howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
whether ms abbott is racist is imaterial in my view, what is clear that she has played the race card many times to make sure she gets inthe headlines - i cannot ever remember her saying anything constructive.
yes we have a problem with political correctness, this is not one of those times.
alan hansen will verify problems with words, this was not a misunderstanding neither were her previous poisonous statements.
#20: it is also a black teenager being knifed to death by a gang of white racists and them only being broguht to book 18 years later; a young sikh drowned and not reported in the media; a young Indian guy shot in the head in Salford. We may not be SA or the Deep South thank God but we still harbour quiet racism so let's not be smug. And Abbott getting away with it because of her colour does not help.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Jan Higgins
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
A politician in her position should know what they can say and what is likely to be unacceptable to some, she should not have made the remark.
She is obviously not as sensible as she portrays on This Week.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Guest 725- Registered: 7 Oct 2011
- Posts: 1,418
Today's chip paper.
Ross Miller
- Location: London Road, Dover
- Registered: 17 Sep 2008
- Posts: 3,707
Lets not get too carried away with this
She was tweeting to a journo and as in most things she does knew full well what she was doing
Peter is right in so far as we were and probably still are one of the most tolerant and liberal societies in the world.
Yes we still have our faults, the Met Police have had huge ground to make up since being damned as institutionally racist by MacPherson, but the important thing is that they have done lots about it, we still turn a blind eye to and the media under-report violent crimes between ethnic minorities. young black men in particular are 6 times more likely to get involved with the criminal justice system than white boys (however working class white boys are 3 times more likely to do so than middle class boys) - does this male us bad - NO, because we recognise and talk about these failings and seek out the underlying causes with a view to correcting them.
"Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today." - James Dean
"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength,
While loving someone deeply gives you courage" - Laozi
True, and we should be glad about all of that - but I am concerned that because we are "not as bad" as SA et al we may begin to think it doesn't matter. Complacency kills.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
careful bern im agreeing with you again lol
ALL POSTS ARE MY OWN PERSONAL VIEWS
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
#22, yes Bern you are right about the racist outrages you mention. But those extreme examples are relatively rare and appal all decent folk of every colour. Indeed they would appal decent people even if there were no racial element.
My point was that, in my examples, few people in those societies would have seen anything wrong with the actions I described. That is what makes a society racist, not a few violent and bigoted individuals, a news editor with poor judgment, or a few lazy coppers who didn't take their diversity training seriously enough. Perhaps I am wrong; perhaps your examples are but the tip of a violent iceberg of inter-racial hate and mistrust. But I don't think so, the media are bad in many ways but leaving sensationalist stones unturned is not one of them. (By the way, if a person is found drowned, why is his race relevant?)
At the end of the day the law and its agencies can only lay down standards of behaviour and prosecute breaches of those standards. It cannot control the way people think and it can particularly not change people's instinctive reactions if meeting someone of a different culture or skin colour puts them out of their comfort zone.
We are all nowadays required to treat everyone alike irrespective of colour, race, or ethnic background. But I would prefer to celebrate the differences between cultures rather than pretend that we are all the same; where these differences cause friction in the way politicians' unguarded remarks do, we should seek to understand the reason rather than condemning out of hand on the basis of what we think a form of words demonstrates about what is in a person's heart.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
I can only agree with you about celebrating difference. It is magical that people can be so diverse and yet so similar and the drive to homogenise is corrosive. The only PS I would make to your post is that the drowned persons race becomes relevant when the perpetrators have made it so by committing the crime driven by racism (or misogyny, homophobia or whatever).
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
Jan Higgins- Location: Dover
- Registered: 5 Jul 2010
- Posts: 13,895
..............." She has not posted any comments on Twitter since"................
So something good has come out of this.
I suspect taxi drivers have refused to pick up some white and orientals as well, that was just petty stirring on Diane's part.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I try to be neutral and polite but it is hard and getting even more difficult at times.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
Bern I don't know about that particular case, I think your 'when' ought perhaps to be an 'if'. When dead white bodies are found nobody assumes there was a race hate motive, why should it be so when the body is non-white?
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Guest 640- Registered: 21 Apr 2007
- Posts: 7,819
Re post 31 from Howard. This is the kind of thing I referred to earlier. Its kind of mild on one hand, almost dinner party chatter type stuff and she has been doing this kind of thing for a long time, it is unappealing cynicism you might say, but in these sensitive times it is clearly race based, highlighting the different treatment you get depending on your colour. This is not the kind of thing you expect from a shadow minister. I dont think basically that she has the essential calibre to be in such a frontline position. If the people of Hackney want to vote for her thats fine but her talent I would suggest lies no higher than MP level.
Its not going to help with the Labour Party revival having her on the frontline....it really just highlights their lack of frontline talent.
#33 - not an assumption, I am talking about when it has been established that the motive was hatred of a particular group.
#34 - Nick Clegg summed it up well, and her at the same time, referring to the comment as stupid and crass.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
red ed paid a tribute to the late bob holness on twitter.
said that he would always be remembered for being the host of "blackbusters".
good timing under the circumstances.
Guest 715- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 2,438
Clegg calling someone's comments stupid and crass!!
Audere est facere.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
I heard that too Howard. "Blackbusters" indeed.
Roger
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
#35, I had not heard about that case, I must therefore be a quiet racist......
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
no problem peter, i am just getting together a hate filled mob complete with burning torches and a make shift scaffold now.
we should rendezvous in castle street by closing time.
