Rail worker panned for 'negro ball' gaffe
TT/The Local - [email protected]
Published: 9 May, 2010 CET.
Updated: Sun 9 May 2010 09:50 CET
Train passengers were left reeling on Thursday by an announcer's use of the antiquated term 'negro balls' (negerbollar) to describe a type of chocolate treat on sale in the bistro carriage, public broadcaster Sveriges Radio reports.
A number of passengers complained about the loudspeaker reference to a small, spherical, coconut-covered cake more commonly referred to in modern times as a 'chocolate ball'.
"It wasn't particularly smart, or correct," said Ulf Wallin, spokesman for rail operator SJ.
The announcement was made on the X2000 fast train from Gothenburg to Stockholm.
Sweden's Discrimination Ombudsman classified the word 'negerboll' as inappropriate in a 2005 ruling against a bakery in Sjöbo in southern Sweden, arguing the term was redolent of racism and slavery.
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A number of passengers complained about the loudspeaker reference to a small, spherical, coconut-covered cake more commonly referred to in modern times as a 'chocolate ball'.
"It wasn't particularly smart, or correct," said Ulf Wallin, spokesman for rail operator SJ.
The announcement was made on the X2000 fast train from Gothenburg to Stockholm.
Sweden's Discrimination Ombudsman classified the word 'negerboll' as inappropriate in a 2005 ruling against a bakery in Sjöbo in southern Sweden, arguing the term was redolent of racism and slavery.
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