Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

What did Alastair Stewart do?

101 replies

StuckBetweenDarknessAndLight · 29/01/2020 17:00

Apparently he's resigned because of an error of judgement in his social media use. What did he do/say?

OP posts:
MissEliza · 30/01/2020 08:17

Omg that's ridiculous. He seems like such w lovely man. I hope gets reinstated.

iem0128 · 30/01/2020 08:23

Findumdum1 You see, you can't say anything right these days. Even criminals get the 3 strikes you're out magnanimity.

Anyone with an ounce of commonsense would have read my post in context.

Aderyn19 · 30/01/2020 08:57

Just because the word 'ape' has been used as an insult, it doesn't mean that any use of the word to a black person is racist. Surely it depends on the context in which it is used - if that quote was making a relevant point for the conversation they were having.
Maybe in the heat of the moment, when trying to 'win' on twitter, his head just never went to the insulting use of the term, since most people would never want to deliberately be that rude.
I think maybe we should judge people on who they are over their whole lives, rather than some stupid Twitter spat that was probably thrown out in an attempt to look impressive by quoting Shakespeare.

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed · 30/01/2020 09:07

He isn't stupid why he choose to use that quote I don’t know

But either we fight all racism and that also includes off the cuff remarks/posts that could have not been intended to hurt or cause offence but have or we don’t

The guy was offended he is black just because it’s wrapped up in a Shakespeare quite doesn’t make it less offensive or less hurtful

He was right to step down he made an error and their are consequences to that (or should be) it simply isn’t acceptable just because he is a nice guy

And agree that Piers Morgan is getting away with horrendous bullying

Noodlenosefraggle · 30/01/2020 09:14

Why do famous people do this, honestly? Just stay off Twitter. Someone is going to take offence and get you sacked for something you said while drunk/ not thinking/ in a bad mood. He doesnt need to post his every thought on Twitter. Hes a newsreader. He knows the news!

BlouseAndSkirt · 30/01/2020 09:16

I have read as much as I could of the exchange, and the beginning of the row.
In context it doesn’t look as if the quote was used with any particular meaning in the word ape being included, just an observation on the whole nature of the exchange. He was perhaps guilty of not being quick enough to realise the potential for it to be offensive given the context that his opponent was a PoC.

But how he is forced to step down/ allowed to step down in the midst of an icy silence from his employers when Piers Morgan is on a racist / xenophobic rampage almost every day, during his working hours and live on TV I don’t know.

Sicario · 30/01/2020 09:21

White people tend to be less aware of what constitutes racist language and perceived insult. Like Danny Baker showing that photograph and referring to Archie. Really stupid, insensitive thing to do.

This is an example of the same.

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed · 30/01/2020 09:31

He had been a newsreader for many years

He is well aware of what terms have been used racially and this has been quite prevalent in the last few years (racism directed at footballers) and quite sure he would have himself presented news reports in this

I don’t think any adult can with honesty claim they are unaware that ape/monkey have been used as racial insults (willing to bet some will come along to claim that have never heard of this)

He made an error, was it purely a stupid mistake or a nasty put down I don’t know but it’s offensive

Aderyn19 · 30/01/2020 09:37

But should people lose jobs for being insensitive? Insensitive is not the same as being racist.
I'm wary of people's feelings being the deciding factor as to whether another person keeps their career. I think that has far reaching implications that are not good for society.

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed · 30/01/2020 09:44

We don’t know if he was being insensitive

He can claim that and that might appear to be the case but how do we know that l, he might have been putting the man in his place using a Shakespearean quote - regardless it caused offence and understandably.

If I made such an error at work I would absolutely be sacked and rightly so I am aware such a term is highly offensive he is he can’t and actually he isn’t claiming he don’t know - he is claiming a error of judgement

Aderyn19 · 30/01/2020 10:18

I think it's probably more likely that he posted Shakespeare in order to look clever and win a Twitter spat. I don't think he thought about it enough to make the connection before posting. Because he probably doesn't think of people in that way. There's nothing to suggest in his 40 year career that he is racist. I think we should give people the benefit of the doubt until we know otherwise. Losing a career is a really big deal and I don't think that should happen on a 'maybe' or one error of judgement. People who know him and have worked with him speak very highly of him.

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed · 30/01/2020 11:33

Then we sometimes accept racism and sometimes we don’t - that’s not zero tolerance

And if the person has always been nice we accept it to

What about how the person feels who is offended. Should their feelings not be taken into account

Or are we going to go along with the person making the comment is the one to decide if someone should be offended or not

He is well aware that the word he used is loaded and he still did - stupid I like to think so too but he has to be accountable for his actions

We would accept a teaching making such a remark to a black pupil - I would seriously hope not

Aderyn19 · 30/01/2020 11:40

I don't think he was being racist though. I believe intention is key. Where you cannot absolutely and for certain know intention, I think you have to give benefit of the doubt. People who have known and worked with him for years believe he wouldn't have meant this to be interpreted as it was. A basic tenet of our justice system is innocent until proven guilty. Losing a 40 year career is extreme for posting unthinkingly during a stupid SM exchange.

Everyone has a right to their feelings - I'm not convinced those feelings ought to cost someone their career though.

Findumdum1 · 30/01/2020 12:41

*Findumdum1 You see, you can't say anything right these days. Even criminals get the 3 strikes you're out magnanimity.

Anyone with an ounce of commonsense would have read my post in context.*

Are you in your eightes?

if not, you have a shocking lack of self and social awareness as anyone with an ounce of either stopped using that term a couple of decades ago.

HeyDuggeesCakeBadge · 30/01/2020 14:21

I think he wrote it without even thinking of the racial connotations (he'd previously said it to a white person) BUT it can be seen as racist and so when someone pointed that out he should have just said, 'obviously not my intention, I apologise profusely' and that should have been the end of it!

You don't end someone's 40 year career for a mistake.

Bezalelle · 30/01/2020 14:26

you can't say anything right these days

You can. You just have to LISTEN when minority groups say that
something is offensive. It's not that hard.

Myimaginarycathasfleas · 30/01/2020 15:08

It comes to something when people are too stupid for Shakespeare.

BlouseAndSkirt · 30/01/2020 15:53

We would accept a teaching making such a remark to a black pupil - I would seriously hope not

He didn’t make a remark, he posted a passage of Shakespearean verse that actually implicated everyone engaged in That kind of discourse, including himself.

However, it was blundering. And it is unsurprising that the recipient felt a racist attack. He should / could have been more aware.

I don’t think it was as bad as the Danny Baker incident.

Or the stuff Piers Morgan spouts and gets paid for. (Given that AS was tweeting as an individual in his own time).

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed · 30/01/2020 17:27

I know he posted a quote on Twitter

The point being if a teacher quoted he same quote in class would it be acceptable - it’s the language used in the quote

Aderyn19 · 30/01/2020 17:59

I think this quote would be perfectly acceptable in school, since the teacher is unlikely to be using it to racially abuse pupils. Just as I think it's unlikely that AS was racially abusing the Twitter poster.
Incidentally, there are threads on twitter with screenshots of some of the previous posts of the recipient - they are quite racist themselves, so he seems to be in no position to be criticising people.

WeHaveSnowdrops · 30/01/2020 18:02

The language police need to get back in their box.

bumbleboots · 30/01/2020 18:12

Shouldn't have wielded the Shakespeare if he didn't know the implications.

Why do people defend racism? Black people don't make it up. I can see how calling a black man an ape is racist even if you dress it up in 400 year old verse

Fannia · 30/01/2020 18:20

I have been wondering about this myself, did he mean to be racist or was he just showing off his Shakespeare? Either way he might deserve to get the sack for his lack of good judgement.

AppropriateAdult · 30/01/2020 18:25

It comes to something when people are too stupid for Shakespeare.

I don’t think that’s much of a defence. There are plenty of examples of Shakespeare being overtly racist or bigoted, as was the norm for the time - would you excuse somebody quoting chunks of The Merchant of Venice at a Jewish person in an abusive manner, for example, just because it’s Shakespeare?

WeHaveSnowdrops · 30/01/2020 18:56

I have been wondering about this myself, did he mean to be racist or was he just showing off his Shakespeare? Either way he might deserve to get the sack for his lack of good judgement.

He's used it before to a white twitter user. So not racist in my view.

Swipe left for the next trending thread