Black section on MN

[PatricksRum]

I think it would be great if Mumsnet could make a black parents section/ section for black users.

@DullDullWeather you want a board for white, working class boys?

On MumsNet?

Cool story, bro.

I think it's a good idea.

Maybe the problem that some people are having with it is that some of the sub-boards are created for a positive reason e.g. SN education, where you'd expect to find people with experience or expertise on SN education and you'd not have to explain that your child had SN, like you might in the main education boards. You'll hopefully find support there. That's a positive use of subsections because it's catering to a particular need and if black people want that then I hope that nobody would say it was a bad thing for that reason.

On the other hand, there are some boards created to keep the subject off the main boards (something like Christmas/Brexit?). If someone posts about Christmas/Brexit on another board then I've seen them told to only post on the right board for that and keep it out of chat. I'd hate to think that creation of specific black topics meant that people were directed to only post their thread there. If it's done for a negative reason it feels a bit like saying black people are only allowed on there. That's what would make me uncomfortable - not an area provided for black people.

Why would that prevent you?

great idea

There’s a serious lack of intelligence amongst some around here recently.

Obvious troll is obvious.

Let's not let them derail the thread or get it deleted.

Also, with respect @PatricksRum , I'm starting to think that I'd prefer the boards to be aimed at Afro-Caribbean users. I'm mixed race and the colour of my skin isn't technically black. But I've grown up raised by my black Caribbean mother. I still have Afro hair and would very much like to take part in discussions about black S&B, as well as many other topics and issues.

Class privilege is definitely a thing. However, it does not negate the existence of white privilege.

The fact that people don't feel privileged doesn't mean that they aren't. It just means that they have never had to think about it.

Which one makes you more disadvantaged though? I've had black families in my life that own their own property, earn more money, have had extensions added to their houses etc, while some of their white friends live in crappy council houses with bare floorboards and mould etc. Blanket "you're white so more privileged than me" helps nobody. Whites are privileged in that they don't experience racism, but that does not mean that, say a disabled, gay, white woman living in poverty is automatically more privileged than an able-bodied, straight middle-class black man. There are many strands that make up privilege.

Just watching the nastiness on this thread makes me whole heartedly agree with OP.

Sounds like a great idea. I guess mumsnet would have to do a survey to see what the actual black users wanted and go with that. Good idea to put it alongside craicnet.

Any responses saying that it's not fair to exclude working class/any other race/anything else, need to realise that MNHQ didn't create an announcement to say that this is what they're planning to do.

Somebody asked for it.

Black people can't be expected to ask for something and include every other minority in their request.

If somebody else wants something, as for it, like Patricks did.

Stop complaining.

Sorry am I missing something? Where on the trends or any of the threads does it allude them being for white people?

There are many strands that make up privilege.

There are indeed, but a black working class person will have less privilege than a white working class person. A black middle class person will have less privilege than a white middle class person.

The issue isn't about who has the most/least privilege overall. It's about recognising the privilege/disadvantage that is conferred as a direct result of your race, which may or may not be compounded by various other layers of privilege or disadvantage.

Talking about black people who own property/build extensions/have good jobs completely misses the point.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

IMO the idea of a board segregated by skin colour seems incredibly divisive.

OP do you think it’d be a good idea to have a board to discuss issues pertinent to black people / black experiences?

some posters what a great idea

MNHQ yep good idea

16 pages later posters still telling the OP they’re wrong / not asking nicely / excluding them

I hope you don't mind my contributing to say I would be a bit sorry to see this because I like the mix of all families and all experiences on MN and I read and learn a lot that I wouldn't otherwise see.

I appreciate there are specific boards for LGBT parents/children and disabled parents/children and lone parents so there would be benefits perhaps in being able to share only with people who knew exactly what you were experiencing. And it does seem odd to have those groups and not a black group. But at the same time the diversity of MN comes from the whole range of voices and I think some of those specific boards get a bit lost.

I realise no one is posting here for my benefit and nor should they. But we do all benefit from the plurality of voices I think.

By the way, the feminism board would love not to be a separate board really. We are not allowed to appear on "trending" because our views are so objectionable so they have to keep us in a separate part of the forest where we can't contaminate anyone else

@HelloToMyKitty
Seriously? Seriously? You are trying to claim it is untrue that black people are killed and maimed by white people for either protesting peacefully or doing nothing atall?

If you ignore everything else in this post, please have the courage to watch this video. It is of a black man who did absolutely nothing wrong, was clearly unarmed, and totally compliant to all instructions being murdered by police. Do you truly believe that would have happened if he were white? I encourage everyone who feels able to watch it. Seeing the reality is very different from viewing the statistic or reading the headline.

www.nytimes.com/2017/12/09/us/police-shooting-video-arizona.html

Please also research these names as a starter: Trayvon Martin, Yvette Smith, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Laquan McDonald, Tanisha Anderson, Akai Gurley, Tamir Rice, Jerame Reid, Natasha McKenna, Eric Harris, Walter Scott, Freddie Gray, William Chapman, Sandra Bland, Darrius Stewart, Samuel DuBose, Janet Wilson, Calin Roquemore, Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Joseph Mann, Terence Crutcher, Chad Robertson, Jordan Edwards, Aaron Bailey, Stephon Clark, Danny Ray Thomas, Antwon Rose, Botham Jean, Atatiana Jefferson, Michael Dean, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd. These are just recent names.... you can also, of course go back to icons of peaceful protest like Martin Luther King, or numerous heroes of the anti apartheid movement.

And no the uk , while better, is not innocent - where black people represent 3% of the population but almost triple that percentage of custody deaths.

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/video/2020/jun/06/the-uk-is-not-innocent-thousands-protest-racism-in-london-video

You cannot say this is not true just because you don't want it to be. The fact that there are other forms of crime within racial groups is irrelevant. That is like saying it is untrue that men hit women due to misogyny , because men also hit men and women sometimes hit women. It is totally irrelevant and a desperate attempt to invalidate very real truths.

What the OP said was true - whether you like it or not.

If it inflames you - tough.

Yes it’s a good idea

Shall ruffle a few feather though some not seeing why it’s needed as there are other who face issues and others not getting the chance in their own so liberal way of telling black posters about their own experience of being black

Now someone has pointed it out it sea a bit of a no brainer and actually, I had always assumed there was a topic for BAME posters, it's a bit embarrassing that there isn't.
I also think it will show some real inclusivity at a time when we really are having to admit that black people get a raw deal and are often excluded without a reason from groups and sites and discussion.
Yep, white woman here and think it's a cracker of an idea, thoroughly support it, but please may I join in with my pale arse White British self if you start discussing music of black origin as that's the biggest section of my and DHs vinyl collection and I bloody love it.

@CharismaticVic

Sorry am I missing something? Where on the trends or any of the threads does it allude them being for white people?

Or gender specific or anything else.

Yea
Where is a working class board?

Black people feel so hard done by
Do you know the most ignored part of society are young WHITE BOYS AND MEN??
Highest suicide rates too but hey, we don't matter.

I'm always confused when working class gets trotted out in response to racism.

Do Black working class people not exist?
Do asian working class people not exist?
Do mixed race working class people not exist?

Is working class restricted to white people