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

Greythorne Mm I can think of a few terms I could use to draw attention to racism too. Would it be ok for me to say them..?

No?

Why not?

Oh yeah, because it's wrong and it's offensive. That's why.

It's either one rule for everyone, or we all just say what the hell we want and who gives a shit if someone is offended?

Darcus Howe was on Newsnight last night and he said that as DA had apologised that should be an end to the matter as she had nothing to apologise for in the first place.

Now lets go back a few weeks to when Sepp Blatter said if racist words were used on the football pitch the person who said them should just apologise and it should be forgotten about. Oh the uproar! And rightly so!

The problem for me is that we all, by and large, agree that racism is wrong. We all know the wrongs of the past, most of us understand the discourses that still exist that enable racism to continue on some level in some areas. But everytime something is highlighted, people try and address it, to change things, to eradicate racism.

Unfortunately, it seems to be acceptable on some level for racsim to be directed towards white people and well, hey ho, it's ok and all that, we deserve it, we all know what happened in the past, we're still in the authority position, it's not the 'same'...

But either racism is wrong or it's not. Either we are trying to eradicate it, or we're saying it's a terrible crime when committed by a white person but fair enough if committed against.

In this country DA is in a position of authority as a member of the government who makes decisions that affect all of us. If she does have racist thoughts then she should keep them to herself, rise above them and not put them out there on Twitter for the whole world to see. Silly woman.

What FolkGirl said.

But Whatmeworry wasn't drawing attention to racism when she said it, because she's arguing that what DA said wasn't racist.

No, I was arguing that what she said was not wrong, but is now unacceptable coming from someone of a different race. Different thing entirely.

IMO this is mainly a classic froth by her political opponents, who are lining up with relish to hoist her on her self-made petard, as everyone knows DA would be the first to pull the same race card trigger if the situation was reversed.

And which bit of that required the use of the word "whitey"?

And which bit of that required the use of the word "whitey"?

To wind you up, dear :)

I think this sums it all up nicely, from the New Statesman:

Let's call this what it is. It's pretending. It's not genuinely being offended. It's artifice, completely made up in order to get a bit of publicity for people's vexatiously contrarian columns and to get their godawful faces on television. If you're genuinely wounded by Diane Abbott's comments, I pity you. You're beyond saving. It's a wonder we white people manage to stay in control of everything in the world ever if we're so bloody sensitive -- we should be sitting in a cupboard crying all day about what the nasty lady said about us. But it's not genuine hurt; it's the sensing of a mistake by a political rival, and the careful depiction of a representation of what these woeful human beings think being offended actually is, in order to capitalise on that.

Sorted.

I'd take your individual argument as honest if you would have used this stance as gospel if the colour of DA was white and she said this about black people whatmeworry.
Racism cuts both ways and she shouldn't be allowed access to power that can be used to promote her racist views on a national platform.

I lost respect for her when she did that (sons school).

I'm the op here being slated for using the term coloured

where I live (remote bit of scotland), referring to someone as black is more rascist than referring to someone as coloured, hence the use of the word I used

if my ignorance on the subject is being used to scathingly critiscize me, go ahead, I;m sure Dianne Abbott would be proud of you, takes away the real discussion about what she said, doesnt it

ssd I sympathise with you. When I was growing up it was considered very offensive to refer to someone as "black" so we carefully learned to say "coloured" and many people either in remote areas or of an older generation will still say that, not to be "racist" but simply because they have never been told otherwise.

Because I went away to college, I gradually learned that it was now ok to say "black" then suddenly it became ok to say "person of colour" or it had to be "of African/Caribbean descent". No doubt that will soon change and all your terminology will be wrong again.

It seems a bit ridiculous to have these sort of nit picking arguments over terminology or even to imply that there are far right links(!!) when there was no intention to offend. It seems these days we all need degrees in race/gender studies to make sure we are kept up to date in the latest correct terminology.

Strictly speaking neither white nor black are colours and I am actually a rather fetching pinky/peach colour with some red blotches at times, but turn brown in summer!

I'm not wound up, and I'm not even going to add my own 'dear' in this reply.

But you've made yourself and your replies here look pretty pointless, because there was no need for it and you can't give an honest explanation for it.

You are arguing that DA has been misrepresented by a single tweet taken out of the context of many others.

People here are saying she has made a habit of playing the race card or the sexism card herself when it suits her. Perhaps she has, she wouldn't be alone. Many people, of whatever sex or race, use what they can to try and gain an advantage when it suits them.

But if some politician had said that "Black people love playing 'race and sexism cards' We should not play their game #politicalagenda" and then had someone here comment 'ironically' that "someone has told the truth about blacky" there would quite rightly be blood on the walls in here.

There was truly no need and no justification for you to use that particular term and you know it. That's why you are hiding behind the 'wind you up' post and someone else's much more eloquent quote.

But if some politician had said that "Black people love playing 'race and sexism cards' We should not play their game #politicalagenda" and then had someone here comment 'ironically' that "someone has told the truth about blacky" there would quite rightly be blood on the walls in here.

Again, but read it slower so it sinks in:

"Let's call this what it is. It's pretending. It's not genuinely being offended. It's artifice, completely made up in order to get a bit of publicity for people's vexatiously contrarian columns and to get their godawful faces on television.

If you're genuinely wounded by Diane Abbott's comments, I pity you. You're beyond saving. It's a wonder we white people manage to stay in control of everything in the world ever if we're so bloody sensitive -- we should be sitting in a cupboard crying all day about what the nasty lady said about us.

But it's not genuine hurt; it's the sensing of a mistake by a political rival, and the careful depiction of a representation of what these woeful human beings think being offended actually is, in order to capitalise on that."

If you can get this uptight about the taken-out-of-context ravings of one rogue black woman MP then "I pity you, you are beyond saving", as the New Statesmen puts it.

The bit you have quoted (and most of what I have said to you) is about your use of the word "whitey" and the example I gave was to put the word "blacky" and the undoubted reaction to it in a similar context.

Read it again, slower, so that sinks in.

Because you still haven't been able to explain your need to use the word "whitey" or justify it. Probably because you can't, which is why you are repeatedly quoting a newspaper article that has no relevance to your "whitey" comment, ignoring the point that you have been picked up on this comment by others as well as me, and resorting to sniping.

Hilarious that the NS accuse her detractors of doing exactly what the left has turned into an art form, namely playing professional victims.

thermal, that's true, if I referred to someone as black it would feel racist to me

where I'm from, the term hun (used a lot on these types of boards) can be a real insult to some, but most of you wont have a clue what I'm on about, hence what's acceptable to some isn't to others

The bit you have quoted (and most of what I have said to you) is about your use of the word "whitey" and the example I gave was to put the word "blacky" and the undoubted reaction to it in a similar context.

If you want to go all offended about one word vs another, be my guest, but I don't give a monkeys - it's a time honoured approach of those losing an argument to pedanticise and Be Offended at the words used, rather than face the actual argument.

Language can be a real minefield can't it? I would never use the term 'coloured' as I understand it is offensive and no longer acceptable. However, an Asian friend of ours uses it to describe himself and other Asians. DS1 recently used the word 'coloured' as well when he was telling me something this friend had told him, and couldn't understand it when I told him it wasn't a word he should use. I explained our friend was 50 and it was probably ok to use when he was younger, but would be impolite for DS to use.

When DS1 was younger, I had other difficult conversations about not telling racist jokes, which ended him asking if Daddy was being racist telling Grandad Irish jokes (FIL is Irish), and was Grandad being racist against himself if he laughed at them!! I never did find a suitable answer to that!!

Still can't explain yourself then?

It's a time honoured approach of those losing an argument to avoid the question and fling a few patronising and pathetic insults about instead.

I have never said I was offended either by DA or by the word "whitey", but I do think the same double standards are being used by trying to justify what she said and by not challenging what you said (while challenging the use of the word 'coloured' quite forcefully. I don't have to be offended by it to ask you to explain it.

The fact that you can't speaks volumes though.

Ironic racism is no better than any other kind and you are no better than any other racist when you use it.