[DanaC]

Y'know, when my Dad and his family arrived here from India, when he was around 11 years old, he had a slightly Indian look about him, and spoke with an Anglo-Indian accent. For a couple of years he used to get chased round the playground, called pa*i and told he stank like a curry house. Got into a lot of fights over that sort of crap.

He survived. He grew a thick skin. But he also remembered.

Whatever his views on certain races (he was no anti-racist paragon I'm afraid) he never would let me or my brother tell racist jokes (before we'd learned why they were harmful). Someone might not be that bothered. Someone else might be. Both reactions are equally valid. Words can hurt. Why would you want to hurt just for a cheap laugh?