About this Board

[Lovenliving]

Yesterday I discovered a bit about how this board came to be (Thanks @Patricksrum). That meant I also saw the pushback when it was created.

I would like to know from others if this was the first board for a religious or race based group on here? And whether those other boards for Jewish, Asian or other groups of women received the same sort of objection?

Are you writing some kind of article about this or wanting to pursue a complaint?
i just want to know what your motivation is before I give my opinion!

Yes the push back against this board was absolutely appalling, and gave the racist on Mumsnet a field day. I don't know how it was for other members setting up the other boards. They may not see your question here.

No article! I am just interested. Yesterday I saw a few posters accuse an OP of being a troll so I literaly googled their username and mumsnet, and found the oroginal threads that led to this group being created and the significant pushback against having it. Bear in mind that some has been deleted but there are screenshots and enough still up to see what went on.

I was wondering if the Black mums group was the only one to receive such pushback but also aware it may have been the first so it garnered more challenge on principle.

One thing that I have observed is that it's hard to discuss racism and important topics around race on this board because the threads come up on "active" and are often filled up with white women who, at best don't really understand the issues and at worst are openly racist. Because they outnumber black women to such an extent the threads become exhausting to engage with. As a consequence this forum is petty dead.

It has been suggested many times that this forum could be hidden from active, in the same way as the space for Jewish mumsnetters is. Unfortunately we haven't been afforded the same protection.

Unfortunately we haven't been afforded the same protection.

I wonder if that's because the Jewish/Muslim boards are for a very specific set of people i.e. those who follow a minority (in this country) religion/set of cultural practices, whereas the Black Mumsnetters board is for a much wider segment of Mumsnet users - Black people in the UK come from all walks of life/religions/class/regions, and can be mixed race like me or not; and could be from a Caribbean or African background, or children of diaspora. Unless this board is just for a very narrow subject set then I think it should remain in active topics; and it's not about not being afforded the same protection as another non-comparable group.

I agree. A lot of posters don't post here anymore, I don't blame them. Posters get sick of seeing their lived experiences being denied, or minimised by those who have no idea.

Black people in the UK come from all walks of life/religions/class/regions, and can be mixed race like me or not; and could be from a Caribbean or African background, or children of diaspora

Jewish people and Muslim also come from a huge variety of different backgrounds and cultures. They are not a monolith just as black people aren't.

It's the derailing too! It's a a shame because I'd really value being able to have some of those discussions here but it's just not worth the emotional labour.

Whataboutery a white nationalist would be proud of. Being Black is an instantly recognisable feature that cannot be opted out of.

Nobody disputes that religious and cultural groups are not a monolith. You completely missd the essence of @Hazel444"s point.

I think you are actually agreeing with me but don't realise it.

Being Black is an instantly recognisable feature that cannot be opted out of

Yes. Which is why I'd like to be able to discuss aspects of it here with it being piled on by people who aren't black who don't understand the experience.

I was a regular poster on here Under a different name back then, but it became tedious day after day with the constant derailing and attempts to pick fights.
As far as I can recall, most of the other dedicated boards followed, but they all seem to have their goady visitors.

The heading on this Board was placed there after discussion with the then lead mod to try and get at least a bit more respect from some towards Black MN. It didn't really help.

Whataboutery is a strange way to start a conversation on this board.

I didn't start this conversation as I'm not the OP. The post you quoted wasn't the start of a conversation either given that it was a response to something someone said to me.

I think you didn't read the whole thread even though it's still very short, and therefore missed context and misunderstood me.

Yes. Which is why I'd like to be able to discuss aspects of it here with it being piled on by people who aren't black who don't understand the experience.

This is the point I was talking a about regading 'starting a conversation'. Not the OP's post. Sorry if that was not clear.

I dont understand the religion whataboutery.

If you read the whole thread you wlll see that I "started the conversation" a few posts above. This is part of a conversation.

Hazel responded to me by saying that she thought that the reason that some groups posts didn't appear in active but posts from black mumsnetters do was because black people are diverse. I was pointing out that these groups are also diverse so her reasoning didn't make sense.

You then likened me to a white supremacist .....

I take issue with how you started that part of your conversation. IMO it's whataboutery 101. IME white nationalists use whataboutery as a weapon of choice.

Happy now?

Do you not see what was problematic about your religion response?

Why Socrates over Du Bois or Ture?

Interesting style of debate...

But I don't start the conversation with the post you quoted. It was a response to a response.

No, I'm not happy to be likened to a white supremacist for not phrasing something that you agree with in the way you wouldn want me to. Would you be happy if I likened you to one for the way you are tone policing me?

Interesting response. I think we know where we are now...

I stand by my statement that Black people as a descriptive group are far more diverse than groups tied to a specific religion or culture. Your reasoning about my reasoning is what doesn’t make any sense 🤷🏽‍♀️

How so? Muslims can be from lots of different countries and look totally different and have totally different cultures from each other. They might not even agree on how one should worship their God and prophets. Same with Jewish people. They can have different ethnic backgrounds and cultures.

Black people are the same. There isnt one skin tone that we all share. We have different cultures and languages and appearances. Our commonality is that most of us are part of the African diaspora. But not all of us. We were forced to share an identity just due to how we appear to white people. That is our true shared commonality and only that.

That isnt to say it isnt a powerful bond to all have this identity thrust upon us. Of course ww have shared experiences as a result. It doesnt take away from the fact that Black people, Jewish people or Muslims from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds arent any more alike than a Russian person and a Scottish person.

I don't think this means that there's no value in keeping posts from here off "active" in the way that posts in other spaces are.

I think it's such a shame that this forum is so dead. As it was said up thread, many posters don't bother posting here anymore.

Thank you for disagreeing respectfully and not joining in with white supremacist accusations

Yes this was my point.

Thank you @Lovenliving

For me personally, I generally only see threads from this board when they appear in active, I don’t generally check the Black Mumsnetters board as having a Black/mixed background is not at the forefront of my mind when I am browsing mumsnet - I have taken part in some very interesting conversations that I’ve only noticed via them coming up in active (I am a prolific name-changer in case the OP searches as she said she did regarding another poster) which is why I don’t agree with threads coming off active, but that’s my opinion and I can understand why others may feel differently..