At what point does banter stop being funny?

Last week, the County Press published a story about a gym where staff had made racist and offensive comments about its customers on a closed Facebook group.

I recently joined a local gym, for the first time in my life. The first time I walked in, I loitered outside the door for five minutes building up the courage to go inside.

It takes a lot for some people to enter that world, so it’s not right for those in charge to make jokes about them when they’re likely feeling vulnerable.

But that’s not what I found most shocking about the story. As soon as it was published online, the County Press was inundated with criticism.

It was accused of being one-sided (it wasn’t — the gym had been given two days to reply) and for having made up the story (it hadn’t — the screenshots were there in black and white).Isle of Wight County Press: The gym's group chat. They also called another member 'Mr Pie man'.The gym's group chat. They also called another member 'Mr Pie man'.

But what made me feel queasy was the sheer number of people thinking it was okay, because the comments — racist comments — had been made in a private chat.

And let’s be absolutely clear, referring to a person of Middle Eastern descent as someone who looks like they are going to ‘bomb the gaff’ is racist. Saying someone is a terrorist because of their skin colour is racist. It’s not banter.

One person said: “People are allowed to discuss what they wish in a private message, especially where no one within that private discussion is offended.”

Another added: “We’ve all been there, why don’t you show us your private chats CP?”

Honestly, you’re welcome to my private chats because aside from sending an excessive number of pictures of my dinner to my mum, there’s nothing I wouldn’t stand by in a public forum.

When it comes to racism, you can’t justify it under the umbrella of 'banter.'

That word seems to be used as a catch all phrase for adults (predominately white men) to justify anything other people might find offensive.

If you’re offended you’re dismissed as a humourless snowflake. But as these men are never on the receiving end of discrimination, who are they to justify what is and isn’t offensive?

One person said: “Yes the comments were racist, but the staff are lovely guys.”

If you think it’s okay to joke about people being terrorists because of the colour of their skin, then forgive me for thinking you’re probably a bigot.

Who you are in private is who you really are, and if that person sends racist messages in private, you need to re-evaluate your values because it’s as bad as sending them in public.

Another said: “This is part of an ongoing feud.” Petty grievances aside, you have to separate that from the messages, which are clearly printed in black and white. I don’t care who did what to who, it's beside the point. The story was about gym staff making racist and derogatory messages about people who trusted them.

The Island sometimes gets stick for being stuck in the past, and even narrow-minded — I lost track of the number of times I was given a funny look when I told people I was moving here.

Normally I’d defend the Isle of Wight — the Island is full of reasonable, forward-thinking people.

But this time, the views expressed on social media proved the critics right.

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