Talk:Play the white man

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Can any British people vouch for this phrases alleged usage in England, as stated ? Even for historical usage, I have never heard of it--Jrleighton 14:52, 29 November 2005 (UTC)

The phrase is/was used in the UK, although to be honest I haven't heard anybody say it since I was a kid. To me "Play the white man" means - be straight, or do the right thing and it's usually rendered as "Come on, play the white man". The article says "The term is considered to be extremely derogatory against non-white people because it carries the implication that they are indecent or untrustworthy" - well I don't know about that I haven't heard it since I was a kid but I don't think I ever got the impression that it was implying anything about non-white peoples. I think I might even have thought that it was referring to people wearing white like in cowboy films. i.e. "play the man in white". Do we have any references for the pharse's origins? Jooler 14:50, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm an Englishman and I have to say my old man used to say this all the time if he thought people were not playing a straight bat.

I believe the term actually has nothing to do with race but more to do with a person being impartial and true. The term is derived from when people used to be sent from one army to another, either with a message, or with the white flag of surrender. This person was meant to be impartial and not playing any part in either side and therefore did not have an association with either the red army, or the blue army (or what ever colours they were). Thus, if you asked someone to "play the white man", you were asking them to be absolutely honest, true and impartial. Similar to asking something of a referee in a game of football. (ideally) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.67.58.140 (talk) 08:50, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

If you can find a reference for that meaning put it in. After all the article says that the racial meaning is only believed by some. -- Roleplayer (talk) 12:23, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

I don't know the origin, but I'll certainly look it up. Its usage meanwhile is uncommon, but I still occasionally hear it and (occasionally) still use it - usually for humour. I know of the racial connotation, but I don't know if that's a revisionist attempt to 'darken' a saying pre-dating colonialism.--Koncorde (talk) 17:17, 24 January 2008 (UTC)