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AIBU?

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Original poster

to think Jon Snow shouldn't be hung out to dry

116 replies

CuriousaboutSamphire · 01/04/2019 12:43

.. for commenting on the 'whiteness' of the pro Brexit march?

Or that Channel 4 shouldn't have apologised for it... it was an observation, not a judgement... and it was factual.

How is that racist?

Apparently he is having to wait and see how many complaints are received before the ASA will decide whther or not to act!

It was discusse, somewhat reasonably, on JV Radio2, a while ago. I'm cathing up so sorry if there is already a thread on it!

OP posts:
AnnaNutherThing · 01/04/2019 15:02

So according to some posters here he definitely WAS to be interpreted as giving a dog whistle.

My first thought like coalhawlins said was that it is unlikely to be a true statement .." never".. seems improbable. So it simply rang false, which feeds into my perception of him as hopelessly biased possibly to the point of false memory!

My jokey reaction was : did he not go to Glastonbury?!

AnnaNutherThing · 01/04/2019 15:07

I personally dont think it's worth keel hauling him over it but it seems to be the modern media way that he and Channel 4 are a part of so its hard to summon up much energy to defend him!

RedToothBrush · 01/04/2019 15:10

Leavers on that march are either racist or ok being friends with racists.

90% of people share the opinion that the government are handling Brexit badly. This includes the likes of Yaxley lennon and Farage. On this I agree.

Should I wish to protest about this, should I be self restricting 'in case people associate me with being in agreement with' unsavoury types? Especially if there is a key date and place which is relevant to all?

The remain vote was a broad church of people who include hard europhile who want more integration, status quo supporters and people who want reform of the EU and begrudgingly want to stay.

Likewise leave was a broad spectrum of people who include very rich aflluent types who see it as a way to get rich, 'left behinders', those who wanted a referendum on austerity and Cameron, those with notions of sovereignty and the pure racists. Some of these cross over, but to lump them altogether does a disservice to everyone and doesn't help to resolve the mess that Brexit has made.

Everyone has a right to protest in a democracy. They shouldn't have to somehow justify turning up at the same place to do this, if others are there for very different reasons.

Making the assumptions are only serving the far right rather than uniting Remainers and moderate Leavers in their frustration that the government has handled it remarkably badly and isn't representing moderates on either side.

SkintAsASkintThing · 01/04/2019 15:11

Well I'm so thick I thought something horrendous had happened in game of thrones.

MattFreisWeatherReport · 01/04/2019 15:13

I had no problem with it.

Why make a comment about a lack of diversity?

Because it was relevant. For whatever reason - you can draw your own conclusions - Black people decided they couldn't or shouldn't be there. Westminster Square is a major tourist attraction. For there to be nothing but white faces there on a fine Friday evening is noteworthy in itself and particularly in the context of the event taking place. C4 and other journalists broadcast from there incessantly and would definitely notice that. Why wouldn't he share that observation with viewers?

What percentage of non white people are employed by Channel 4 News? Maybe he could piss away off and give one of them his job, which would be a result.

Their ethnic mix in front of the camera is certainly better than most.

Limensoda · 01/04/2019 15:16

Will Self said the following to MP Mark Francois on Politics Live, and received a lot of criticism...

"When it came to me I made a point I’ve made publicly before: the problem for Brexiteers is that while it’s by no means the case that you had to be a racist or an anti-Semite to vote to leave the European Union, the stark fact of the matter is that probably every racist and anti-Semite in Britain in fact did"

Mark Francois got very angry and told Self he should apologise to the 17 million people he had insulted.
He didn't apologise because he hadn't insulted 17 million people.

BlackCatSleeping · 01/04/2019 15:28

I remember after Hurricane Katrina seeing the faces of evacuees who had taken shelter in a football stadium and every single one of them was black, but absolutely no one mentioned this on the news. There was something so shocking about it, just literally hundreds or thousands of people and not a single white face.

I don't think it's racist to point out the reality of a situation. But, I do understand that by doing so you are pointing out a reality that many people don't want to face and that has consequences.

I don't think all people who voted leave are white. I don't think all people who voted leave are racist. But, it does seem that all the leave protestors were white. I wonder why that is.

colehawlins · 01/04/2019 15:32

don't think it's racist to point out the reality of a situation. But, I do understand that by doing so you are pointing out a reality that many people don't want to face and that has consequences.

Now you're doing it.

We do already know (from proper polling) that Remainers are on average younger, more ethnically mixed, wealthier and more urban than Leavers.

To think you can learn anything other than that about the "reality" of some unnamed "situation" by looking at crowds of marchers, is deranged.

TheNavigator · 01/04/2019 15:34

BlackCat I don't think that is true about Hurricane Katrina, the fact it hit an all black area was very much part of the story at the time. Did Kayne West not cause an uproar by saying the government wasn't doing enough because George Bush didn't care about black people? So race was very much part of that story.

BlackCatSleeping · 01/04/2019 15:37

But if you see a crowd of hundreds of white people and say "They are all white", that's just stating a fact. How can that be wrong? He wasn't saying anything about people who voted leave or remain, he was just commenting on the protestors.

notangelinajolie · 01/04/2019 15:37

I don't believe he was being racist. I think he was just commenting on what he saw. If he lives in or near London he would not be expecting to see many white people all in one place. Perhaps the ethnic mix of people on the march took him by surprise?

Not everywhere is so ethnically diverse as London, the latest census for area I live in 97.2% of the population are white - so a large crowd of all white people here would not be unusual at all.

I really hope I am right because the other alternative explanation for his comments is shameful.

MillicentSnitch · 01/04/2019 15:52

There are well-heeled places you can go in London where almost everybody is white, and I've seen Jon Snow in one of them, happy as larry. My reaction to what he said was that it was as much about class and provincialism as it was about colour. I thought he was being snobby and judgemental.

Bezalelle · 01/04/2019 15:56

Welcome to this brave new world in which the most privileged can claim to be the most oppressed!

AnnaNutherThing · 01/04/2019 15:58

I suspect that's it Millicent.

colehawlins · 01/04/2019 15:59

Yes that sounds spot on @MillicentSnitch

QueenBlueberries · 01/04/2019 16:04

Looking at the protest footage over the last few days, yes it was overwhelmingly attended by people who appear to be white. Anyone would like to prove that to be wrong?

QueenKubauOfKish · 01/04/2019 16:08

Saying "I've never seen so many white people in one place" doesn't sound like something that's literally true - of course he will have seen loads of white people in one place. It's more just a hyperbolic phrase like "that's the biggest piece of cake I've ever seen". It's a slightly snarky way of saying "Well what a shocker, they're all white".

PickAChew · 01/04/2019 16:17

The march has been referred to by other commentators as the Gammonball run, so while JS's turn of phrase was unfortunate, it was a valid observation.

Original poster
CuriousaboutSamphire · 01/04/2019 16:21

The march has been referred to by other commentators as the Gammonball run, so while JS's turn of phrase was unfortunate, it was a valid observation. That has been very much my take on it over the afternoon.

OP posts:
BlackCatSleeping · 01/04/2019 16:22

I assume the march was organised by members of the far right, which is why the protestors were all white.

I don't think the march reflects leave voters. It just reflects a certain section of leave voters.

PickAChew · 01/04/2019 16:29

And not all of the walkers are northerners. Some signed up to just do sections of the walk so, in theory, there will be walkers from the Midlands and South East.

QueenBlueberries · 01/04/2019 16:48

I don't think it was organised by the far right. It was organised by the Leave means Leave campaign, who I don't think is a far right organisation. I am sure some of its members are far right but not all, that's for sure. I don't think protests are meant to 'represent' anything, especially as most people will go to a local protest and few will travel long distances (there are some exceptions obviously). However, considering that it was in London, the fact that the protest was so predominantly white was, in my opinion, an interesting piece of information.

BlackCatSleeping · 01/04/2019 16:59

But the speakers were Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson, right? I think it's safe to say that such an event is not exactly going to attract the Left, even if they voted leave.

colehawlins · 01/04/2019 17:02

I thought we established that Tommy wasn't there?

QueenBlueberries · 01/04/2019 17:14

I think there is far right, and there is the 'right' and right now, the difference is important to make. You might, for example, consider Robinson to be far right and maybe, I don't know, Dominic Raab to be on the right of the spectrum. I think it's very dangerous to assume that most leave voters are on the far right.