Fascinating article from Gal-dem by Ava Vidal.
Black right-wing ‘spokespeople’ do not speak for me. Comedian and social commentator Ava Vidal reflects on the rise of new media Black British right-wingers downplaying racism to aid their own careers.
'As a journalist, comedian and social commentator for the past 10 years, I’m always asked to comment on racism, but there’s been a recent change in the landscape. Before, there was at least a concerted effort to promote a variety of Black voices in the British mainstream media. We’d have our Dear Uncle Trevor (Phillips) but we’d also hear from George the Poet. There would be people like Kwasi Kwarteng being challenged by grime artists such as Marci Phoenix. You’d hear from the likes of Shaun Bailey pontificating on the evils of grime music, but you’d also hear from Akala. We would be given the points of view from a range of Black people from Lorraine Pascale to Trisha Goddard.
Nowadays, it seems that the Black people being favoured as “community spokespeople” by the mainstream media are the ones who are keen to downplay anti-Blackness, and minimise or deny the existence of racism altogether. Hardcore right-wing organisations such as Toby Young’s Free Speech Union and Turning Point UK have dedicated themselves to fighting “wokeness” by recruiting these people, just to place them front and centre and deflect accusations of racism. “Some of our best friends are Black.” Blah, blah, blah. We have seen the profiles of people such as Dominique Samuels, Esther Krakue, Calvin Robinson, and Inaya Folarin Iman rise expeditiously.
The age of these people is also interesting to me. They all seem to be fairly young and lack life experience. There’s no appreciation for the sacrifices made by their elders that enable them to live life as freely as they do. They don’t seem to understand what life was like when Teddy Boys roamed the streets looking for Black people to violently attack. They have no grasp of how frustrating it was before legislation forced a tiny crack in a few doors open, to allow a few Black people to gain management positions.
I also think, that there has been a move and some sort of bravery to bring those with extreme views in to the open as away to silence black people. As a push back, i have seen lots of black journalist and bloggers, influencers refuse to attend TV interviews because they all felt like they were being used. this has created a vacuum where you have lots of people that may have not been given chance having a say now.
it would be great if people clicked on the link to read further. I found it really fascinating and thought provoking. The link to article is below.
gal-dem.com/black-right-wing-spokespeople-do-not-speak-for-me/