AIBU as the mother of mixed race children to be furious that Giles Coren’s article in The Times included the phrase “fuzzy-wuzzies”?

[unitedcolorsofbattersea]

Why did The Times even allow this to be published? I can remember when I heard this derogatory term being used as a racist insult in the playground during the late 80s. It makes me want to weep. I know Giles Coren has form where racism is concerned but FFS 🤦🏼‍♀️, it’s 2022, not 1922. This is not funny, arch satire and could have horrific consequences. He may as well have used the n word and no doubt people like him do in private company. I really fear for my young children and what they might be subjected to if this is acceptable in print.

(This is my first time posting here on Mumsnet so please be gentle! I know this issue is being discussed a lot of Twitter though and several anti-racism campaigners have commented.) Here is a link to the full article, which is behind a paywall: www.thetimes.co.uk/article/call-yourself-british-ill-be-the-judge-of-that-dwl3qp53w

I am incredibly uncomfortable with Coren's 'hotels for the rich' programme.

He joins other rich white people who waited on hand and foot by locals who get paid very little and are meant to be grateful.

It is disgusting, as is he.

It's not a compliment, but I can't get too worked up about it.

My kids are mixed-raced and so are an increasing number of children.

We're taking over 😉

I’m not a fan of Giles Coren, and I totally agree the words he used are offensive - YANBU!!

I wonder if maybe the sub-editor/editor allowed him to print this because it sort of mocks people who would use that language? I think it is very hard to tell though if GC is using that language as himself, or if he is trying to be ‘satirical’ and mocking racists by using that word.

Thank you for providing readable access to the whole article.

OK, he is, in a stupid schoolboy sort of way, satirising racist colonialists, BUT the whole silly article is him trying to be witty about the ridiculous Britishness test being criticised for it’s colonialism and racist tone. His overall message is ‘everything is called racist these days, can’t even eat roast beef without being called racist, and you can’t be British unless you declare everything and everyone to be racist and all this caring about racism is woke and PCGORNMAD’.

He is an absolute prat. Very obnoxious.

Well, that was a load of shite. No actual point to make, just loads of offensive words. He really is a talentless cunt.🙄

Thanks for posting @amoosee.

Agree. He's like the unpopular kid who says rude things to get attention.

Its a very poor article because the point of view/tone is unclear and inconsistent- however I don't think he is in this case being staightforwardly racist, as the racist term is being mocked.
The citizenship test is ridiculous though. I can see the point of new citizens learning about different aspects of british culture - but more on the lines of be punctual, say please and thank you and don't ask people how much they earn. Shakespeare's birthday and the patron saint of Scotland is less vital info.

It's called Dogwhistle racism.

Agreed on all points.

And it would have only taken the addition of 'what, what?' to make that completely clear.

I am also about to mother a mixed race child and my partner is black. It seems pretty obvious to us that this is meant to be a parody of British nationalists downplaying the horrors of the empire, from what little context you've provided? There are plenty other things you can criticise Giles Coren for - we personally think encouraging our kids to view the world as being pitted against them is disadvantaging them.

@icedcoffeeplease

Even used in parody I don’t find it acceptable to use that phrase. If it were substituted for the n word, which is also an offensive racial slur, would it be acceptable? I had barely heard of Giles Coren before this, but it’s not the first time he has been accused of being racist. Using phrases like that even in parody normalises them. Giles Coren has previously written articles that equate black culture with sloth, degradation and waste and I would have thought he’d be smarter, more decent or a my least more careful.

www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/giles-coren-replaced-times-radio-25976690.amp

I don’t teach my children that the world is “pitted against” them, but my husband wants them to be proud of their Caribbean heritage and we teach them about black history and also racism. One of my sons has an afro (although we call it a Jafro as it may also have come from my Jewish side of the family) and I would be appalled if that phrase was used to describe him in a playground. I can remember when it was common parlance. Giles Coren putting it in The Times without quotation marks is a slippery slope.

I just think Giles Coren a massive twat on all possible metrics and am glad he isn’t on TV any more. Even Jay Rayner, who I absolutely love on Masterchef, commented on Twitter how awful Giles Coren’s article was.

twitter.com/jayrayner1/status/1543156151713505282?s=21&t=xHZ-T8Xq5OdO30BchMuIWA

I initially thought that having seen the article now on here, but thinking about it, he is consistently irreverent about everything, thats the point of the article I think and at the same time satirising both the past and the present.

It's a very poor article because is was written by a shit writer. It's not Satire, it's a poor attempt at satire from a racist, talentless cunt who hides behind daddy's friends.

I actually can’t believe this! As well as making racist comments Giles Coren made an alt account on Twitter so that he could send himself anti-Semitic abuse! How is he still employed in UK media? No wonder he’s not on the telly any more.

www.indy100.com/amp/giles-coren-twitter-alternative-account-pavel-pilnik-jonathan-nunn-wife-antisemitism-8703366-2656344009

Yep, he has written articles where he lied about antisemitism in Poland. He then set up a sock puppet account as a Polish plumber to send himself/his wife(?) antisemitic abuse.

The guy is scum.

It seems he was attempting satire and miserably failed, making himself look like an out of date racist blow-hard.
Well, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...

Horrible phrase to use OP, and the rest of the article is full of offence as well.

@icedcoffeeplease

That's a very admirable approach your husband has decided to take.
However, acknowledging the crap when you see it is definitely not the same as believing the world is pitted against you. Have courage to stand up to it and learn how to deal with it which does not include the easy way out of pretending it's not happening.
When your child comes home crying because someone used a slur against them are you going to be equipped and prepared for the conversations that need to follow? I pray you don't have to cross that bridge because it'll break your heart for years to come.

This is typical of The Times. They used to have the awful A. A. Gill, whose job it was to insult and wind up almost everyone with his calculatedly outrageous columns.

Don't buy The Times! It's the only way to deal with it. He's a deliberate controversialist - a stance i find incredibly boring. Horrible man.

I used to like A.A. Gill’s restaurant reviews. He wrote very humorously and movingly about the his alcoholism in his memoir Pour Me. As well as not being as good at writing as A.A. Gill, Giles Coren’s form of satire is much more nasty and sneering.

At least Clarkson and Lidddle are clever.

Given that some people think it's satire, and that also seems correct to me from what I can see, I'm inclined to be neutral. I don't really believe that making language taboo, even langue that has negative connotations, is generally a good idea, so I don't think just seeing it is horrific.

I think that the idea that it is somehow dangerous is hyperbolic.

It might be poor satire that fails to make it's point, it might be vulgar, it might even be something that shouldn't go in a newspaper (though lots of other very vulgar things are in newspapers now,) but those are not quite the same as what the OP seems to be suggesting.

If it's meant as a straight commentary it's so bizarre that anyone would think it was a good idea to print it I almost can't comment, obviously something went totally wrong.

Giles Coren famously doesn't do being edited. Nor does he do being an adequate human being.

He's a racist, misogynist, talentless scumbag with a massive chip on his shoulder.

I never knew that was racist, I thought it was something that people said to describe heart warming moments and the 'type' of people that's said it were the type that say flutterbys instead of butterflys.