AIBU to think a white man should not be able to self identify as black

[probablynotrelevant]

AIBU in thinking that you can't self identify as a different race? Where will this all end? Being able to self identify as a different gender is inevitably going to open the floodgates for all kinds of other 'self identifying' - WTF is going on?!

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/anthony-ekundayo-lennon-black-white-theatre-director-job-people-of-colour-actor-artist-tawala-a8617011.html

Or am I missing something here and essentially humanity is better off as identifying as whatever the hell they like, no matter actual reality, where men are women, black is white, cats are dogs etc etc

YANBU re race, but it’s not the same as gender.

I think it is the same as gender when a man who on occasion likes to wear a dress wins 'woman of the year in business' or whatever it was, and when male prisoners who are IN prison for sex crimes identify as women in order to be moved to women's prisons and then go on to commit more sex crimes against the women locked up with them.

I think this is madness.

This is wrong on so many levels, as he clearly is white and from white Irish heritage. It was the same when a cross dressing man won top 100 Female Executives, and a biological man won a women's cycle race, despite clearly having a man's physique. Very unfair. It is the same as me, a human, saying that I am a cat, when I am clearly not.

YANBU re race, but it’s not the same as gender

That's because gender isn't the same as sex.

You can't change sex or race. They're chromosomal.

Yanbu about race and it is exactly the same as gender.

Rachel dalziel again. He couldnt be as damaged.

There a parallels though surely. There is some, can't think of their name, that identifies as child, despite being a grown adult man. If people can self identify, for whatever reason, then surely logic would dictate that a person could self identify as anything. Why would gender be different to anything else?

Sorry that was to Blanched

It’s exactly the same as gender.. and anyone who can’t see the fucking hypocrisy of “trans women are women” but have a problem with someone self indentifying as black are totally fucking deluded!

I agree it's all the same self-ID bollocks, Fermat.

Noah Trevor does a good routine about this.
I don't know the answer but I'm not sure it can be decided by anyone but the self.
So then what matters is how the information is used, and whether it confers privileges or special support/access.
I don't think there is a simple solution.

Yes people can be who they want, but to entertain this, and take it seriously, which is what is being done here, is totally wrong. He has taken roles intended for Black people.

Is he streetwise?

All nonsense.

How odd. I read the article and altho there is only one photo of him, i wonder if he is really 100% white irish. But his being 100% white or not aside, he is a better looking person than average so i doubt his struggles as an actor were that monumental. He shouldnt be taking the opportunity from a black actor.

Today I identify as princess Anne, now where are my staff?

Honestly, I think that this is why we shouldn’t have positive discrimination. The real problem here is that black artists aren’t afforded the same opportunities as white ones not that a white man took one more opportunity from a black actor. Petty squabbles over non-minirities taking token pity positions from miniroties just masks inequality further.

There is a physical dimension to being black (being black, perhaps equivalent to sex))
There is a cultural element to being black (perhaps equivalent to gender).

Does he look as if he could be mixed race? Yes.
Might he have been discriminated against because of this? Yes - as Trans people and women both are
Would any of us if black , or be sympathetic / empathetic if white, be outraged that he got a really hard to get fund intended for black people? Yes, outrage would be natural, surely?

Or should black people sit back and go a Trans black person is a black person and applaud his award?

If men can wake up one morning and decide they’re a woman why can’t this man wake up one day and decide he’s black?

🤷🏻‍♀️

Transwomen are women.
Transblack are black.

How is there any difference? Anyone who says that this man is wrong and it’s not the same, is a bloody hypocrite.

Instead of asking whether he is black or not we should be asking why it is still acceptable to deny artists roles on basis of race. In this day and age we really should be well over this kind of type casting in proper theatre and should be creating more diverse roles for soaps where people just want pretty young things.

Seems like a stunning and brave individual.

To be fair, I don't think he has always self identified as black - other people treated his as if he was black.

This is a really interesting case in this article; has anyone actually read it? Far from him being "clearly" white, and "clearly" from white heritage is pretty obvious that isn't clear at all! The guy's been working as a "black" actor for years, on account of being taken as black his entire life. After a lifetime of being taken as black, abused for being black, and employed as black, he sees himself when he looks in the mirror as black. Now I'm not saying that's right; it's hugely controversial and not entirely inoffensive, but fascinating.

I don't think much about his getting a leg up via a scheme for black individuals. I guess that's for those responsible to explain their reasoning, but it certainly raises some difficult questions as anyone with half a brain can imagine; far from throwing our hands up in the air about how patently ludicrous the whole thing is.

But if this post is really just another trans bashing thread, DFOD.

It is offensive for a white man to identify as a black man as it is for him to identify as a white lesbian.