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.

Wow! @PinotGroggio , not sure what to say other that 'What the hell'. Agree with @LadyKenya Shame on you Mumsnet! Racism is much more than a difference of opinion and we certainly don't have to respect it or tolerate it.

See even this is a typical example of how black women are dealt with more harshly. You could not make it up, the racists are allowed to continue unhindered, whilst those who object are threatened with suspension.

@ImaniMumsnet please answer the question upthread from socrates?

There are multiple TAAT on the FWR board that have been running for months. Why have they not been deleted?

MN created a board for Black Mumsnetters to discuss issues that impact us. One such issue is the vicious racism on this site that is now out of control so obviously we will discuss that.

Or are we only allowed to talk about racism we see elsewhere but not on MN?

Your threat to delete this thread and silence us is shameful and embarrassing.

And do not bother e-mailing me to issue any kind of warning, I’m not interested. Just go ahead and remove my account if you so wish.

Yes that email proves to me that anti black racism on this site is viewed as a difference of opinion and not actually a problem. It’s tiring.

I thought we’d have some reprieve with Imani but it’s apparent that we won’t. Keep strong ladies. Mumsnet is not a safe space for us.

MN Has shown exactly how they support poc who are shining a light on the awful racism that they experience on here. Their answer is to threaten/ suspend those who have the temerity to speak up, and challenge the lack of support. Not once have they posted anything to publicly show that the racism is not acceptable, or dealt with the numerous posters who are consistently showing who they are. No MN is not a space that is safe for us.

I am pretty disgusted at the racism and moderating of it this past week or so particularly and at this stage you have to ask yourselves if this is a safe place for black and brown people to be or if we do more harm to ourselves by remaining. @ImaniMumsnet It really doesn't appear that you listen to the concerns of poc who have an issue with this ( thats why its being discussed here ) and I think it speaks volumes about the moderating team that you needed to give us this space because you were unable or unwilling to make the whole forum a place where poc can discuss our lives freely. While you may be 'willing to take a look', what you are not doing is removing posters who make racist comments, the royal thread is one of the worst examples I have seen here, with a clear anti black attitude and yet the poster who led that remains, despite multiple deletions for hate speech. Expecting people of colour to be courteous and stick to guidelines around a racist who you fail to remove is a form of racism and oppression itself. You have deleted posts from black women for addressing what happened.

My conclusion after watching this all happen is that you are unable or unwilling to stick to your own policies and you treat minor deletions the same as racist hate speech.

I cannot in good conscience remain on a site that is treating black women differently to other posters and punishes them for calling out racism and supporting each other when it happens.

Absolutely agree with you@AnAngelAtMyTableWithMe . I had a look on here this morning to see if there would be a message of some sort from MNHQ. Tumble weed. I feel the same about remaining here. It is a shame, but the inaction, and the allowing of known racists posters to be allowed to continue on here is nothing short of outrageous. I cannot believe that we can still be so unsupported as poc. Instead of suspending the perpetrators of the horrendous, insidious racism, they instead focus on the poc receiving the hate, and threaten them with suspension instead. Unbelievable. That speaks volumes to me.

@ImaniMumsnet @LilyMumsnet

Popped back to do the same. It would be great if you could show the contributors of Black Mumsnetters some respect by answering our questions and addressing our concerns. Are you only prepared to comment on threads about ageism and the like? Silence is not respect, it is anything but.

I have also been toying with the idea of leaving due to the increasingly hostile atmosphere towards black women. It's a shame because I've had some great support here at times.

MNHQ will only act if an issue hits their bottom line: online revenue.

For example, if advertisers start withdrawing their content because they do not want their ads appearing alongside hate speech or on a site associated with allowing racists to flourish.

Who knows what could happen if this issue is picked up by the media. Just sayin'

If that happened, then maybe they might listen more intently to the concerns of poc on here, and not just try to ignore the issue, and deal with the posters who are racist with some effectiveness for a change.

There are already organisations that pay attention to hate in media and online sources, you may be familiar with them and they may be good places to take your detailed examples to, don't forget to include any replies from moderators to reports etc make it as detailed as possible. Mumsnet made a submission re the online safety bill which makes for interesting reading given what we are all observing.

Well, the media isn't exactly known for being non-racist unfortunately.

Please help make screen shots of this thread before it is deleted. I will be approaching advertisers/affiliates and othee partners of Mumsnet, including MP's

@PinotGroggio @LadyKenya @Socrateswasrightaboutvoting I am so sorry, so so sorry. This is horrific

This forum functions as a really great safe space for white women, that's primarily its core demographic so if you consider the limited online safe spaces for women in general, let alone for women of colour (I hate that term but for the purposes of shorthand), then we're really at a loss. It's quite evident when particular discussions arise e.g. the Karen thread - a lot of those women pointed out how much online abuse they/others receive to that effect. That thread is probably quite unique in that it provided a space for them to gather and share experiences and more so validate each other. That I and others who regard the whole idea of a persecuted karen as nothing short of ridiculous renders us antagonistic and not in keeping with the 'spirit' of the site is pretty much the logical conclusion of participating in a safe space which isn't for us.

You can't have 'respectful robust debate' with people who hate your existence and question your legitimacy. As a PP pointed out what brand is realistically going to pull their cash because Black women are upset, there are entire threads full of the latest brands to boycott owing to their widening inclusivity.

Anyway, I'm not sure what the answer is though I agree there is a problem.

I have said it numerous times (namechanged currently) MN is a racist site which I am using less and less now. Imagine people wanting to boycott brands because of inclusivity- the peak of racism.

Hi all. Thanks for your comments.

We really don’t want racist views or racists on Mumsnet. Our policy has always been to delete racist posts and ban any posters who are repeat offenders. We acknowledge our moderation isn’t perfect (on a site as large as Mumsnet we’re always liable to miss things) but our intention is always to remove any kind of hate speech and we think we stand up well to some larger sites - the outright hate we’ve seen on other platforms wouldn’t be up for more than a couple of minutes on Mumsnet.

@PinotGroggio we mailed you as we would any poster who has had several posts removed for breaking guidelines. Personal attacks are not allowed on the site and you’ve had half a dozen posts deleted for this reason in the last year or so. We generally mail posters to remind them to stick within our guidelines, rather than just suspend them without warning, which we consider to be a fair approach. We also think it’s unacceptable to suggest our mods are ‘in thrall to white women’. As we say in our T&Cs, attacks on our mod team, who are doing their darndest to keep things civil and implement our guidelines, are not really on, so please do bear that in mind.

Opinion on what constitutes hate speech isn’t always unanimous but we understand that black women recognise systemic and insidious racism where others may not and because of this we always listen carefully to what you’re telling us. It’s clear many of you think some posters are frequently crossing this line. Please do let us know if you believe this is the case by emailing us or reporting a post. We can look for patterns in a poster’s history and it’s usually quickly apparent if someone has a specific agenda for a dog whistle.

While I appreciate the response here, and I want to believe it is sincere, my experience hasn't supported what you're saying.

This recent conversation here came after a poster was repeatedly racist to black women, and that poster has done this before. It's specifically towards black posters, you would have noticed the outpouring of sympathy towards that poster while black women were told to stop derailing. That board ignores, minimises or questions specifically black posters only. You have removed comments from that poster before and many this week after it was reported, but they're still there posting. So I am afraid that doesn't sound like you are addressing posters with a history of making racist comments. I also had someone follow me harassing me after posting a seriously obvious and nasty racist comment, and they're still here. I reported every post they directed to me, for weeks while I ignored it, and they finally stopped I assume after you addressed it, but again they're still here. This makes it a very unwelcome space for black posters when you allow people like this to remain after they've targeted only black posters. Repeatedly. I'm afraid I am struggling to really feel like we are being listened to.
I will also add, that I think if black posters have been targeted with racism and have lost their cool before moderation happens, that you should give us some leeway when it comes to warnings and adding up how many deletions we've had. It feels like a punishment for defending ourselves when dealing with racists, and if something considered a 'personal attack' is to such posters then I think thats also grossly unfair. Expecting posters to be gracious and civil to someone they know has been racist is a micro aggression to me.

@YetAnotherBeckyMumsnet What is your ethnicity?

Thanks

Well said@Socrateswasrightaboutvoting .

How does one go about becoming a moderator anyway? It is quite clear that there is a need for black moderators on here.

Thank you@Lndnmummy .

How does one go about becoming a moderator anyway? It is quite clear that there is a need for black moderators on here.

@LadyKenya be careful - we may end up with a Kemi.

🤣

I’m sure this will be deleted, I hope you get to see it. This is Hadaly Eve.
My account was made inactive with no warning last Monday (just over a week ago) by MNHQ. I contacted them thinking it was a technical issue and was told I was suspected of being a previously banned poster. Which was nonsense.

They snarkily asked me to “shed light” or “fill them in on” these “system matches” but wouldn’t say what they were? I of course asked for specifics to help clear it up and reiterated I had never had another account on mumsnet. Nothing was shared which has me wondering a lot as you know posters can report someone accusing them of being a troll or a previously banned poster without any evidence.

They went silent until yesterday when I was cleared of the previously banned poster suspicion but was told because I had had a few deletions they didn’t think I could stay within talk guidelines so were banning me anyway. And to “go well”

I was outraged. I’d had a suspension which was bollocks because their own rules state a suspension should be considered if you have three deletions in a 6 week period and I had had only two deletions in a 10 week period.

My account being inactived was de facto banning me with no warning, also against their published procedures.

I did write them back about there being racial bias against Black Women and I was thinking of going to my friend at the Telegraph with all this. But fearing any retaliation they might do, I blocked them from my email an hour later because I was feeling sick from all of this.

I know I haven’t said anything nearly as bad as many posters who seem to go around bullying with impunity. Often racist posts of theirs do not get deleted but are allowed to stand “for discussion” or “for education” - I now think it’s so that these posters get protected from suspension and banning.

So, yes, I’ve done a new account with a throw away email just to let you know what happened to me and I agree 100% go go go tell the world the anti-Black racism that is going on here on Mumsnet.