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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Two black cleaners? Really?

178 replies

Fresta · 27/11/2018 20:57

Watching 'How to Spend it Well' on ITV.

AIBU to think that having a load of kids make a mess and then getting two black women in to clean up after them is not really an image we should be reinforcing?

What were they thinking?

Why women cleaners? Why black women? Why couldn't it have been a man and a woman?

OP posts:
Beeziekn33ze · 27/11/2018 21:50

I thought they just came in and did a good job. Maxine and her daughter Jasmine, real cleaners, real people.

dworky · 27/11/2018 21:51

The people who should be cringing are those who claim not to 'see' skin colour.

fishfingersandwichextrordinair · 27/11/2018 21:51

I said to my husband when it came on that two black female cleaners could potentially be a bad choice. I knew people would pick up on it.

It mirrors the Lolly Adefope joke last week about a charity line up being all white.

SheCameFromGreeceSheHadaThirst · 27/11/2018 21:52

we are very conscious that the people doing all the work we don’t want to do are not white

That's not true at all where I live.

dworky · 27/11/2018 21:53

I love how some posters get their jollies being outraged on behalf of others
Well done, you've completed the set.

AtlasShrugged · 27/11/2018 21:53

@dworky - would you have preferred the pair not be paid for their work? Should white cleaners have been offered the job ahead of them to protect your sensibilities. I await you ignoring my question.

kimmy3001 · 27/11/2018 21:54

@dworky some people do see skin colour, some people don't. Some people hear accents, some people don't. Seriously what is your point here? Your saying we see people as different yet you think we're all the same?...

starzig · 27/11/2018 21:55

What jobs do you consider acceptable for a black woman then?

ReadWriteDraw · 27/11/2018 21:56

Cleaners round here (west London) are well paid. At £12 an hour it’s not a terribly job by any means.

bridgetreilly · 27/11/2018 21:56

Well, it depends. Were they the only black people on the programme? That's a problem. Were all the kids making the mess white? That's a problem?

But if there was a reasonable mix throughout, then I don't think it's particularly problematic that the cleaners were both black, especially if they were related to each other.

Chocolatecoffeeaddict · 27/11/2018 21:56

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PleaseJustSayNo · 27/11/2018 21:56

Oh wow, is this actually for real?

I mean, having not seen it, I can only presume this team either applied for the role or at very least were aware of what it entailed and were emoloyed accordingly. To NOT give them the role based on their gender and ethnicity would have been a great example of racial discrimination. What you're claiming is frankly fucking ridiculous

bridgetreilly · 27/11/2018 21:57

@kimmy3001 Everyone sees skin colour. To pretend otherwise is both stupid and offensive.

isadoradancing123 · 27/11/2018 21:57

Omg do peopl look for something to be offended about. Presumably the. Applied for the job and got it, end of subject. If they were refused the job because they are black would that be ok?

puzzledlady · 27/11/2018 21:59

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AtlasShrugged · 27/11/2018 22:00

Applied for the job and got it, end of subject. If they were refused the job because they are black would that be ok? which, if the program chose to employ white cleaners to prevent sjws such as @dworky from being offended, is what would have happened.

FascinatingCarrot · 27/11/2018 22:01

@bridgetreilly No. Not everyone does, do they?

Governoress86 · 27/11/2018 22:02

I really don't get why people find 2 black women cleaning wrong?

This thread comes across to me as you are offended at the fact that 2 black women are cleaners.

Why does it matter what their skin colour is.

I think the world has gone mad with racism.

I don't understand what is wrong with people these days, everyone seems to want to find something offensive in everything.

So basically you can't have a certain job if you are a certain race as it's racism. No one can have an opinion/ free speech in case it offends people .

stressedtiredbuthappy · 27/11/2018 22:04

Calm down,they are many more causes in life for you to get rattled about than people earning an honest living. Sounds like you need a hobby.

HashTagLil · 27/11/2018 22:05

OP, are you coming back?

user1471426142 · 27/11/2018 22:06

They were on it as they had been on tv before as extreme cleaners. A decade ago it would have been Kim and Aggie. I hadn’t seen the programme they had been on but it was clear they had been on tv before from how they were introduced and it was pitched as a challenge for them.

Ohmno · 27/11/2018 22:06

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dworky · 27/11/2018 22:06

would you have preferred the pair not be paid for their work? Should white cleaners have been offered the job ahead of them to protect your sensibilities. I await you ignoring my question.
That doesn't warrant an answer, try harder.

theworldistoosmall · 27/11/2018 22:06

I was doing some work for someone. A part of this was to get some cleaners in. I went online and hired a couple of cleaners. They arrived and did the job. The colour of their skin or their sex was irrelevant. I didn't go and search for specifics just cleaners.

I have no idea what you are talking about lol as I didn't watch it. But I would assume that if people attended as cleaners, they were happy to be there as cleaners.

And do cleaners generally vet who they are cleaning for? I know when I have got them in, all they have cared about really is the address, the time required, what needs to be done and how much. Oh and if they needed to bring anything.

Yidette86 · 27/11/2018 22:08

Ummm... Maybe the best applicants for the role happened to be black?

Should they have been turned away? Isn't that discrimination in itself? "Sorry we can't hire you because some people might jump to the conclusion that we are racist"

Not everything is a race issue and turning some things into an issue only deviates from the real issues. The obsession with race really is getting ridiculous.