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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to think that nearly 200 people being killed in Nigeria should be more newsworthy

292 replies

ElaineBenes · 23/01/2012 20:24

What happened in Kano over the weekend is not even on the front pages of the so called international news websites like the BBC. I've had to search for any reporting on it.

Can you imagine if such a thing had happened to people in a rich country?

I think it's really sad that Africans dying isn't considered newsworthy. Are we really that racist?

OP posts:
Haziedoll · 23/01/2012 20:45

Fabby you really are disgusting.

ElaineBenes · 23/01/2012 20:46

Edith I might be wrong but I think the Nigerian diaspora in the UK tends to be more people from the south

OP posts:
OriginalJamie · 23/01/2012 20:47

It coul be racist. It coul be that in places where the perception is of poverty and brutality, that lives are seen as cheaper. It's very sad

LaFilleSurLePont · 23/01/2012 20:49

I found reports about it quite easily on the BBC news site at the weekend. I don't think I even had to go into the World news section.

I do think it's natural,if perhaps not right,for stories that occur in countries we have a close connection to,either through geography, or culture to receive more attention. Though there's a sizeable Nigerian population in the UK,or at least in London.

And do fuck off Fabby. I know you enjoy being as offensive,crass and rude as possible,but that is beyond the pale,even by your standards.

Do you ever put any thought into your posts? Or do you just enjoy the attention?

FlangelinaBallerina · 23/01/2012 20:49

The papers can't report on everything, but only a complete fuckwit would think this wouldn't have got saturation coverage if it had happened in, say, the US. Kewcumber is quite right. White deaths get more interest than black ones. That's just how it is. Whether you want to call that racism or not is up to you.

mojitomania · 23/01/2012 20:49

Its not racist.

Jesus christ, this cry racist is really beginning to piss me right off.

I actually worked in import export for a while dealing with Nigeria and yes, they are known to be scammers (the government that is).

OriginalJamie · 23/01/2012 20:50

Of course perception can be racist.....

EdithWeston · 23/01/2012 20:50

If the Biafran War reinvents itself as Christian v Islamist, it'll be pretty clear pretty damn quick that this involves the future of the whole country.

roundtable · 23/01/2012 20:51

I'm in two minds wether or not to report that post Fabby as it shows what dispicable attitudes there are out there. Especially since there is a small minority (thankfully) of MNers that still insist that there is no racism in this country.

OP I agree that it is very odd that there is not much coverage as this especially since (and I forget the topic it was that banal) the BBC was covering 'soft' news this morning which I always thought was when nothing was going on in the world.

Very sad.

mojitomania · 23/01/2012 20:51

Yes well it would Flange as we do live in predominantly white country. English people were/are white.

roundtable · 23/01/2012 20:52

whether

ElaineBenes · 23/01/2012 20:55

Maybe not racism in the sense that if it happened to black people in America or non-white people, say in richer parts of Asia like Japan, it would make the news.

I not sure what -ist it is, but the fact that poor black African lives seem so worthless in the world arena doesn't sit easily. I guess I was always aware of this and it's nothing new, but because I was interested in what happened in Kano and sat down today to read more about it, it kind of hit home.

OP posts:
roundtable · 23/01/2012 20:56

And so they start crawling out of the woodwork with Fabby as their esteemed leader.

mojito regardless of the majority of a colour in a country are you seriously trying to say that it is less newsworthy because they are not white?

Oh dear. Sad

Kewcumber · 23/01/2012 20:56

"I actually worked in import export for a while dealing with Nigeria and yes, they are known to be scammers (the government that is)."

The fact that some countries are rife with corruption is irrelevant. I have been to several (including Nigeria) and there are counties in some States in the US which are rotten through and through.

Stating that 200 deaths don't matter because they're all scammers is offensive. And frankly even if someone is corrupt and lining their own pocket or desperately trying to persuade greedy westerners to part with their money still doesn't make it a good thing for them to die.

There are some truly horrible things about british society - that still wouldn't make the death of 200 random british people a good thing.

GrahamTribe · 23/01/2012 20:58

Disgusting, Fabby.

The news agencies are in the habit of reporting far more on one issue than another, similar one. Yesterday a child was attacked by a dog and a boy shot in the back. The former was all over the news, the latter barely gained four sentences on the BBC website. Today Harry Redknapp's fraud trial gained more headlines than the shot 16 year old.

mojitomania · 23/01/2012 20:58

I don't care if you're black, white or pussy pink with yellow dots on. But I refuse to buckle down to this racist shouting.

cookcleanerchaufferetc · 23/01/2012 20:59

Sadly events like that in Kano are not one offs, they are happening too often. Events like the Norway massacre, where about 80 people were killed, was much more publicised because a) kids were involved and b) it is not a "typical" event in Norway.

Nothing about blacks or whites .... just frequency.

joanofarchitrave · 23/01/2012 21:00

The british are well known to be binge drinkers.

The death of 200 binge drinkers in a terrorist attack in Birmingham would nonetheless be newsworthy.

mojitomania · 23/01/2012 21:01

No Im not Roundtable, I'm not saying that at all. This racist shouting just gets on my nerves.

mojitomania · 23/01/2012 21:02

We live in a white country, it's a fact. Nothing racist about that, it's just a fact.

OriginalJamie · 23/01/2012 21:04

Monica. What fabby said was racist. You jumping in to back her up on the context of it I.e. that Nigerians are scammers, didn't do you any favours.

TheFallenMadonna · 23/01/2012 21:04

What is your point about England being a predominantly white country then mojito? When we are comparing reporting on events in the USA and Nigeria?

mojitomania · 23/01/2012 21:05

*The british are well known to be binge drinkers.

The death of 200 binge drinkers in a terrorist attack in Birmingham would nonetheless be newsworthy*

Yes, well it would wouldn't it because it happened in England... doh

roundtable · 23/01/2012 21:06

English people were/are white.

Interesting statement. So your perception is that you must be white to be English?

There was a thread a little while ago about a white person with a Barbados accent who someone wouldn't believe was not mocking black people with his accent. Would you tell this person that they in fact were not truely because they were not black as that is the majority colour?

Subconcious racism does still exist. Whether or not you believe the choice of news to be this is up to you but the fact that you claim that the reason this news would not be show because 'English people were/are white' is very telling.

roundtable · 23/01/2012 21:08

his or her accent, sorry.