White men are becoming an "endangered species" in U.K. Boardrooms

[HLBug]

White men are becoming an "endangered species" in top business jobs as companies take on more women and ethnic minorities, Tesco's chairman has said.

John Allan told a retail conference "the pendulum has swung very significantly" - even though white men still dominate in UK boardrooms.

He said it was an "extremely propitious period" to be "female and from an ethnic background and preferably both".

Mr Allan later said his comments were intended to be "humorous".

Ehhhh.....WTAF?! Speechless.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-39241630

I saw this and couldn't help thinking - awe diddums. Humourous my arse.

Amazing and baffling.

I am usually the first one to jump on patronising obnoxious white men. But I would love to know more about the context. He was speaking at a woman's event. I doubt he was whining. I suspect he was trying to show solidarity and make point that white men need to stop taking privilege for granted.

I know few people will agree with me. And usually I would be one of the people calling for his head. But something about this story just doesn't sound right to me. I would like to see a full transcript of his speech. Or better yet, a video.

He was encouraging a room full of mostly non males etc that they can now reach the top in business. Don't know why the media have jumped on it.

The image of a pendulum concerns me, with the implied inevitability that it will swing back again.