AIBU to wonder if it was Dianne Abbott who banged on about sending your kids to state schools then smugly tried to defend herself when she sent hers to private schools?

[ssd]

it was a while ago, but I remember how she smugly tried to defend her choice, whilst telling us we should send our kids to the local state school

why is she still getting away with talking crap

I don't care if she is the first black woman in the house of commons, she is playing the black/race/feminist card way too much and she should shut up and go

ssd I am also "coloured" I just happen to be "coloured" white.

Whilst I don't like Diane Abbott very much, your use of the term term "coloured" does make me wonder what angle you are really approaching this issue from.

So has ssd's use of 'coloured' caused more offence than Whatme's use of 'whitey'?

Interesting.

x-post

Coloured is an ethnocentric term because it starts from the premise that white is the norm and anything else is different.

I am curious as to where you live?

The terminology here is a bit of a minefield.

In the USA (and to a lesser extent here), the term "person of colour" is very much the right-on PC thing to say. But say "coloured person" and you may get into trouble. When football pundit recently referred to "coloured players" he was forced to issue a grovelling apology.

but she said White people love playing "divide & rule" We should not play their game. She didn't say white colonial powers always sought to divide or quote any historial fact.

What she wrote:

"White people love playing 'divide & rule' We should not play their game #tacticasoldascolonialism"

.....which is a reference to the old colonial tactics. Twitter allows 140 characters, it's not the place for a detailed point by point thesis, so people use hash tags to set context. That is not well understood outside of Twitter.

The whole thing is doubly ironical to me, firstly because She has been hoist by tactics she overused herself, secondly because she was actually being truthful.

loosy - so you think that a person's colour might determine whether or not they think that the increasing unacceptability of racism is a bad thing?

Sorry I meant "football pundit Alan Hansen".

FolkGirl - I think both terms are unecessary. I am not offended by either but they do lead me to make judgements about the people using them. Possibly, quite erroneous judgements but such is life.

But if it referred to "old colonial tactics" surely she should have spoken in the past tense - "white people loved playing..."

Which I think she could have justified, tbh, in the way she has said, but to speak in the present tense...

tactic as old as colonialism

not tactic OF old colonialism

and gives her 2 extra charchaters

she was refering to present day not historic fact.

I am no great fan of DA. However, the reason she 'gets away with it' is because of posts such as this 'She does coloured women no favours'.

I think she was very foolish to put it on twitter and possibly shows just how deeply she holds certain views if it just dripped out of her fingertips without any little voice saying "hold on Di, you can't say that!"

And I think that is the issue for me.

I would never be caught out making such a gaffe because I check what I am saying to make sure I don't inadvertantly offend anyone. She was either too stupid to realise or didn't care.

Outdated? Picking someone up on a word which isn't currently in fashion to undermine someone's argument - doesn't really...

she seems to think being coloured

playing the black/race/feminist card

she does coloured women no favours at all

She said a foolish thing. You've said at least 3.

Whatmeworry - "Twitter allows 140 characters, it's not the place for a detailed point by point thesis"

Perhaps then, Twitter is not the place for politicians to discuss issues like this, if having only 140 characters leaves them open to being taken out of context or misunderstood.

And seriously, "truths about whitey"?

'isn't currently in fashion'

Can you really be that ignorant?

Right I'm going now, because I have things to do, places to go, people to see and I'm meeting my brother for coffee.

But there now more outrage at ssd for having used the word 'coloured' than there is for WhatMeWorry using the word 'whitey' or for DA having said what she said in the first place.

The woman is a fool. Her skin colour doesn't matter one jot into his case...it is her brain that is not functioning.

Has anybody bothered to read the whole exchange to get context, rather than just froth about a part of one tweet taken out of context?

She is arguing that the white establishment is playing divide and conquer with the various ethnic groups in the UK. She is not wrong. She is also not wrong to say this has always been the case.

What is most to me fascinating is now you cannot say that, as it's racist - even if you are a black woman MP.

Freedom of speech and has died another little death, and people on this thread are more exercised over which words offend them!!

FolkGirl I think you are misrepresenting things. If people want to criticise what DA said I think that is fine, in my view what she said was inappropriate. However, people who are criticising her by using terms that can also be seen as racist are not really addressing the issue that racism is unacceptable who ever is on the receiving end.

This is not about pulling up someone about their use of a word, it is about being aware of a particular attitude pervading the posts. It is an attitude that i am uncomfortable with as some of the language used by this poster echoes the views of some extreme right wing groups.

"White people love playing 'divide & rule' We should not play their game #tacticasoldascolonialism"

.....which is a reference to the old colonial tactics. "

No it's a statement that white people (not some white people, but as a set group) continue to employ these tactics in the present day.
FWIW I think she has a vested interest in perpetuating the idea of race as a defining factor rather than address the issue that class, education and geography are far more likely to be defining factors of a persons success/place in soceity as maintaining the notion of a homogenous black community/interest is her only USP.

Whatneworry... DA is correct , the 'white establishment' has always played divide and rule. DA 'error' was to tweet this message

Agree Whatmeworry. She should have said establishment. She said something stupid.