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Original poster

Does the UK have a racism problem?

556 replies

JolllyBee · 30/11/2022 20:43

In just the last 24 hours alone we've had in the news:

Prince William’s godmother quits palace over comments to black charity boss

Meghan Markle had several 'disgusting' and credible threats to her life, Met cop reveals

Various people's census rants going viral and getting a scary amount of support

James McAvoy shocked by hometown racism in Glasgow after castmates abused on street

and a few days prior:

London Fire Brigade houses a toxic culture of bullying, racism and misogyny, inquiry finds

OP posts:
Squeezita · 01/12/2022 11:46

ReformedWaywardTeen · 01/12/2022 11:43

I meant in the sense they had to let her go off to other interviews and other TV stations. They don't own her or manage her PR.

But yes, let's find more falsehoods to point out that don't exist to score a point.

Show quote history

Keep digging.

Why would they own her? Do you know of anyone who is owned by a TV channel?

Popgoestheweaselagain · 01/12/2022 11:47

Miajk · 01/12/2022 11:29

Do you really not see the problem though?

Heritage and nationality are not the same.

First of all, let's think about intent - historically this kind of line of questioning wasn't in good faith, especially not from a traditionally racist institution like the British monarchy.

Then we have the issue of refusing to accept that someone is British, from Britain, but black. This is offensive, ignorant, and stupid.

Elon Musk is an African-American. But if someone asked him where he's from and he said America, no one would say "but where are you really from"? . But they would ask a black person the same question.

Come on we can do a bit better surely.

Show quote history

It seems like the old lady doesn't really know what nationality means - she just thought the other woman was being pedantic. The thing is, though, for some people 'this conversation I had with this old bat at the palace' would have been an hilarious anecdote. Now that I know more about Flani's experiences of racism I can understand better why she was so upset by this.

healthadvice123 · 01/12/2022 11:54

I think the world over has pockets of racism within their population
Its not just white people who are racist

milveycrohn · 01/12/2022 12:05

My DDIL is a different ethic origin to me, and having lived in New York for some years has said that New York is far more racist than London, where we both live (not together).
This is her experience and was said unprompted.
The kind of racism she gets here (UK) is the kind where she is not believed to be the mother of her DC. In some cases this has been quite hurtful; in other cases quite intimidating.

healthadvice123 · 01/12/2022 12:06

@AlexaM86 yes exactly
The old all who voted brexit are racist crap gets bought up all the time
When infact most europeans are white that came over as per uk being in the EU
Yet other countries have no right to come and work here yet no one is crying out to allow this , most if these countries are none white

honeymaple · 01/12/2022 12:08

Yes. Of course.

RufusthefIoraImissingreindeer · 01/12/2022 12:10

808Kate1 · 30/11/2022 23:28

Will Self is clearly a self-righteous twit.

Yes he is, and a complete dick to boot, but he was 100% correct on this.

Show quote history

No he wasn't right

Not every racist voted for brexit

CYT67 · 01/12/2022 12:10

My late parents were racist. I pulled them up on it many times but they didn’t change.

RufusthefIoraImissingreindeer · 01/12/2022 12:11

And I should say that I do think this country has a problem with racism

healthadvice123 · 01/12/2022 12:11

@DeeCeeCherry how do you know that , its was a different world then and many countries conquered others , the romans did to the uk as well
So it was not just the uk and it would of been some other country doing it maybe the outcome could of then been worse their is no way if knowing as you can't go back in time and change things
Was about positive things like roads being built and things like that or is it only negative , can a whole picture not be looked at and you can't hold a country to account for actions years and years ago forever

healthadvice123 · 01/12/2022 12:16

The thing is some black people born here will not consider themselves british and will say they are african etc as well
So its not a given that someone born here who is not white will automatically say I am british either

healthadvice123 · 01/12/2022 12:17

@Miajk they may if he still has a south african accent as if you see a white person and they have a foreign accent people may say where are you originally from etc

healthadvice123 · 01/12/2022 12:20

@Dontaskdontget exactly also non white people can be racist as well yet according to some they can't
Too much following of america on many things which isn't the way to go

DailyMaui · 01/12/2022 12:22

most europeans are caucasian and so you can hardly have intra-caucasian racism.

So the "No Irish" signs in the windows of B&Bs was acceptable then?

I moved to England from Scotland when I was ten. We lived on a very white estate in NW London. A huge number of the residents were openly National Front and British Movement supporters. I was bullied and physically attacked in school for having a Scottish accent/being different. I deliberately lost my accent very quickly. I was told by my so called friends that I would be deported back to Scotland when the NF got in because England was for the English and only people whose families were English for three generations would be allowed to stay. My dad ran the local community centre right in the centre of this estate and banned so many teens for openly doing Zeig Heil in the centre. But however awful these people were to us they were a million times worse to anyone black or asian. The club was not far from Ladbroke Grove yet it was the least diverse place because no black or asian person would come there, especially at night. My mum actually bumped into one skinhead teen with a gun (we knew him) and he happily told her said he was heading off "down the lane to shoot some coons." Lots of the skins had nazi symbol tattoos. It was really grim and only got better when I moved schools and got friends from outside the area who weren't a bunch of bigoted, evil shits.

I moved away and genuinely thought those extreme racist views were dying a death. I remember seeing a National Front/EDL march near Tower Bridge and the little gaggle of aging skins looked pathetic. How wrong I was - in my bubble - people seem more emboldened to air their racist views in public now than a few years ago.

I lived in the Middle East and yes it was way worse there. But my friend used to joke that it took two weeks for a British expat (and I hate that word) to let their guard down and their racism would drip out. I was regularly shocked by some of the things people would openly say. It was like the racism was hovering under the surface all that time and being in an openly very prejudiced society allowed it to break free.

My mum still has a strong Scottish accent and I cannot tell you the number of times she gets belittled in shops or at the market: people pretending not to hear her properly, treating her in an offhand or rude way. Or we'll get the usual "miser" jokes. There's still an English superiority thing going on and it fucking drives me insane. And this will be so much worse for anyone who is perceived not to be British because they're not white.

Tillow4ever · 01/12/2022 12:36

Further back on this thread, someone asked if racists would admit that are racist. Or if they know they are.

There are a number of posters on this thread that clearly demonstrate that they absolutely would not admit they are racist - far, far too many posts that are essentially "I'm not racist but..." Note to you all - if you ever think or say that, you are racist.

Sadly it seems so ingrained in them they will not listen to it being called out, hold their hands up and say something like "I'm sorry, I'll do better" and then actually work on themselves. Which means they genuinely don't think there's anything wrong with their behaviour or words.

To all those who have ever suffered racism, I'm truly sorry you've had to experience that and can only hope that one day this will be so few and far between, it will be considered a fringe view (I can't imagine we'll ever eradicate it completely).

allinadaystwerk · 01/12/2022 12:38

Always has always will..
Yet still...

healthadvice123 · 01/12/2022 12:41

@DailyMaui I know english people who have had huge issues in scotland so it is not an english thing at all
My friends mum has beeb told to go back to england many a time despite living their years as she still has an english accent, her children born in scotland with scottish accents live in england and have had no issues at all
My friends from wales went to a scottish rugby match and were abused for being welsh and female by some if the scottish supporters and felt very unsafe and vowed to never go back
The reality is there are horrible people in every nationality despite what anyone says and people with extremist views

healthadvice123 · 01/12/2022 12:43

@Simonjt i learnt about it in the 90's and my kids at school in 2015 until recently learnt it as well
Schools can choose various things in history though as there is a lot if it
I never learnt anything about world war 1/2 at school

healthadvice123 · 01/12/2022 12:53

@Wiluli so no racists in scotland then purely only england ? I know others who have found that very different as some areas are a lot less diverse
Each experience is different and cannot be then said one place is this and other totally fine

healthadvice123 · 01/12/2022 12:56

@Maximinimalist white people do suffer racsim in the uk not on the same level of course but yes they still do
Maybe you need to look up the actual dictionary meaning of racism

Wiluli · 01/12/2022 12:59

healthadvice123 · 01/12/2022 12:53

@Wiluli so no racists in scotland then purely only england ? I know others who have found that very different as some areas are a lot less diverse
Each experience is different and cannot be then said one place is this and other totally fine

Where did I say that ? Of course there is racism everywhere but it’s not as easily accepted as in England . I quite doubt someone would scream racial abuse in a bus and not get a reaction from those around them . Proper are more open even unless afluente areas , look at Scottish people take on refugees and how they are protected from being deported in Glasgow as an example .
By no means I’m also saying all English are racists , but there is a much bigger incident if racism on England than in Scotland .

Maximinimalist · 01/12/2022 13:04

healthadvice123 · 01/12/2022 12:56

@Maximinimalist white people do suffer racsim in the uk not on the same level of course but yes they still do
Maybe you need to look up the actual dictionary meaning of racism

No they do not. Go educate yourself on the meaning of racism.

LondonWolf · 01/12/2022 13:10

Enjoy your city break, can’t be fun if you’re on MN.

Oh you're super sweet to worry but I am a single parent of two autistic teens so adult convo is thin on the ground 😄. Eg right now I am sat on a bench in a shopping mall outside a large shop they've found related to their hobby. It'll be a while...

Popgoestheweaselagain · 01/12/2022 13:17

healthadvice123 · 01/12/2022 12:56

@Maximinimalist white people do suffer racsim in the uk not on the same level of course but yes they still do
Maybe you need to look up the actual dictionary meaning of racism

So what's your definition of racism? We've had people on here say they were called 'white slags', for instance. It just seems like any time a white person brings up how it might not all be plain sailing the reply is 'oh, that's not racism, that's just prejudice - that's different' or it's quite common for people to claim that insulting things said about white women are just people being ironic.

Popgoestheweaselagain · 01/12/2022 13:19

DailyMaui · 01/12/2022 12:22

most europeans are caucasian and so you can hardly have intra-caucasian racism.

So the "No Irish" signs in the windows of B&Bs was acceptable then?

I moved to England from Scotland when I was ten. We lived on a very white estate in NW London. A huge number of the residents were openly National Front and British Movement supporters. I was bullied and physically attacked in school for having a Scottish accent/being different. I deliberately lost my accent very quickly. I was told by my so called friends that I would be deported back to Scotland when the NF got in because England was for the English and only people whose families were English for three generations would be allowed to stay. My dad ran the local community centre right in the centre of this estate and banned so many teens for openly doing Zeig Heil in the centre. But however awful these people were to us they were a million times worse to anyone black or asian. The club was not far from Ladbroke Grove yet it was the least diverse place because no black or asian person would come there, especially at night. My mum actually bumped into one skinhead teen with a gun (we knew him) and he happily told her said he was heading off "down the lane to shoot some coons." Lots of the skins had nazi symbol tattoos. It was really grim and only got better when I moved schools and got friends from outside the area who weren't a bunch of bigoted, evil shits.

I moved away and genuinely thought those extreme racist views were dying a death. I remember seeing a National Front/EDL march near Tower Bridge and the little gaggle of aging skins looked pathetic. How wrong I was - in my bubble - people seem more emboldened to air their racist views in public now than a few years ago.

I lived in the Middle East and yes it was way worse there. But my friend used to joke that it took two weeks for a British expat (and I hate that word) to let their guard down and their racism would drip out. I was regularly shocked by some of the things people would openly say. It was like the racism was hovering under the surface all that time and being in an openly very prejudiced society allowed it to break free.

My mum still has a strong Scottish accent and I cannot tell you the number of times she gets belittled in shops or at the market: people pretending not to hear her properly, treating her in an offhand or rude way. Or we'll get the usual "miser" jokes. There's still an English superiority thing going on and it fucking drives me insane. And this will be so much worse for anyone who is perceived not to be British because they're not white.

That's really quite frightening! What decade was this? Britain is such a diverse place, people can have an entirely different experience of it depending on their postcode.