Do you think comments such as those of MP Anne Marie Morris should be overlooked because they were once typical parlance?

[VladmirsPoutine]

I haven't come across a thread regarding this and it's made me wonder.

She was recorded using the N word in a conversational manner.

www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/10/tories-urgently-investigating-after-mp-uses-n-word-at-public-event

She's apologised for the offence caused, oddly enough not because she actually caused it. And May is looking to suspend her.

But some of the comments I've read have said that the term she used is a typical idiom that used to be common parlance. Does that render it ok? I mean it was once acceptable to also own slaves and for men to rape their wives... so surely that's no excuse.

It's very revealing about her attitude and her racism.. just disguising.

Kehinde Andrews, Associate Professor of Sociology, BCU, made a very good point today:

"The fact none of her colleagues on the panel raised any objections tells us the climate in which she made the comment and it was received."

OP,

Frankly, the whole episode seems pretty unedifying.
Shame on Anne Marie Morris herself for not realising and immediately apologising, and shame on the others for not calling her out on it there and then.

Thank God the majority of us have evolved from using offensive, ignorant terms that might've been considered acceptable when we were young...Strange how it's apparently beyond the capabilities of an Oxford-educated, legally-trained woman in her 60s to have done the same.
.

She's my local M.P.

The majority of people I've seen or heard talking about it are of the opinion that it's reprehensible, as am I.

There are a few who have tried to defend it

The thing is as a politician she MUST know better than to use offensive expressions like that, which makes me think either a) she says it so much in private that it just slipped out or b) she knew exactly what she was doing and said it anyway to try to chum up to the non-PC brigade. Either way, it's worrying.

I have never heard the phrase either. She surely must have heard or come across it before and I wonder about the arrogance and feeling of superiority of the ppl speaking in such language.

No excuse.
In her Political Party meetings this must be common parlance as her comments passed without any objection been raised.
This isn't an age or generational thing, it's ignorance and an attitude problem that she and her ilk either are unaware is unacceptable or don't care that it is!
Either way - she shouldn't presume to lead the rest of us.

No - the fact she felt at liberty to use a phrase like that.

I,ve been called a n***. It's meant to make you feel less than human and it does.

I hope she's de-selected. Really not fit, is she?

May should be sacking her not suspending her. How on earth can May ask us to put our trust in a clealy racist set of people. It's is never OK to use that kind of language. I don't even know how this is a question. Ridiculous.

No. Absolutely not. I believe she would only say this if it was already part of her usual thinking and vocabulary. Disgusting.

Exactly, GreatGatsby- It's no surprise, frankly, to hear that a Tpry MP has let the mask slip in public and used a racist phrase. What is more telling is that May has not sacked her- so her fragile majority is more important than sending a clear message about racism.
I also have heard 'working like a nigger' in a supposedly professional environment (from an estate agent, in the early 1980s)

It was a phrase I certainly heard as a child in the 70s but thankfully haven't heard it for many years.
It's definitely not OK and she shouldn't be in public office.

I,ve been called a n*. It's meant to make you feel less than human and it does.

I'm so so sorry Rolling :( that sounds horrific. No one ever has the right to make someone feel less than human - wtf is wrong with us sometimes???

She should be fired.

It's disgusting. I'm 58 and it was wrong when I was young.
They used to set light to woodpiles if a slave had escaped, hence the phrase...
OMG! I had no idea of the origin of this phrase. That's despicable.

She's an Oxford law graduate, born 60 years ago so not uneducated or young. I ama few years younger and knew not to use the n word growing up. So there is no excuse for this. Only a person who is inherently racist would use the expression nowadays.

Chocolate thank you. Thank God there's more people like you all on this thread who stand and call it out

She should have been sacked immediately. Yet another reason to see that May will do anything to cling on to power.

I reckon it's common parlance in her own home that why she used it so casually. Dreadful however tory mask slipping in public? Ridiculous things to say I am sure the rest of the party is as good disgusted as everyone else.

There is a petition calling for her resignation here https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/calling-on-anne-marie-morris-to-resign?bucket=facebook-advert-11772017newttab

If anyone would like to sign.

Of course she shouldn't use it.

Weak TM has done nothing.

It is a complicated issue though, lots of teens at my gym use it to mean "homie". Beyonce, jay z and rianna use it alot. I think Madonna used it to describe her son.

I hadn't heard of the woodpiles either. I'm 40s with a first class from a red brick.

Gosh it's woorse than I thought.

My father, in his 70's, very un-pc and someone who I occasionally have to say "You can't say that anymore Dad", uses that phrase as an example of something that used to be commonly said when he was at his first job but is now shocking and would never be said in public.

There is no way that this MP thought it was acceptable thing to say.

It is a complicated issue though, lots of teens at my gym use it to mean "homie". Beyonce, jay z and rianna use it alot. I think Madonna used it to describe her son.

It's not complicated at all. If you know a word is rude you don't use it, but if you use an offensive term to describe yourself that's your prerogative. I don't know what Madonna is thinking of, being not-black and all, but she is an entertainer, not a politician. She's not elected to represent anyone. If she's rude about people they won't buy her product. That's a risk she's welcome to run. (Assuming it's not been misreported, which is often the case.) It does not mean that, because some singer has used a word in an affectionate way towards their offspring, it's fine now, the offence has been neutralised, you can call the next black person you see in the street by it and they'll know exactly what you meant and be fine with it.

They used to set light to woodpiles if a slave had escaped, hence the phrase...

I was unaware of the origin of this phrase. Tbh, that makes it even more offensive than I thought it was. Disgusting behaviour from an MP. She should certainly be sacked.

I am never one to defend TM ever but she can't 'sack' a sitting MP. All she can do is withdraw the Whip which she did almost immediately. There is a mechanism to sack an MP if they are sent to Prison or suspended from the House of Commons for 21 days called the Recall of MPs act. Other than that it relies on the integrity of the MP to resign. Which in this case may be an unrealistic expectation.