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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To Think This Is A Racist Comment, even for the DM?

167 replies

RubyFakeNails · 28/07/2012 21:52

A friend alerted me to this article in the DM.

This section I think is particularly crass, with one sentence being racist.

"The highlight was undoubtedly an hilarious sketch featuring the Queen and James Bond which saw her Majesty ?parachute? into the stadium.

But it was the absurdly unrealistic scene ? and indeed one that would spring from the kind of nonsensical targets and equality quotas we see in the NHS - showing a mixed-race middle-class family in a detached new-build suburban home, which was most symptomatic of the politically correct agenda in modern Britain.

This was supposed to be a representation of modern life in England but it is likely to be a challenge for the organisers to find an educated white middle-aged mother and black father living together with a happy family in such a set-up.
Almost, if not every, shot in the next sequence included an ethnic minority performer. The BBC presenter Hazel Irvine gushed about the importance of grime music (a form of awful electronic music popular among black youths) to east London.

This multicultural equality agenda was so staged it was painful to watch.
And Conservative MP Aidan Burley was right to point out on Twitter that it was a load of 'leftie multicultural c**p'. Yet predictably he has been castigated by Twitter's Guadianista brigade.

Unfortunately the kind of politically driven multiculturalism we saw last night is the kind of social engineering we have come to expect."

I'm really offended by this as I can't see what evidence they have to make that comment, and as a white educated middle-aged woman living with an equally educated black man in a happy family set-up, maybe I am biased. Would like some opinions.

AIBU to make a complaint about this?

OP posts:
ssd · 28/07/2012 21:58

don't read the dm

life's too short

WorraLiberty · 28/07/2012 21:58

Well I don't live far from the Stadium and I found the whole thing completely normal.

I didn't see the multicultural mix as staged at all...it is how it is where I live.

And YANBU, that is a racist sentence if ever I saw one.

squeakytoy · 28/07/2012 22:00

There are plenty of comments on that article saying that it is a load of biased rubbish anyway.

Sarcalogos · 28/07/2012 22:01

Racist and crass.

I thought the young cast in that section were quite representative of east London. ( albeit, for the most part prettier than the average bunch of teenagers Wink )

RubyFakeNails · 28/07/2012 22:01

Yes Worra I think you and I must live pretty close together (I've seen you reference Rommy market Wink ) and its completely normal to me and I just think how fucking dare they say that its hard to find black and white educated parents who are happy.

Am totally enraged I want to contact someone so it gets the attention it deserves but I have no idea who.

OP posts:
olibeansmummy · 28/07/2012 22:02

Yes it is racist and yes you should complain if you like. I thought the ceremony reflected the cross section of British society and can certainly think of at least one family with the exact requirements they claim doesn't exist in the uk off the top of my head. How can the daily mail not think this is racist?

JumpingThroughHoops · 28/07/2012 22:03

They are talking about the house scene - that is a badly written article, the Queen parachuting has nothing to do with the next paragraph.

I'm reading and re-reading over and over and cannot discern exactly what the writer was saying IYSWIM. It's just a pile of cack written drivel.

I'm not sure what he's driving at TBH. Middle class people dont live in new builds? Middle aged black and white couples are rare?

All Im thinking is: why would the writer want to find a couple when actors were used?

feels a bit thick this evening

Kaloobear · 28/07/2012 22:03

I think that's really racist and also, frankly, bizarre. Yet another reason to avoid the DM like the plague.

MaryHansack · 28/07/2012 22:04

YANBU we should all stay away from the Daily Mule, it is poison.

WorraLiberty · 28/07/2012 22:07

Yes not too far from Romford at all...about 10 or 15 mins really.

Oddly enough one of the little girls in the 'jumping on the bed scene' was my mate's DD.

She's mixed race with a white Mum and a black Dad who are middle aged and have been happily married for many years.

They needed to look no further than the end of their noses....

Youaresoright · 28/07/2012 22:07

that is unbelievable! Press Complaints Commission?

newbiebaby · 28/07/2012 22:08

Awful awful
ArticleAngry

Catkinsthecatinthehat · 28/07/2012 22:10

Jumping, he's stating that white women with black partners are (a) thick and (b) slags.

gordyslovesheep · 28/07/2012 22:11

YANBU it's vile - but what do you expect - that rag supported Hitler

SimplySoo · 28/07/2012 22:14

Yuck, can't stand the Daily Mail, don't understand what their agenda is with this article. I liked the 'normalness' of the family depicted, and the music was perfect given the area of London and focus on youth. The bits of article you've quoted upset me.

RubyFakeNails · 28/07/2012 22:14

Yes worra not too far then, we're in Hackney, but parents live in Upminster and I was regularly dragged around the market as a child it was so long ago they used to sell animals

I've been with DH for 23 years, we're both educated, him more so and I think this is so so offensive and not just for its poor writing. I've made a complaint and contact Diane Abbott who is my MP.

OP posts:
caramelwaffle · 28/07/2012 22:15

Heck. Did none of you notice the "...procession of banana Republics..."?

Ultra racist claptrap.

I read once that the Daily Mail have an informal policy of NEVER placing a positive piece of journalism that involves a non-white person. Surely not thought I....

WorraLiberty · 28/07/2012 22:16

OMG isn't Diane Abbott the one who committed the odd racial feux pas herself? Grin

You're right to complain though

It's ill thought out, ignorant racist bollocks to be frank

Nancy66 · 28/07/2012 22:17

Nope it's not very nice - but he's just an online blogger

Denise34 · 28/07/2012 22:18

London is very multi-ethnic compared to the rest of the country. Some bits looked wrong to me but I don't live in London, and aren't paying for it all.

happy2bhomely · 28/07/2012 22:20

I think the multicultural mix was spot on and a true representation of where I live. (About 4 miles from Olympic stadium.) Me and my husband, (both white, British born and working class) are a definite minority in our neighbourhood.

I think it is a very strange article, which is quite offensive.

JumpingThroughHoops · 28/07/2012 22:21

he's stating that white women with black partners are (a) thick and (b) slags.

Is it Shock back to re read it again. Nope I cant see that in the article. Not even now you've pointed it out.

It's ill worded shite as per the DM, but it's the new build thing that's leaping out at me - I'm interpreting that as the bandied sterotype of new build = social housing = dregs mixed race occupants.Blush

JumpingThroughHoops · 28/07/2012 22:24

Sorry, hit post too soon. I think we live 7 miles way, south of the river though, it all looked fairly average to me on the telly last night.

I'm still not getting what the writer was driving at middle aged mother - feck she was 10 years younger than me and Im most certainly not middle aged Grin

LittlePicnic · 28/07/2012 22:25

Yes it is racist. I avoid that paper because it has an unpleasant tone about most things. If people stop buying it or reading it online it might get shut down (fingers crossed). You could write to the Editor or the press complaints commission.

RubyFakeNails · 28/07/2012 22:26

Yes Diane has made a few cock-ups herself but I have no idea who else to complain to and on the whole she does alright. Although I'm a big fan of 'leftie multi-cultural crap' so what do I know.

It seemed completely normal to me, where I live white children are in the minority (think there are 5/6 in DD2s class), also I'm sure I saw on something recently that 4 in 10 births in the UK are now mixed race children, its meant to be the largest racial group by 2020 so I do feel it was representative.

OP posts: