Black section on MN

[PatricksRum]

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

022828MAN

If a black woman was to post on MN saying her child had been sent home for wearing her hair natural state you would get pages of comments ranging from

• why can’t you just tie it up?
• but it’s against school rules!
• kids can’t see over Afro’s
• can’t you just braid it?

Then posters coming on to defend the OP child.

Then posters just piling on with all sorts of shit.

If there was a specific board these issues could be discussed amongst other black women with the same experience with out all the background noise and head ache.

@BIWI no I’ll think you’ll find that you haven’t actually read the thread. 🤦‍♀️

@Codexdivinchi

022828MAN

If a black woman was to post on MN saying her child had been sent home for wearing her hair natural state you would get pages of comments ranging from

• why can’t you just tie it up?
• but it’s against school rules!
• kids can’t see over Afro’s
• can’t you just braid it?

Then posters coming on to defend the OP child.

Then posters just piling on with all sorts of shit.

If there was a specific board these issues could be discussed amongst other black women with the same experience with out all the background noise and head ache.

So you'll have some gate keeping in place somehow? Or you'll keep the black section seperate somehow?

Otherwise you'll still get the same comments, what would stop them?

God its embarrassing being white.

Because they might get comments they don't like from people they don't want to allow to post, or white people. They also want it moderated by a black moderator only

My first thought was - ‘don’t tell fucking lies’

But my second thought was - why not? Maybe they will be more inclined to spot covert racism.

"Brian from the North
...

I think that maybe the name of this site should be changed to "Net: by people for people" as so many of the users feel it's not appropriate to have dedicated space for people with shared experiences and interests to get together and discuss their common concerns.

Having posted in the very early hours of yesterday It’s a bit mind boggling how this thread has progressed and triggered some to be racist. It is shameful.

It’s really unhelpful (maybe purposefully) to use the word ‘segregation’ or ‘a return to the 50s’ or ‘So America had it right’ etc

‘Segregation’ in the history of black struggle means the institutional separation of an ethnic, racial, religious, or other minority group from the dominant majority.

That’s about as far from this suggestion as it’s possible to be. This is black voices saying ‘this would be something useful, why don’t we have it?’

This thread has opened my eyes it really has. I can't believe how invested some people are in NOT having something for black posters specifically.
So far we have had

How do we know you're black
Do you have to be a certain tone of skin
Do you have to be African
Can't it be BAME
Can it be Race Relations (no it's not 1974)
Why are you excluding White people
How will I become educated?
You might be an EDL member trolling
How will it be "policed"
Ask more nicely

Jeesus. I don't get why anyone cares at all about a new topic that they are not going to look at! I wonder if I started a thread asking for a topic for people of my ethnic heritage (non-Black) I would get such outrage?! I'm half tempted..

So you'll have some gate keeping in place somehow? Or you'll keep the black section seperate somehow?

Otherwise you'll still get the same comments, what would stop them?

Well maybe posters will feel they are able to tell them to fuck off the Black boards if they are being idiots like they do on the fem boards or SN ones.

Tbh I think most whites people will scroll past.

Having a quick look around people who dislike the idea of a safe space need to all lobby MNHQ to remove the following areas of MN in just the first two tabs. After all if you dislike ‘segregation’ you dislike those areas.

Adoption
Inferility
Fostering
LGBT
Lone parents
Single parents
Large families
Multicultural familes
Step families
Premature birth
SAHP
One child families

@PatricksRum me too. I thought that was the automatic response we give to something we don’t like in 2020

@Codexdivinchi maybe posters on the other boards can do the same then and tell posters to fuck off to the black board if they are being idiots.
Oh wait - that doesn’t sound quite as inclusive does it.

This thread is a perfect illustration of why a black section would be a good addition. So many people on here appear threatened by something that isn't for them!

I would worry that a black section could become a magnet for the All Lives Matter crew or trolls, but that could be solved with strict moderating.

I would support MN having a Black section and they could call it Black Mum's Matters to annoy the racists.

maybe posters on the other boards can do the same then and tell posters to fuck off to the black board if they are being idiots.
Why are you assuming that idiots on boards are black?

@DioneTheDiabolist the same reason the poster I was replying to is assuming that the idiots posting on the black board would be white / any other colour than black.

Funny how you never challenged that though.

I dont challenge it because I understand that specific boards have a specific focus and that's ok. It's why Scotsnet, Craicnet, FWR etc exist.

@SimonJT

Having a quick look around people who dislike the idea of a safe space need to all lobby MNHQ to remove the following areas of MN in just the first two tabs. After all if you dislike ‘segregation’ you dislike those areas.

Adoption
Inferility
Fostering
LGBT
Lone parents
Single parents
Large families
Multicultural familes
Step families
Premature birth
SAHP
One child families

That doesn’t follow - that’s not segregation, anyone can post under these topics, anyone can experience these issues regardless of ethnicity. That’s the whole point, that OP is proposing a black only space. Moderated only by black people. As far as I know, none of these topics are being moderated by people of a certain ethnicity.

If there was a black board, surely MN would have to open boards for other ethnicities in the name of equality. Also policed only by those of that ethnicity. And there begins a segregated community.

Also I can see issues for example people posting about Afro hair on general boards and then being told there is a black board for those kind of questions. Is that racist? It’s not as easy as saying it’s just another board.

[quote Kitmerow]@DioneTheDiabolist the same reason the poster I was replying to is assuming that the idiots posting on the black board would be white / any other colour than black.

Funny how you never challenged that though.[/quote]
You might need to read that exchange again and what was being responded too...

@KetoPenguin

I would support MN having a Black section and they could call it Black Mum's Matters to annoy the racists.

Love this

I agree that mumsnet can come across as racist people say stuff online that they wouod never say to someone's face and never should!

Oh but they do say it to people's faces, they do talk in a derogatory way about people. We just pretend we don't.

I thought Britain was an accepting, inclusive place, until I worked with a British Pakistani community. I am horrified at how they treat by their white neighbours and community members.

Kitemerow - but if black posters wish to have their own section to discuss issues pertinent/of importance to them, why would posters who are not black have any business there?

If racism is spotted on MN then point it out/report it, but I would not feel I was “supporting” anti-racism by invading a board which was specifically for a group of posters. Same as I wouldn’t dream of sticking my oar in on SN, for example. In a general discussion, yes, but on the dedicated SN section, no.