Is there anything sensible to read about Diane Abbott?

[Sparetoes]

I quite like her.

She's a black woman who's achieved great things from a very working class background, including going to Cambridge. She's clearly not stupid, although there's been huge industry around making her appear so.

It seems to me an awful lot of "peoples' perception of her is bourne out of racisim and misogyny, though she's clearly made mistakes too.

Is there anything balanced to read?

I dunno. Diane is not shy of making racist remarks herself but 2 wrongs don't make a right.

I agree that she might be educationally accomplished but that doesn't make her necessarily a clever person, just as it doesn't work in reverse.

I personally don't like her, that doesn't make me a racist or mysoginist, nothing to do with her colour or sex. I don't like lots of people. Some are white, some are men etc etc.

I have always - since long before the internet - thought that she was an amazing role model for both black women and girls and for women and girls in general. First black woman MP in the UK - that's incredibly ground breaking and cannot have been an easy ride at all.
Just found this OP on the Black History Month website. Hope the verdict of history is on her side.
Diane Abbott - The first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons. - Black History Month 2024

Never liked her because she is a typical politician, ie say one thing do another

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/nov/01/uk.schools

I’ve always liked and admired her, for similar reasons @heldinadream . Thanks for the link. I also know people who have worked with her in her constituency, and hold her in high esteem.

I am genuinely surprised at the level of negative public feeling and critical media coverage she receives.

I like her after the police numbers and cost incident
to me make her just like the rest of us

Really?

I admire her for being willing to put her parenting above her politics, especially given, as she explained, black boys are often let down by the education system

And given she also started an initiative that's been running for some years to try to tackle this it's not like shes looking after her own child whilst ignoring the children of other black parents either

Oh come on,

Abbott's decision in 2003 to send her son to the private City of London School after criticising colleagues for sending their children to selective schools, which she herself described as "indefensible" and "intellectually incoherent", caused controversy and criticism.

She's a typical politician, one rule for her and another for everyone else and what she said about Jewish/Irish/Traveller people was completely wrong.

I can't stand her. She has been promoted way above her level of competence.

But. That goes for pretty much all politicians these days.

DA is seen as divisive because she is divisive. And pretty offensive too. "White people love playing divide & rule" and comparing antisemitism to prejudice against redheads.

She's racist. She has also experienced racism. One does not cancel out the other.

I agree that she might be educationally accomplished but that doesn't make her necessarily a clever person, just as it doesn't work in reverse.

Exactly this. Being smart and switched on is not the same as being academic. There are lots of people who are very clever and know lots about lots of different things and who do not have a conventional higher education. Similarly, you have people like Diane Abbott, who has existed her entire life in a bubble of politics and political reporting, who has surrounded herself with likeminded people and who might be very educated in a university sense, but who is not "smart".

I really admired but fell out with her over her decision to educate her son privately. Of course, he to went to Cambridge. Trinity College. I think he was/ is a diplomat.
It does seem with her it is a case of, Don't Do As iI Do. Do as I say.

get rid of her and Raynor I might vote Labour😀

Sadly, her son's privileged upbringing, hasn't been altogether successful
https://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/22932379.diane-abbotts-son-charged-alleged-assaults-royal-free-homerton-hospitals/

I think she was right to do the best she could by her son. He has indeed had problems anyway, but those problems might have been far worse if he hadn't been to a good school. She saw the signs that he was liable to have difficulty and tried to turm tings round for him. Fair play to that.

She is also right that we should in an ideal world have a good state school system and not have a 2 tier system.

It isn't an ideal world and she has done the best she could to make the world fairer, during her career, by her lights.

Whenever Diane Abbot is being slated (usually by a racist or a mysonagnist ... or both) it makes me think of this article.

https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/jack-monroe-diane-abbott

She said that Jewish people and Gypsy Travellers experiencing hate is the same as redheads being made fun of for having red hair.

I have zero tolerance for people like that even if she claims she didn’t mean it.

I also resent the notion that anyone making fair and constructive criticism of a black woman must be racist or misogynist.

I don’t care what colour you are, anti-semitism isn’t ok

I hadn’t realised that about her but I agree with this.

If you’re going to say that private schools create a huge divide and disadvantage for state pupils (personally I’m on the fence about this but I see why people believe this) then you can’t say “Except for me, because my son is black so I can contribute to the divide and that’s OK”

One thing I always expect from politicians is consistency (lol I know)

I read this for the first time thinking, as someone who works in the media, “What a terribly written article, how aggressive and patronising” - then realised that Jack Monroe wrote it and it all made senseZ

The crux of this article (which doesn’t mention Abbott’s own racism, how funny) is: “STFU you fucking losers you’re not as good as her, idiots, she was the first Black MP here’s her CV, and if I didn’t say if before STFU it she will kill herself” 🙄

I'm sorry, I can't understand what your last line is supposed to mean - typo?

It's an older article & Jack wrote it in response to people on social media and the actual media who wrote headlines about Diane being thick and unable to do basic maths.

Your 'whataboutery' is 🙄🤔

It says more to me, about you, that you read about Diane's accomplishments as not only a woman but a black woman & all you can say is 'Diane Abbot is racist' & you dislike Jack Monroe...

Just go ahead and tell us you're a Tory 😆

I’m sure she’s clever and academic. I’m a university lecturer, I’m not daft. But I’m a slow thinker. I’d be a rubbish politician from a PR point of view as I can’t cope very well with quick fire type questions/been put on the spot.

Which sadly is part of a politicians job……maybe she’s better at the background stuff. Saying that Biden seems as bad at times. Maybe her diabetes causes hypos and muddles her up sometimes L

Yes ‘it’ should have been ‘or’

My whatabboutery? Abbot DID make racist comments. Are we supposed to forget that? Or ignore it? Why? Because she accomplished other things?

Do you realise the impact comments like their Abbot made about Jewish people has, and how it adds to the ongoing hate they face?

Yes I dislike Jack Monroe - is that not allowed now? Especially when she writes such poorly written aggressive articles trying to demand people agree with her.

Im not a Tory but I can’t bear smug comments like that. I’m not a racist, that counts for more to me

For clarity & so I can respond appropriately, can you explain specifically what you're referening to when you say 'Diane Abbot is racist?

And 'their Abbot'?

”Their” was a typo I should have said “Diane” (sorry, I have shit eyes at the moment and am making a lot of typos)

Before I go into a lengthy explanation - did you miss her racist column in the Observer last year?

I don't read newspapers digitally or paper.

But Glamour Magazine is A OK 👍 😂😂😂😂