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Original poster

What did Alister Stuart actually say?

116 replies

PGtipsplease · 29/01/2020 18:47

I can’t find anything on google. He’s stepping down over judgement of errors on social media.

Any ideas? I really liked him.

OP posts:

IcedPurple · 30/01/2020 11:07

I probably wouldn't use it as an insult against anyone

You're making it sound as though Stewart said "You're an ape" to Shapland. He didn't. He quoted a verse from Shakespeare - one which he'd used before in a discussion with a white person - comparing human arrogance to that of an 'angry ape'. Not the same thing. At all.

GCAcademic · 30/01/2020 11:09

I wonder how the recipient feels now that they know this quote has been used before to others. It is a bit more nuanced now but the outcome is still binary.

Judging by his Twitter bio and previous tweets, he's thrilled at the "win" he's had over the privileged white man. Nuance doesn't come into it.

Mlou32 · 30/01/2020 11:22

I don't think it was meant as racist. What a sad sad world that we need to walk on eggshells and calculate any offence which could be twisted out of something we say before we actually come out and say it.

No wonder we live in a world full of depressed, anxious, on edge, angry folk.

TigerOnATrain · 30/01/2020 11:33

It IS a Shakespeare quote, and it HAS been said before, and he probably didn't mean offence, but calling a black man an 'APE.' Sorry, not cool.

I am not super PC, but agree that - even if Alastair did not mean offence - it was still a daft thing to post, when answering a black man.

Shame, coz I do like Alastair a lot, and it's a sour end to a great 40 year career.

I feel this is all he will be remembered for now.

Bezalelle · 30/01/2020 11:35

he's thrilled at the "win" he's had over the privileged white man

Yeah, I'm prepared to let him have that one, given the centuries of wrongs and injustices against black people that still haven't been righted.

IcedPurple · 30/01/2020 11:36

calling a black man an 'APE.'

He didn't call him an ape.

I am not super PC, but agree that - even if Alastair did not mean offence - it was still a daft thing to post, when answering a black man.*

So is mere 'daftness' enough to warrant summary dismissal?

TigerOnATrain · 30/01/2020 11:41

@IcedPurple

No, I don't think he should have been dismissed at all, and I don't think he has done that much wrong. But to post a Shakespeare quote to a black man, where the quote is calling him an APE. Come on, don't even pretend you think this is OK.

@Bezalelle

Yeah, I'm prepared to let him have that one, (being pleased he got one over on a white man!) given the centuries of wrongs and injustices against black people that still haven't been righted.

Whilst I think what Alastair posted was a bit shit, THESE kind of comments help NO-ONE. They cause more discord and disharmony in race relations than there already is!

I am fed up of being expected to apologise for what white men did many generations back.

IcedPurple · 30/01/2020 11:42

But to post a Shakespeare quote to a black man, where the quote is calling him an APE.

Again - he is not calling him an ape (or even an APE). Read the quote.

BlueHarry · 30/01/2020 11:49

I saw screenshots on twitter and it looked like he was replying to someone else when he said the quote, and not to the guy who accused him of racism? Can anyone clarify that please?

Regardless of who he was directing the tweet at/to, I think if he had any actual racist intention, he just wouldn't have tweeted it.

He was using a quote from Shakespeare, a quote he'd used before so must have struck a chord with him. I feel so sad for him. I know the history of black people being compared to apes, but it seems context has been entirely ignored here.

IcedPurple · 30/01/2020 11:53

I saw screenshots on twitter and it looked like he was replying to someone else when he said the quote, and not to the guy who accused him of racism? Can anyone clarify that please?

All the tweets have been deleted, but from what I have seen I think you are correct.

Regardless of who he was directing the tweet at/to, I think if he had any actual racist intention, he just wouldn't have tweeted it.

Alastair Stewart has been working in the media world for about 40 years. If he were an actual racist, surely he'd have provided evidence of this before now, esp. bearing in mind that he has worked in an era which was much less 'PC' than our current hyper-sensitive age?

peachescariad · 30/01/2020 12:03

It was a quote from Shakespeare, the woke getting hysterical. All humans are all descended from apes/primates. So an accurate quote. He should not resign

Agreed

deydododatdodontdeydo · 30/01/2020 12:15

This isn't about being 'woke' - it's about recognising that white people are massively privileged, and we don't have the right to tell non-white people that they shouldn't be offended.

Who's this we?
Several people on this thread have stated that they are non-white.
Not all non-white people are a homologous hive mind.

Frothybothie · 30/01/2020 12:15

Being of the same race as the poor ickle-bickle victim I'm furious that someone of my race is portraying my race as a an ubersensitive bunch of wusses. I'd be more concerned about the physyical violence, the in-your -face threats, the nasty things on my desk, in my jacket pocket, the graffiti on my walls, the kicking of my door, the Go Home (ok, i'm off to Falkirk). Still, low hanging fruit is easy to pick.

user1477391263 · 30/01/2020 12:21

Martin Chapland's is Twitter feed shows the tagline "Tweet in haste, repent at leisure"--sounds like a veiled threat.....?

user1477391263 · 30/01/2020 12:24

Yeah, I'm prepared to let him have that one, (being pleased he got one over on a white man!) given the centuries of wrongs and injustices against black people that still haven't been righted.

You really can't see what is wrong with this kind of mindset?

GCAcademic · 30/01/2020 12:27

Yeah, I'm prepared to let him have that one, given the centuries of wrongs and injustices against black people that still haven't been righted.

Speaking as someone who is not white, I am not on board with this kind of thinking. This guy's (and there are plenty of online "activists" like him) deliberate misconstruction of AS's tweets just makes things harder for the rest of us, and doesn't right any kind of historical wrong. How could it? It's just divisive and clearly has much more to do with some simplistic notion of belated revenge than it does with any genuine desire to deal with racism. His Twitter bio ("Tweet in Haste, Repent at Leisure") betrays a more than a hint of enjoyment in the whole process.

user1477391263 · 30/01/2020 12:29

Although come to think of it, maybe "Tweet in haste, repent at leisure" is more of a comment on his (Shapland's) own Twitter feed....?

I just took another look at his Twitter feed and he has just deleted most of his Twitter history. However, screenshots (currently being posted by various people) of his previous Twitter history suggest that he has engaged in some not-very-nice posts in the past.

GCAcademic · 30/01/2020 12:32

I took "Tweet in haste, repent at leisure" to be a gloating reference to the demise of AS's career.

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed · 30/01/2020 12:33

I think most of us would agree we should have a zero tolerance towards racism

And that has to include times when it may or may have not been intended because AS certainly is aware of the use of the word being used derogatory - and that is the crux of it he knows this

Or we don’t have zero tolerance and we let the person who has made the comment decide what their intention was regardless of how others feel

Sadly this will give ammunition to those who come out with I just don’t know what I can or can’t say anymore or men just don’t know how to be around women anymore and so on - I hope he doesn’t join in that debate if he does I will no longer believe it might have been an error of judgement - I think it might of been I don’t know (none of us do) but it was a very very stupid comment to make if it was and people loose their jobs because of stupid errors of judgement he just happens to be in the public eye

IcedPurple · 30/01/2020 12:40

*I think most of us would agree we should have a zero tolerance towards racism

And that has to include times when it may or may have not been intended*

So we should have zero tolerance of racism even when no racism has been intended?

Or we don’t have zero tolerance and we let the person who has made the comment decide what their intention was regardless of how others feel

How about we use common sense and decide that a man who's been working in the media for 40 years with no complaints of racism (that I am aware of) and who quoted a verse from Shakespeare which he had previously quoted in a conversation with a white man probably didn't intend any racism?

Or do we just rush to deprive people of their livliehood without even the opportunity to put their case?

GCAcademic · 30/01/2020 12:44

A stupid error of judgement should not mean the end of a 40-year career, imo. Especially not when the same channel continues to employ the likes of Piers Morgan, and to support him in his calculated acts of antagonism.

Gonetoget · 30/01/2020 12:44

Got prime minister that has made far worse comments, doesn’t seem to have done him any harm.
AS is naive and this would appear to be an error of judgement, BJ is a racist , wonder why one has been hung out to dry and the others still in a job.

Chocolatedaim · 30/01/2020 12:48

I think it’s clear that he isn’t racist. He said something (in his words) totally misjudged and it’s put an end to his career.
He wasn’t calling the man in question an ape, he was saying the argument was like one an angry ape would make, it is different.
We have to be very careful to call out those who are actually prejudiced and who are racist and vile (like Lawrence Fox 🙄) but not just tar every white guy with the same brush. It diminishes the point.
He should have been suspended but for him to be out of a job is wrong, IMO.

DISCLAIMER- I am from the West Indies

BlueHarry · 30/01/2020 12:50

Really feel sad for AS losing his job in this way after such a long career. Also worries me the more this kind of thing happens, the more true racists will use it as a cover/justification for their hate.

EnthusiasmIsDisturbed · 30/01/2020 12:53

The comment was directed at a black man not a white man

AS is well aware of the use of this word

And going on reports from friends/work colleagues etc is never what we should base the decision if someone is innocent or guilty. History tells us that especially in the media in recent years

He has put his case forward an error of judgement he isn’t arguing against that or that it has been taken the wrong way.

Would you accept a teacher using this quote towards a black pupil to tell them in a round about way they were wrong

His career isn’t over he will be on the radio sooner or later

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