Quote: bren2k "Well that's some intellectual gymnastics; well played.
I'm sure that I have offended people at times - but I'm pretty sure I haven't offended them on the basis of a protected characteristic; which is not actually that difficult to do - if you don't have those thoughts, you don't say them out loud.
As an example - I work with people of many nationalities, including Europeans. I have had many conversations with them recently, about their experience of Brexit Britain - all without saying something as crass, offensive and racially charged as Mr Argyle is alleged to have done.
You're not wrong about context and nuance, but I fail to see how you can be so certain of Argyle's intent?'"
I have to agree.
Of course you can accidentally offend someone but racism and sexism are pretty clear now. If you comment on someone's colour and draw some conclusion based on it, in any way, especially if you don't know them, you are being stupid at best and deserve to be challenged about it.
There is no way Argyle does not know that questioning whether a black person is allowed to go to a particular place, based on his colour is a bad thing, unless he's been living in a cave since the 1950s.