Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

My elderly neighbour told me the riots have set black people fifty years back

172 replies

sundayrose10 · 10/08/2011 02:46

Saw me coming back this evening so stopped me for a chat. Said black people have no chance now Hmm they have truly fucked up. (hmm yeah, cos we are allllllllllllllllllllllllll the same)

Is it unreasonable for me to think he could have had tact considering I am black myself Wink

I might teach him a lesson and not buy his Mail on Sunday for him any more. He is normally a sane(ish) person.

OP posts:
CeliaDeBohun · 10/08/2011 19:06

Why do racists ALWAYS make the following comment:

"I'm not racist (I have black friends)"......They all say it.

That comment about not caring whether someone's green with pink spots always seems to come up too...

aliceliddell · 10/08/2011 19:21

Because they like to pretend that it's just a matter of preference, like wallpaper, so we should stop wittering on about it; it's meaningless and we're idiots. Same thing with women, it's portrayed as irrational prejudice. (is that how you spell 'portrayed'?) Nobody wants to believe that we live in a world where things are set up in such a way that some groups of people will always get the shitty end of the stick. Hence why Harriet Harman is constantly slagged off because she doesn't avoid the hideous truth.

MissBetsyTrotwood · 10/08/2011 19:23

It was a very mixed bunch of kids I saw heading towards the trouble on Monday afternoon in Hackney.

The local butcher today in a full shop: "Black, white, mixed, whatever the f*k they are they've all behaved like fkin' toerags who want a good fkin' takin' in fkin' hand and learnin' a bit of f*kin' proper values!"

soymama · 10/08/2011 19:39

I just feel let down by men in general!! Grin

I think of myself as more sexist than racist!!

I'm sure that many of these looters will one day 'grow up' to be half decent adults.

{crosses fingers}

Original poster
sundayrose10 · 10/08/2011 19:51

faithless12 - The people who think that it started just because of black people will be the same people who are casually racist anyway so not a step backwards. They will just be verbalising exactly what they already though but will now how a 'reason' to think it.

100 per cent agree.

OP posts:
FreudianSlipper · 10/08/2011 19:52

EW in my earlier posts i did say it has become a very middle clas area apart from the estates, 20 years ago it was not so you now have affluent areas they only areas that are not are teh estates and a few odd roads where you might have some council homes. teh divide is very big and i think clapham and dulwich are very good examples of how people have been left behind

pen, i understand what you are saying i know many parts of the uk are not multicultural but our nation as a whole is and has been that way since the 60's, black/asian people make up part of our population and we have a large amount of black/asian british people so i do feel most peoples attitudes have changed, there is still racism about and many are still ignorant but this tends to be out of choice than actually what they have grown up to believe is right

carminagoesprimal · 10/08/2011 20:54

using poverty as an excuse for rioting is an insult to the millions of people coping on low incomes ( and I doubt a single rioter lives in abject poverty or even knows what it is - because we don't have it in this country ) - the reasons this has happened is because a) they're not afraid of anyone - including the police and the courts - b) greed - c) liberal policies and politicians who just keep throwing money at the problem hoping it will go away - it won't.
We need to get a 1000x harder on these criminals or they'll just take over,

Oh wait a minute - they have taken over..... sorry, forget all that.

sprogger · 10/08/2011 21:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FreudianSlipper · 10/08/2011 21:41

i do agree that many of those involved this is not about fighting against poverty as many will not understand the frustrations of not being able to get a job, pay bills and so on as they are too young but poverty is a factor, along with many other issues the divide within society, the expectations on some, the lack of opportunities, money being cut from community funding

we need to understand why many are so angry and listen to them not just dismiss their feelings, why so many have so little regard for others, authority and property that they will go out and do this, i am sure many got caught up and it is totally out of character but we can only learn from what has happened and from that make positive changes to make everyone feel they have the same opportunities, they are part of society and that they do have a future that can be better than what they have now

carminagoesprimal · 10/08/2011 21:49

one of the rioters was a 26 year old teaching assistant - how many people would love that opportunity? He had a good future yet he still chose to go rioting - and at 26 it was hardly peer pressure - he was probably the oldest one there.

MrsFlittersnoop · 10/08/2011 21:51

Thanks for the reasonable informed and intelligent debate on this thread ladies.

Have been depressed and gobsmacked by ranting brain-bypass levels of invective on this forum over the last few days.

And also the nasty creeping racism.

"SORRY! AM I NOT ALLOWED TO SAY THAT? IS IT TOO PC??????? LOL!!!!!"

forehead · 10/08/2011 22:00

I have friends that live in Croydon(white friends) who have said that the rioters were people of ALL races. As others have said this is not about race, it is about people of all colours who basically want free stuff and couldn't give a shit about anyone else. I have seen the footage from Manchester riots, and 70% of the rioters are white.
Paedeophiles(Sp?)are mainly white males(statistics have proved this) yet do we hear black people criminalising all white men. BTW, i am not some woolly Liberal, i am just a white , middle class, mother of three, who detests the fact that black people are being made scapegoats. Why should a handful of black youth define the whole race?
I think that some posters on this thread, see what they already believe. What i mean, is that they have already decided that ALL, black people are criminals, so when they see some black men rioting on television, their own prejudices about black people are confirmed. They conveniently ignore the fact that there are many white people who rioted and that there are many black people who lost their homes or business and have problems like the rest of us.

FreudianSlipper · 10/08/2011 22:02

teaching assistant they hardly earn a good wage but yes of course he should know better no one is suggesting he shouldn't. but the real shock is how young so many are, where most of those involved come from and it is not the nicer areas more affluent areas of our society. it will be poorer areas why do they feel the way they do it can not be dismissed as they feel the world owes them something, they are spoilt, they need a good hiding have you seen how run down some estates are, how our education differs and the standards of schools particularly in areas like clapham and this down to a divide in wealth.

clapham is a very good example, it is racially very mixed but how many black families live in the more affluent areas now, unless you earn a high wage you can not afford too and how many city working white middle class families live in the not so affluent areas and it just so happens that the affluent areas have the better schools (that are often fee paying). there are areas in dulwich that families will rent a flat for a year to get their children into particular schools how is that fair

gingergirl72 · 10/08/2011 22:21

It's probablt been said before (I haven't read the entire thread) but show him the pictures of the Manchester rioting....

sprogger · 10/08/2011 22:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

carminagoesprimal · 10/08/2011 22:47

Good link Sprogger - have you read The social contract - Jean-Jacques Rousseau -

'man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains'

Brilliant book.

forehead · 10/08/2011 22:48

Those VIGILANTES in Eltham, are racist idiots, who will cause more trouble imho.

sprogger · 11/08/2011 07:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

carminagoesprimal · 11/08/2011 12:43

Good degree.

AmberLeaf · 12/08/2011 10:48

Faithless12

Why are you saying Mark Duggan wasnt black?

Mixed race is black!!

The mere fact that he is being refered to in the media as a 'black man' should tell you that is how mixed race men/boys are viewed.

White parents dont get to pass their white privelige onto their mixed race children you know.

AmberLeaf · 12/08/2011 10:50

thesunshinesbrightly Wed 10-Aug-11 05:46:16

True and a major percentage are black..they are so quick to point out their colour when arrested for a crime. Fact is whites dont plead racism, do they have heard my friends say many time 'oh we are been looked at cause we are black' etc... blah blah so it's ok for them to point it out but not us whites.

Why would they?

Pendeen · 12/08/2011 14:23

Cold Truth

When you say "..though that the majority of criminals are white..." am I missing something there?

To me it would seem self-evident that most criminals are white because 90% of the UK population is white.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread