Does the UK have a racism problem?

[JolllyBee]

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

@mamabear715 I don't agree, sorry. I think she knows fine well 'how things are'. Lady H would have been in her 20/30s in the 1960s, a decade defined by issues of racial equality and other equal rights. She appears to be in full control of her faculties and unless she was asleep for that decade, she knew exactly what she was doing. She's also had a pretty long time to learn how not to be racist.

And worked for the royal family, who have been dogged by racism accusations over the past few years – did Lady H miss Meghan’s arrival and departure?! She’s not only had a long time to learn; she was in a role where learning will have been provided and updated. (One fucking hopes.)

I think you're unfortunately going to have to wind your neck in and acknowledge that the right of the youth to take offence over any perceived microaggression trumps any notion of respect for the elderly or any understanding that they may not be up to date with the latest ever changing 'rules'.

Ngozi Fulani is 61. Lady Susan didn’t show her any respect. What’s the cut-off age for respecting people, please? Or does it conveniently shift around?

This wasn't Joan down the care home. Lady SH has decades of experience. She knows better.

...the right of the youth to take offence...

WTF does that mean @TruckerBarbie ?

That's what's so odd about it. How could those around her not know? Why would they let her anywhere near the guests? Do es the Royal household have a death wish?

Whatever it was, it was horrible. Forget the nicities of asking where I was from! Men would see that I was white and call out in public 'I want to f* you', walk beside me with a nasty grin and grab me. Try to kiss me on the street. Sometimes they'd try to lure me away to somewhere isolated and not go away when I told th I wasn't interested.

It didn't make me hate people from other ethnic backgrounds though. If anything it made me more determined we should treat everybody as human beings with feelings like us.

As I said above, I didn't watch this particular incident. I'm talking about the belief that it's racist to ask somebody about their cultural heritage.

Of course, most people wouldn't ask a white person about their cultural heritage, unless they had an unusual name, but obviously the ancestors of most white people weren't from China, India, etc.

The Oxford definition of racism is 'Prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior'. Asking somebody where their family originate from doesn't fit this. It's just everyday curiosity.

I don't know what you are debating about if you don't even know what's been debated about???🙄😵

Thanks MH for deleting @ReformedWaywardTeen's scandalous claim that LH was recorded. The depths some will go to is unbelievable.

I am not sure there is a deep seated racism problem within the UK. I think there are pockets of racism but I don't think it is widespread. I think that whilst there are specific events which are racist, I think that there are times when a racist allegation is made which is unfounded. I think it really depends on the context

I've clearly stated it in my post.

Lady SH's racism shone a light on the deep seated racism that is so problematic in our society. That so many people instinctively assumed/felt/believed that Ngozi Fulani was wrong is the deep seated racism.

Some of them continue to believe it, despite the witness accounts and RF's statement following the investigation by BP.

You may think this, but you really haven’t.

Me: 'I'm talking about the belief that it's racist to ask somebody about their cultural heritage.'

You: 'I don't know what you are talking about.'

😂😂😂

That's what's so odd about it. Does she not know what the word 'nationality' means? She asks 'what nationality are you' after she tells her she was born in Britain, and then says she means 'where are your people (family) from', which isn't the same thing at all! and has anybody actually talked like that since the eighteenth century? She tells her 'I spent some time in France' - as if that's somehow going to help - spending time in France doesn't make you French! She doesn't seem to understand the meaning of the words she's using. Presumably, what she wanted to know was where her African name was from, so why didn't she just ask that?

That may be true as a whole, but individuals aren't statistics. I think if you were prepared to acknowledge other people's suffering in specific situations as real, you could add that black women face more problems in general, and come across much more human and relatable. If you treat another group of people as your punch bag for everything that people who looked like them have done, then you're not going to get so much support.

On your other point, I should have put 'western' in quotation marks. In the country I was in, people talk about 'western' or just 'foreigners' meaning white people. If you were, say, asian, and you told them you were American, they would have a hard time understanding that.

Of course I'm not saying only white women can suffer sexual violence. I am saying that they can suffer it because they are white - can I really not say that? Like, I said at the very beginning of the post, I do think that the UK has a racism problem, and I do think it's getting worse. You've all just ignored that and gone for the 'look at the spoilt little white girl making it all about her' playground option.

According to the census 82% of the population is white, but in 2021 white people were responsible for 80% of the hate crime. Seems like the statistics just reflect the number of white people in the country. Any individual white person you come across is actually a very little bit less likely to commit a hate crime than others in the population. So white people are just a little bit more tolerant.

OMG @Popgoestheweaselagain, who gave you that Number Wang🎆🎆🎆 formula and what exactly does it say about racism in the UK?

GB News is not a factual or news type channel.

What the flying f**k is this nonsense?

It says that there is a percentage of the white population that is very racist, but that, taken as a whole, white people are no more likely to be hostile to other races than any other group of people in the UK?🤔

Dunno whether the census nonsense is more this or maybe confused math lady meme.

I'm remembering why I stopped getting into these types of conversations. Constantly being told 'What you really mean ....' is absolutely exhausting.

If Lady H had asked Marlene Headley from Bristol what part of Africa she was from, I wouldn't have the slightest bit of sympathy. But even the people who are that dumb, if you asked them straight out 'do you think people who aren't white-British should get on the boat and "go home"', what percentage of them would say 'yes'? How do you know what they 'really' mean?