk in lawsuit frenzies, common sense often being lost in the process. This can lead to a very twisted sense of reality, when unconscious everyday actions become legislated. At some point you simply have to confront this and challenge people. If people get hurt or feel insulted for no good reason, that doesn't mean you are wrong and have to apologize. If you keep saying you're sorry for anything that will offend someone (which, as has been point out previously, anything will), you will end up promoting meaning relativism. That's why Naomi Campbell is not brave to make this lawsuit, rather misguided. As people in this thread has pointed out, it hurts the fight against racism when you twist it this way and make it seem like an almost trivial pursuit. It's similar to the recent case of a bunch of young homosexual committing suicide, where you don't get much accomplished if you simply look at this as a consequence of homophobia instead of looking at it as a problem of bullying or the social culture of today's youth.