Common racist comments you hear in 2023?

[SleepDreamThinkHuge]

Compared to 30 years ago, how is racism different today?

For me, racism terms such as the n word p word are less used than they were 30 years ago. However, people have looked at other avenues. See comments below.

1. "You have a chip over your shoulder" every time someone mentions racism or their lived experience it goes straight to denial mode. You are blamed for your lived experiences and told to get over it and how UK is not racist.

2. "The UK abolished slavery. slavery was a long time ago." Every time someone tries to put forward a view of reparations of people who are still suffering from the effects of slavery they are shut down. "that was a long time ago we have changed and evolved."

3. "I feel like a foreigner in my own country." Which is probably one of the most stupid statements considering that over 80 percent of the population is white. I always answer if you feel like a foreigner how do minorities feel?

4. "name the racists" commonly said for Megan Markle that she should name the racists she claimed in the Royal family. But lets be honest if you did that the other person in whatever circumstance would just deny it and ultimately you will not be believed and be called someone who plays the race card and tarnishing other people's careers.

5. "Why do black people have their own spaces if white people had it we would be accused of racism" This is commonly said by the same people who are not as vocal when other groups have their own space e.g. women, LGBT groups etc.. It just seems like whenever black people have their own space people have to put them down. Take Ngozi Fulani the media made it seem she was the bad person people argued why her charity helps black people suffering from domestic abuse. Sad how she was forced out Sistah Space due to the abuse she faced but the media never mention that and the racism she had to face.

6. "Racism exists in all communities" this is another common one used and is a whataboutery technique. We have seen this with people like Kanye, KSI recently but what people forget there was a lot of criticism from the black community with their actions. So to suggest the black community or any other community does not do anything about racism is for the birds.

7. "My best friend is black" This is something you would hear from the EDL or Britain First. But you would be surprised how often you hear this by a lot of people. Just because your friend or relative is black, Muslim, Asian etc does not mean you cannot be racist. Even if you are a white mother and your child is mixed race does not mean you cannot be racist. It is baffling how a lot of people seem to forget this and think that my saying I cannot be racist because of this automatically means they cannot.

Tbh appropriating, stealing, and every other thing of that ilk is what they are very good at doing, so they are not going to stop now@HadalyEve . I do not disagree with you regarding the Karen thing. They have done the same with the word Woke. It is very upsetting, and I know that the meaning of words can change over time, but it always seems to be the case that they are the ones who do the changing at will, and it can end up working against poc.

So white women get all upset and instead of righting the wrong, and returning Karen back to us, joining us fighting the appropriation and misuse, they attack us and say it is misogyny and agesim and say a white man invented it. It’s such BS that it just goes to show how little we are listened to. How basically many white women still think hell will freeze over before they believe a single word from a Black mouth.

This is the bit that is astounding. I don't understand how they can;t see that what they're doing is centring themselves in something that is about women of colour. They're joining in the appropriation and attacking us if we point out it isn't about them. those that use it may be using it for misogynistic reasons, but the appropriation and original use are both racist. How are they now the victims? I couldn't even join that thread it was so alarmingly racist. Literally telling women of colour, this isn't about you. WTF?

Speaking of our history, we have our own Queen Boudicca who did not lead a failed rebellion but succeeded in protecting it from Roman conquest and colonisation.

This warrior queen regnant (Kandake) stopped the Romans southwards expansion from Egypt into Kush (home of my ancestors) by a daring counter-invasion.

Kandake Amanirenas
https://www.history.com/news/nubian-queen-amanirenas-roman-army

Thanks for that @HadalyEve . I will have a proper read.

This is the bit that is astounding. I don't understand how they can;t see that what they're doing is centring themselves in something that is about women of colour. They're joining in the appropriation and attacking us if we point out it isn't about them. those that use it may be using it for misogynistic reasons, but the appropriation and original use are both racist. How are they now the victims? I couldn't even join that thread it was so alarmingly racist. Literally telling women of colour, this isn't about you. WTF?

Because this is what they do. Centering themselves is normal, and the right order of things in their minds. It is simply what white supremacy has taught them. That their feelings trump everybody else's. The way that they were responding to some of the posters was nothing short of disgusting. I am sickened by some of those absolute entitled people. I saw some of their nasty attitudes on some of the threads regarding the Ukrainians treating poc like they were not important, when they were trying to get out of the Country. One delightful poster actually had the audacity to loudly exclaim that it was not the time to talk about racism. How dense, and unfeeling can you be to say something so atrocious as that? I see the sort of people on here, and it is a waste of time dealing with them. They really are not worth it. I was watching a series called Dreaming Whilst Black on BBCiplayer, it is really worth viewing. It shows how we still have to navigate being black in this Society.

It very much exists, just behind closed doors.

Your last point is absolutely spot on, I know of several white mothers that have bi racial children and say the P word to the kids! Obviously no longer friends but it's very much a valid point!

I have come to understand that their feelings of supremacy and the need to centre themselves is truly inbuilt.

They always know better, even when the subject is our lived experience. They also seem to find it difficult to tolerate us having our own space. The number of threads I’ve seen on this board started by a Black person asking other Black people for their perspective of something only to have the obligatory “hi, I’m white and hope you don’t mind me jumping in…”.

See the threads where a Black person asks other Black families for their experiences living in a specific area. I opened one about a town I was thinking of moving to. Several white people felt the need to announce that the area in question was not at all racist because: their Black brother in law lives there and he’s never had a problem, they live there and there are two mixed race children in their kids school who always look happy, the Indian family on their street run a restaurant and it’s always busy…

@LadyKenya Absolutely agree with the need to educate our children and give the curriculum an overhaul (doubt that will ever happen!). I think most important of all is to give them the confidence to stand up for themselves and trust their intuition to know when they're on the receiving end of racism.

I've spent a good part of my life, being gaslit when I've felt that someone is a racist. White people make excuses for other white people. They refuse to acknowledge racism as it's akin to having a mirror held up to them. Granted there are white allies but unfortunately I've met very few.

I still struggle in the corporate world as do my female Black colleagues. We may come across as "difficult" when we speak up for ourselves but it's better than being quiet.

Another point - I'm not sure if this is something that Black women face with Black men but I have seen Brown men treating white women better than brown women. They have a goddess complex when it comes to white women and I wonder if this is something other women of colour face too.

Another point - I'm not sure if this is something that Black women face with Black men but I have seen Brown men treating white women better than brown women. They have a goddess complex when it comes to white women and I wonder if this is something other women of colour face too.

From my own experiences going through the late teenage years, there was definitely a thing for lighter skinned girls. I now know that it is colourism. I used to hear lyrics about it, on records in the clubs,etc. The lighter hued person has always been seen as being more desirable in the main. It was not something me, or my friends concerned ourselves with when it came to boyfriends though. I think the boys/men seemed more influenced by that imo. Saying that I was aware of the different treatment of some family members who were favored due to having a lighter colour. It is a mindset that needs to be changed. But it is a case of cause and effect unfortunately.

And here it is. A white woman suing Cambridge University after a PHD student published research showing her family were merchants who enslaved his family. The university investigated and found the research to be factually correct but she will not accept this and is taking legal action because she is being singled out.

Again, historical fact is treated as an attack on white people.

What caught my eye was her insistence that references to her and her family must be removed because the research “had ignored the legal position of British women in the 19th century…a wife was the chattel of her husbands and that rape was not abolished until 1991 because a woman was considered the property of her husband”

The PHD was understandably completely confused by this argument. What does the legal position of women in the 19th century have to do with the fact her family were slave owners?! It’s so bizarre.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/31/ex-tory-mp-threatens-sue-cambridge-university-slavery-research-antoinette-sandbach

People such as Steve Biko, and the fight against the awful, inhumane system of apartheid, which the British Government had no issue with supporting.

Well, there's a pretty strong argument that in fact the British started Apartheid, even if the actual name only came into being when the Nationalist party came into being in 1948. It was the British who insisted on pass books and early segregation etc. And don't even get me started on British missionaries and their role.

But in my experience, although I have a degree in history, in particular 19th and 20th century South African history, telling people that the British laid the foundations for Apartheid is guaranteed to kill any discussion dead as people attempt to sidle away from me.

As part of her correspondence, Sandbach noted her concern that Al Nasir’s research had ignored the legal position of British women in the 19th century.

Wow, that is straight out of the white women playbook.

I am lost for words@Eastie77Returns . Just unbelievable, but that woman has no issue with benefiting from the generational wealth that she has, no doubt.🙄

This is so infuriating! If this PhD student had said right I’m going to pick this white Tory MP and research her family history to see if her ancestors owned slaves and then write a paper on it, then yes she would have been singled out.

But the facts are he was researching his family ancestry and found out his ancestors were slave traded and owned by her ancestors and in publishing his findings about his family, he had the charitable good nature to only mention the link from her slaver ancestors to her as their descendent in a footnote of all things…and she feels “singled out”?!

No good deed goes unpunished.

Besides the legal position of white women in the 19th century was still as mistress over their enslaved chattel. White women ordered the murder, whippings and torture of slaves. Some even did it by their own hands. She’s blatantly engaging in whataboutery here. There was a pecking order, and yes women were oppressed and had very few rights, but they were not equal to a slave. They still had life and death power over their slaves.

Well said@HadalyEve , much better than I could have written. That woman has taken whataboutery to a shameless level.

A white woman suing Cambridge University after a PHD student published research showing her family were merchants who enslaved his family. The university investigated and found the research to be factually correct but she will not accept this and is taking legal action because she is being singled out.

The white woman is complaining because she can't do a Gladstone, Trevelyan , etc and utilise her white saviour complex.

Besides the legal position of white women in the 19th century was still as mistress over their enslaved chattel. White women ordered the murder, whippings and torture of slaves. Some even did it by their own hands. She’s blatantly engaging in whataboutery here. There was a pecking order, and yes women were oppressed and had very few rights, but they were not equal to a slave. They still had life and death power over their slaves.

Yup, it's the same bollocks we see with abusive men - blamed on their mental heath or her behaviour or whatever. The victim mentality that refuses to take any responsibility but the result is that someone else suffers while they're wringing their hands.

I understand how emotive the slavery issue is but I don't understand people getting so upset to even acknowledge that not all their ancestors were good people. Or even that many of their ancestors may have been acting in ways that were perfectly normal within their culture but that doesn't make it okay. And yet.... how often do you see people excusing the shitty sexist and/or racist and/or xenophobic behaviour of elderly relatives on the basis that "it was different when they were young."?

I’m not sure she even has a white saviour complex. Trevelyan at the very least acknowledges her family were slaveowners and that she and the rest of the family’s descendants have benefitted financially from their trade. This woman seems to just want any and all references to her family’s past erased🙄

I won’t be surprised if she eventually accuses the student and university of bullying/harassment if they refuse to remove her name from the research.

I understand how emotive the slavery issue is but I don't understand people getting so upset to even acknowledge that not all their ancestors were good people. Or even that many of their ancestors may have been acting in ways that were perfectly normal within their culture but that doesn't make it okay. And yet.... how often do you see people excusing the shitty sexist and/or racist and/or xenophobic behaviour of elderly relatives on the basis that "it was different when they were young."?

Exactly@MsMarch .

There’s a thread about this in AIBU. Predictably there is sympathy for Sandbach, she shouldn’t be singled out and comments that ‘Black people were slave owners too’

Peak caucasity. And typical white women responses of "what about the Barbary slave trade" etc. Is there anyone alive today who is still benefiting from that?

I could just imagine the type of posts that are on there. I will give it a wide berth, me thinks!

She isn't being singled out.

In fact if she had kept her mouth shut it wouldn't be a news story. No one knows what the vast majority of people's PhDs are about.

She is just seeking publicity.

Some upper/middle class white women did own slaves in their own right. You didn't have to be a very rich individual to own one/two. There was research by historians which has been publicised on at least one of the Beeb documentaries to tell people who our tax money was paying off until 2015.

Looks like moany miss is going to become the source of a phone-in this morning on LBC.