Diane Abbott

What an awful thing to say.

"White Gold" by Giles Deacon is the account of one Thomas Pellow from Cornwall who was kidnapped and held as a slave for decades in Morocco.

I can assure you that Jewish people are subject to plenty of remarks.

Having someone tell you it's a shame you weren't all gassed when you're merely waiting at a bus-stop with your husband and newborn is pretty chilling and upsetting.

What about his blacking up etc?

What? I actually have no idea what you're talking about, or what you have taken from my post?

What exactly is "high and mighty" about saying that I have experienced prejudice but recognise that this is not remotely the same as system racism? Can you explain?

Yes, agree with this, and buried my head in my hands when I saw the news this morning. As another PP said, it's such an embarrassing display of ignorance. Did she think all those security guards in Stamford Hill are standing around outside schools just for fun?! There's a 10-minute video by the zen taxi guy on YouTube that shows more intelligence and empathy towards the Jewish community than she has.

She's my MP and because she always gets such a huge majority, the other parties don't really bother with Hackney much. Last election, the other candidates were a Toryboy who looked about 17 and some green/libden middle class types who, though well-meaning, had very little political experience. Plus a whole roster of independent weirdos with an axe to grind.

Goodness knows what the next election holds for us now 🫣

I wish world history was given more prominence in schools.

@MrsBennetsPoorNerves how lucky you are..you sound so high and mighty, never touched by the slings and arrows of life? Racism, discrimination, prejudice, what's the difference eh?

In the 16,17, & 18 th centuries , there were plenty of white, not white seeming, just white, Britons being abducted and sold into slavery rim the south and west coasts of England by ‘Barbary Pirates’ ( Arabs). The women were much prized in the harems, the men often ended up on the rowing benches of the galleys.

St. Vincent de Paul, a French priest , was captured at sea in the Mediterranean and spent two years in the galleys.

‘Rule Britannia’ actually celebrates the revival and success of the British Navy in stopping the slave trade into North Africa.

Admittedly I haven't read this whole thread, but where does OP fall into that trap? Because I certainly can't see anything in her post suggesting Tories aren't racist. For many on the left racism and bigotry is assumed to be the norm from Tories, so it often feels more shocking when it comes from the left who supposedly have a long history of fighting racism (unlike the Tories). I was quite actively involved with Labour for decades but witnessed appalling antisemitism towards some Jewish people in CLP meetings. Unfortunately this "honourable history" of anti-racism you speak of very often doesn't apply to some minority groups in Left 'spaces', groups who don't comfortably fit their un-nuanced anti-globalisation narrative. And there's plenty of evidence of it on this thread too, and that's my takeaway from only from reading a few pages. Whataboutery is not the way to acknowledge and fight racism and discrimination. It just encourages more division.

Of course the Tory party would never use the most popular woman's site in the country to push anti-Labour narratives or far-right European racist tropes. would they....

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4784644-to-think-its-shocking-how-bad-britain-has-fallen-apart-compared-to-other-european-counties?page=22

Flowerly · 15/04/2023 09:36
Sweden has thrown women and girls under the bus and have been trying to keep the rise in rape/sexual assault quiet. It is the wrong kind of perpetrator you see.

suburbophobe · 14/04/2023 22:13

Sweden has mass killings and rapes.

You really can't throw that out there without giving some evidence i.e. a link or two @TodayInahurry

I read two country's news and have not come across that kind of sensationalist reporting. If true it would be all over the worldwide headlines I reckon.
I also have friends in Sweden.

The modern day Conservative party is less racist than Labour. And less sexist. Despite intuitive assertions due to where they feature on the ‘spectrum’.

You'd think!

David Baddiel breaks down antisemitism and racism here.

Me too.

Very common in the 50s and 60s

I’m not sure how you managed to extrapolate that from Flowerly’s post?

You didn't, but that certainly sounded like where you were going

The way we discuss racism is so simplistic, and sadly Diane Abbott has added to that. It is absolutely true that modern Western racism is intertwined with our history as a colonial power and the growth of that power through the sugar/slave trades. Being black is the principal way people experience racism in this country right now.

As a white atheist of Jewish and Irish heritage, I wouldn't dream of suggesting I experience anywhere near the level of racism as black people's daily experience. On the other hand, I don't experience the level of daily racism suffered by the Chasidic Jews who live just a few miles from me.

The Jewish experience is instructive because it reminds us that racism finds a way to create racial difference even in the absence of black people. For centuries, Jews have been banned, banished, excluded, tortured and murdered. They were absolutely seen as physically different, as racially distinct.

My grandfather, who died just over a year ago, may not have had to sit at the back of the bus in his native Germany. But he wasn't allowed to get on the bus at all, or go to school, or restaurants, or public parks, or university. How can we possibly
learn about racism if we only recognise it in its most familiar manifestations?

Surely you're not thinking the Conservative party will be better for women?

Not really sure what she thought would happen