The Forum > Article Comments > So, what went wrong with section 18C? > Comments
So, what went wrong with section 18C? : Comments
By John de Meyrick, published 10/1/2017None of what the (then) Government appears to have intended or proposed is what section 18C says or does.
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It is never reasonable for it to cause offence. It can only cause offence if the offended person agrees with the attitudes that are expressed by the person trying to offend.
If a racist slur causes you to feel uncomfortable it is because you are not secure enough in your own attitudes to race. No one chooses their race and so no one can take responsibility for the race they were born into. If someone wants to deride me for my race then why should I take offence at something over which I have absolutely no control? It is totally unreasonable.
If I am offended then the problem is mine. I cannot be responsible for my race but I am responsible for the way I think and feel about race. I am responsible for what I think is up to me to do something about and my race is never anything I should try and change for any reason.