To think Nihal Arthanayake is being ridiculous

[Sausagenbacon]

He lives in a country where the majority of the population is white, but says it has mental health problems from a workplace which is mainly, yes, white. However does he deal with everyday life?
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/bbc-diveristy-nihal-arthanayake-radio-5-journalism-diversity-fund-b1123658.html

I could understand if he was talking about moving from a very diverse place to a less diverse place and finding it hard, or experienced racism at work, as an Asian person I know that feeling. But his colleagues cannot help being white, I just feel it’s a horrible way to talk about people you work with.

I dislike this way of seeing each other and agree with PP’s point about other forms of diversity (in thought for example) being much more important. I really would rather not be judged by the colour of my skin and I don’t judge others by their colour either.

There are actually loads of non-white news presenters on the BBC.

Yeah it’s shit, a lot of us have been called paki, I don’t like being anywhere north of birmingham tbh. I don’t blame him for not being happy, no-one should be subjected to racism it’s crushing.

But he’s kinda being unfair on his colleagues here, he’s complaining that they are too white. I have white family members, we’d all be really upset if someone said that their whiteness was affecting their mental health, not their behaviour or their attitude, their whiteness. In increasingly diverse populations (mixed race kids etc) we have to let go of race being so important, it’s toxic. Where there is racism yes stamp it out but this identity politics stuff hurts people more than it helps.

Same. However it is getting better. People just aren’t so shocked and frightened by it as they were and see it for what it is now and push back hard on disgusting, false slurs of racism. There was a time when the general tone of MN was constant apology, cringing and sycophancy towards anyway declaring racism for any reason whatsoever with the familiar parroting of CRT based sound bites. Its the same all over SM, people brush it off, as they should, and I am so here for it 😊

Out of interest, where are presenters who come from the East? China etc? Cannot think of one.

It is not identity politics for someone to talk about how they feel at work. He was commenting on the lack of diversity in his office, and how he feels about that.
I cannot believe the backlash on here. Posters are putting words in his mouth and arguing things he didn't say.

It speaks volumes to me that there is so much racismjust below the surface, that people can get offended by him talking about his perception at a diversity conference. Honestly.

Also, are black people over represented in the Premier League? What about Asian footballers from, say, an Indian background? Is anyone worrying about a lack of them? Or do we just pick and choose where we show concern? I’m just for getting the best people!

Had to google him. I had honestly never heard of him until this thread.

They are on BBC London.

Oddly most of the presenters on BBC London are Oxbridge/Russell Group types.

I have no idea of the editorial and production staff.

And he's not the only person working in TV including for the BBC who has said that editorial and production staff aren't diverse enough.

There have been and are campaigns to change that.

However this is a conference about diversity in journalism.

i cannot believe the backlash on here. Posters are putting words in his mouth and arguing things he didn't say.
Oh, my bad, I thought that he said that working with predominantly white colleagues gave him mental health problems.
Note - not that anyone was behaving in a racist way towards him. They were just white. In a predominantly white country.
And THAT'S no racist. Of course not.

@Sausagenbacon well, he said a bit more than that. But why let the truth get in the way of a good story?

@Reugny Im slightly wary of campaigns! Let people choose what they want to do. It’s still odd not all ethnic minorities present though given how high achieving many are.

Well, that's what I read that he said. Do tell me where I misrepresented him.
Didn't he say that having too many white people in the workplace gave him mh problems?

This is a direct quote
It’s really affecting me that I walk in and all I see is white people.’

He also said ": “The hardest thing is to walk into a room, look around and nobody looks like you.”

The whole purpose of the c.

He also said ": “The hardest thing is to walk into a room, look around and nobody looks like you.”
It was at a conference about diversity and inclusion and the discussion was about how to draw applicants from a wider range of people. I still fail to see the problem with what he said.

No he said it gave him mh problems. Tbh if a white person said that about any other race they would be out on their ear.

Yes they would. We have different standards for insults though don’t we?

Im quite pleased if I walk into a room and no one looks at me. It means I fit in!

You are wary of campaigns because you don't know the issues behind them.

It is not that people of Indian and other SE Asian backgrounds in the UK don't want to play football at the highest levels. It is because scouts have their idea of what a footballer looks like.

The same issue arises with managers.

Best he never moves to Scotland or his MH will decline rapidly, out population is 96% white. The man is a bore and will say anything to hit the headlines.

He's a twat quite frankly.