Page 11 | .. to be disappointed that a racist received a standing ovation!

NannaNoodleman · 2019-05-13T07:55:31+00:00

Danny Baker: Standing ovation at first show since Twitter storm https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-48249637 What is wrong with people. He showed his true inherent racism but people still believe he's a top bloke!

downthestrada · 13/05/2019 15:40

Its a shame it does exist, but I'm quite happy I and many others didn't make this connection, as we shouldnt. As it's horrible. It's not as well known as people think though.

To me, it just means that you have lived a very different life than I have. One where you have not come across this and not had to think about it. I would rather that people knew about it, so that they could help me when it was happening to me on public transport. TBH it's the first type of racist insult that I remember, from when I was 5 years old.

I don't mean that people should be like "Oh! there's a black person = chimp". I mean that it would be good if people were aware of the history and the fact that black/mixed people often get these types of racist insults, so that they can help combat it. I'm glad now that it's not just black/mixed people speaking up and helping stop racism.

Danny Baker does definitely know about this though. I believe other posters were saying he discussed it this season and this year.

justarandomtricycle · 13/05/2019 15:42

All the people saying ‘doing something racist isn’t racist if you didn’t mean it that way’ - do you believe this tripe in other areas of your life? If a bloke says to you ‘go and make me a sandwich’ would you make an excuse for him on the grounds that he maybe thought you were a chef?

This is a ridiculous example.

The intent absolutely makes a difference - and feigning injury or offense where none was meant is a sign of a bad person. Nobody does this in real life unless they are a 9 carat arsehole, perhaps some are just applying that to this celebrity.

Now I'm not sure that applies to whether he gets to keep his job, because an organisation can see you as speaking for them in which case "could be construed as" becomes a valid criticism of someone representing you. Two different things really.

Coyoacan · 13/05/2019 15:42

None of us know which one DB meant.

Maybe the bananas that were thrown at black footballers was out of a concern for their nutrition

TabbyMumz · 13/05/2019 15:42

Hbstowe. You really are reading too much into my posts. I have said the link between black people and monkeys is horrible right from the start. I don't know much about DB, never really heard of him or his show, so don't know his history. I'm actually sitting in the I don't know camp. I don't know what he was thinking when he posted it. I dont think anybody can say they do know, as other posters have said, we can only really guess, or make assumptions. I only know what I thought, when I saw it. I thought he was referring to it being a media circus. I don't see how I'm being wilfully blind to racism by thinking that. I didn't make the link. Never heard of the link. Glad I'd never heard of the link as in my mind that means less people in the world actually think there is a link.

justarandomtricycle · 13/05/2019 15:46

Thing is, we can't judge intent reliably at the level of a celebrity wanker tweeting.

It is probably academic whether he meant it or not in every sense except whether we genuinely believe he was trying to be racist. It probably makes little difference in terms of professional outcome.

HBStowe · 13/05/2019 15:49

The intent absolutely makes a difference - and feigning injury or offense where none was meant is a sign of a bad person. Nobody does this in real life unless they are a 9 carat arsehole, perhaps some are just applying that to this celebrity.

I think it’s pretty despicable to claim that people are feigning injury and offence about this.

And what about feigning ignorance when your off-colour joke doesn’t get the giggles you anticipated - what does that make you?

If you truly want to believe that a man who has previously reported on this specific form of racism in football, and who discussed Meghan’s pregnancy just days before this tweet, had some kind of mental blank that made him forget his own real-life memories and experiences, and that he therefore tweeted that image from a place of absolute ignorance of its incredibly widely-known racist meaning, then... fine. It’s your prerogative to do so. But forgive me if I don’t find your insistence on this farcical interpretation to be credible.

PanBasher · 13/05/2019 15:52

I don't give a fuck personally.
Or given the thread topic, should that be I don't give a monkey's?

HBStowe · 13/05/2019 15:53

Never heard of the link. Glad I'd never heard of the link as in my mind that means less people in the world actually think there is a link.

Being aware of the fact that some racists link black people with monkeys doesn’t mean we think there is actually a link between black people and monkeys. This is a really important distinction and it’s not coming across from your posts that you understand it.

Being aware that this is a specific form of racism that exists is NOT the same as thinking there is any validity in the comparison, just like me being aware of the existence of the holocaust doesn’t make me a nazi.

Dontbeadick · 13/05/2019 15:56

I think the point that the PP was trying to make is that the less people that hear of the link, the better. Hopefully it means that it will die out in future generations. That doesn't undermine the centuries of abuse that people have experienced.

TabbyMumz · 13/05/2019 16:02

Hbstowe....and me not being aware of the link, doesnt make me a racist either. I wasn't aware of it, and neither were lots of other people. I know you can't understand that. If you like, I will personally apologise to you that I didn't know of this link, if it makes you feel any better. But you cannot and will not make me out to be something I,m not. By not knowing of this link does not make me a bad person. I'm sorry this link exists it shouldn't, it's disgusting. But you really must accept that not everyone in the world knows about it.

JAPAB · 13/05/2019 16:04

"to be disappointed that a racist received a standing ovation!"

That's a bit strong isn't it? I mean, to use racist to classify someone on the back of a single joke that probably wasn't even meant malevolently.

Suiker · 13/05/2019 16:06

Danny Baker completely admits that he is aware of the racist image of comparing people of African origin to apes and chimpanzees.,

What I find remarkable who don't think it's possible to mistakenly but innocently see a picture of a chimpanzee, and not immediately make a connection between chimpanzees and the racist trope, and also make the connection with MM.

When pointed out to DB, he deleted it and hamfistedly (at first) and fulsomely within 24 hours apologise.

Lifecraft · 13/05/2019 16:12

Maybe the bananas that were thrown at black footballers was out of a concern for their nutrition

Well that's not really a credible explanation for throwing bananas, is it?

But taking the piss out of the royal family for being a performing circus performing duties a chimp could do, is credible.

You may not believe it, and it might not even be true. He might be a racist and is lying. But it's a reasonable explanation.

BlackPrism · 13/05/2019 16:16

Anyone who can't acknowledge the black/monkey racist comparison that people have used for CENTURIES is an utter twot

HBStowe · 13/05/2019 16:17

You may not believe it, and it might not even be true. He might be a racist and is lying. But it's a reasonable explanation.

It’s not bloody reasonable. He is fully aware of the racist link - he has admitted this himself. So either he deliberately intended to be racist, or his primary purpose was something else and he just didn’t give a shit about it also looking racist. Both of those attitudes are racist!

BlackPrism · 13/05/2019 16:19

Not to mention the fact that a new mother, any new mother, doesn't deserve to have her mixed race newborn compared to a monkey on the 3rd day of her fucking life 🙄🙄

HBStowe · 13/05/2019 16:24

Hbstowe....and me not being aware of the link, doesnt make me a racist either. I wasn't aware of it, and neither were lots of other people.

I’m not disputing this, I just don’t think it has any relevance. Who cares if you knew about it? This isn’t about what you do and don’t know about the world. What matters is that by his own admission, DB did know that it’s racist to compare black people to monkeys, and he drew that comparison anyway. Which means he either meant to be racist, or he meant to make some other insulting point and just didn’t care that he was using racist imagery to do so.

I don’t think you are a bad person for not knowing that black people have been compared to monkeys by racists. Naive / sheltered / oblivious maybe, but not bad. But if you are using the fact that you aren’t aware that this form of racism exists to say that we can’t possibly know the intentions of someone else who does know it’s racist, then I think you are doing a bad thing because you are contributing to an environment that lets racism go unchallenged.

DeadWife · 13/05/2019 16:25

*He might be a racist and is lying.
*
He lied about knowing who she was, all that bumbling on the doorstep about not knowing which princess was giving birth when he'd actually tweeted 2 days beforehand, "Homer Wallis Simpson" as a potential name. A fairly comical allusion to MM being American and a divorcee no? But other than that no clue who she was? Which princess?? Ok then.

MrsBethel · 13/05/2019 16:27

The joke intended is not a great one, to be fair, but if he'd posted that picture after the birth of a baby Rees-Mogg people would get it.

People need to separate out your right to be offended and the separate matter of whether we should villify Danny Baker for it.
For the right to be offended, the intent is irrelevant.
But when it comes to villifying him, it is everything.

HBStowe · 13/05/2019 16:33

The joke intended is not a great one, to be fair, but if he'd posted that picture after the birth of a baby Rees-Mogg people would get it.

Er, yes, because JRM is white!

TabbyMumz · 13/05/2019 16:35

HbStowe. But we don't know for sure he did mean it to be racist. Not for sure. We can make assumptions, but we don't know for sure. I get that you do think this, and that's your opinion. I dont know. Based on what other people have said on here about his show etc, I swing one way, then the other
Me not knowing about the link has no relevance to what I think about DB. Nowhere have I used the fact that I didn't know about it to say we can't possibly know what he thought. I don't know what he thought. At all. I only know what I thought. And nowhere have I not challenged racism. That's what I mean by you reading far too much into people's posts.

Lifecraft · 13/05/2019 16:46

It’s not bloody reasonable. He is fully aware of the racist link - he has admitted this himself. So either he deliberately intended to be racist, or his primary purpose was something else and he just didn’t give a shit about it also looking racist. Both of those attitudes are racist!

There's a third option. He is aware of the racist link, he is aware MM is mixed race, but at the time he posted his joke, neither of those even occurred to him, because he thought he was making a funny gag about the royals being a performing circus.

When it was pointed out, he suddenly realised his oversight, and deleted the tweet.

That might make him an idiot, but not a racist.

Then again, he might well be a racist.

None of us know. Sadly, only a few of us know we don't know. Most people seem to like to think they do know.

HBStowe · 13/05/2019 16:58

There's a third option. He is aware of the racist link, he is aware MM is mixed race, but at the time he posted his joke, neither of those even occurred to him, because he thought he was making a funny gag about the royals being a performing circus.

As I’ve said before, you’re welcome to believe that he suffered some kind of bizarre mental lapse that led to him completely forgetting his own previous awareness of this racist comparison, but I find it absolutely beyond credulity that anyone could seriously consider this to be a plausible explanation.

Dontbeadick · 13/05/2019 17:06

HBStowe can I ask what you think should happen now? The man has lost his job and his reputation is damaged. Isn't that enough? Can we stop with the pitchforks?

Scarcelyburnt · 13/05/2019 17:20

Oh the institution protecting itself. Who feels upset that this man has had to face the consequences of his racist tweet? I bet its not many black people or those who constantly feel the sting of racism. Who is rushing to defend and turn others into monsters and this white male into the victim.

There are not pitchforks and it is not a witch hunt. It's simply people saying enough of this abuse. It's people standing up for what is right. If to you that is pitchforks, then again it reveals the mindset of a lot of you. The narrative you choose to paint those who oppose racism is interesting - all negative connotations ; pitchforks, etc. They are in the wrong, they are bad. Not the racist though. The narrative for him is poor man, those wicked people hounding a nice man who made a silly little mistake.

Yep racism is alive and well.