However, with regard to the sentence “Racism is bad, but color-blindess is a just form of denial…” I’m wondering did you mean to write “racism is bad, but color-blindess is just a form of denial…”?

Until I read Vodalus’ comment and other such comments online, I wasn’t aware that a “Being compared to chocolate against one’s will is an overt form of racism in the UK.” I also found out by reading some other online comments about that Cadbury ad that another taunt directed at Black Britons is calling them “chocolate drops”.

It’s possible that “chocolate bars” and/or “chocolate drops” was used a long time ago in the USA and/or is presently used in the USA as an insult directed at Black Americans, but if so, I’m not aware of that. (I’m an African American in her 60s).

The closest insult related to chocolate that I can think of is likening “tootsie rolls” with “doo doo”. However, I dont think that playground taunt is race specific. It’s also possible that Black or Brown people were/are called “tootsie rolls” or Hershey Bars (to name two popular chocolate brands in the USA). But I’ve not experienced this. Nor have I heard or read of such racial insults. I’m wondering if other Americans posting here know of such insults.

It’s also interesting to note that term “chocolate drops” is part of the name of a Grammy award winning African American music group that sings and plays old time music -“The Carolina Chocolate Drops”. That group’s name may exacerbate the discussion in the UK about how hurtful it is to taunt Black people by calling them “chocolate drops” or “chocolate bars”.

And-certainly less well known but related to the use of “chocolate” as a racial referent-I named my United States based website “Cocojams” because “coco” is a clip of the word “chocolate” and because one meaning for “jams” is songs (that site largely focuses on Black folk songs, rhymes,and chants). When I coined this name, I wasn’t aware that chocolate was used as a taunt in the UK (and maybe elswhere).

Again, I agree with the criticism of the Cadbury ad discussed here. I just wanted to note that this discussion suggests that there may be different ways that the “same” racial group is taunted throughout the world.

Congratulations, you’re more racist than I’ll ever be”

Actually this is the best counter point I’ve heard. I would suggest though that the decider if an individual is offended, is the offended person. It seems to be the claim that if someone is offended, that this is what determines an act is racist.

I do not know how to describe the feeling those ads with the stereotypical “”mamma mia!” family” (I hope you know what I mean: those pasta-eating good-hearted but ultimately a bit unreliable guys) give me but with the word “racist”. They’re not too different from the ideas that “Jews are good with money but they are a bit too attached to it”, “Black people have a good sense of rhythm but are a bit lazy”, and so on.

Now, I do not know whether “Italian” is a “race” (I don’t believe so, actually: Italy has undergone so many invasions, we have all sorts of genes – my husband looks like a smaller version of a Viking, blond hair and blue eyes and white skin, just to give an example). But those ads are “trivialising Italians through stereotypes”, at the least. As I said before, if you have a better word than “racist”, I will welcome it.

I did not know that, thank you *very much* for the information. (I live in the UK but I was not born here, so many aspects of the culture still escape me.)

Congratulations, you’re more racist than I’ll ever be.