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Carol Thatcher dropped by BBC for racist word

195 replies

ComeWhineWithMe · 03/02/2009 18:14

Don't lnow if anyone has already posted (have checked can't see anything) .

I am shocked that she even thought using the term was acceptable .

Silly silly ignorant woman.

uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090203/tuk-carol-dropped-for-golliwog-remark-6323e80.html

OP posts:
belgo · 05/02/2009 15:42

good post rhubarb

CatIsSleepy · 05/02/2009 15:47

she deserved to be sacked
stupid, offensive comment
agree the 'in jest' excuse doesn't wash
she must be stuck in some horrible 70s time-warp or something if she thinks that's an acceptable kind of comment to make and I can't believe anyone on MN thinks it's ok
funniest thing is i saw that norman tebbit was claiming the BBC had sacked her to get at her parents
get a grip fgs, norm...

spokette · 05/02/2009 15:47

Well said Rhubarb.

Peachy · 05/02/2009 15:51

'Why do people think it is PC to object to offensive and derogatory terminology? It is those who scream "PC gone mad" who are delusional and have absolutely no idea of the offense, humiliation and damage that offensive terms cause. They say that we should grow a backbone and just put with it but why should I? '

Well said Spokette.

You know when they all whinge about MN not ebing RL? One of the best things about that imo is we can't make any assumptions based on anything at all. There's no way of knowing who's fat, gay, black, disabled- a member of any group that gets targetted in RL. Hallelujah for that, amybe that's why I like it here!

Golliwog just a doll?

have you seen one? I have one somewhere (DH was given it by his nan on his birth and it never comes out of the box but its all he ahs of her, not even a photo due to destruction in his aprents divorce). And you now what they're not very nice at all.

If you still can't understand, take away the first two syllables of golliwog. Would you use the word then? I wouldn't.

Rhubarb · 05/02/2009 15:55

That's exactly why I like Mumsnet Peachy!

spokette · 05/02/2009 15:57

Trust me, the same people who say a golliwog is just a doll will also spit out the word to a black person.

happywomble · 05/02/2009 16:20

Rhubarb - the way your brothers have been treated is absolutely appalling. There are some ignorant unpleasant people around. The school should have dealt with those bullies.

daftpunk · 05/02/2009 16:21

rhubarb;

little background info on daftpunk.

my parents came over to this country from Ireland in the 1950's.
they found it hard to get rented accommodation as a lot of landlords had "no Irish" signs in the window. (i guess they thought my parents would be drunk everynight?)...anyway, they liked the chiswick area of west london and eventually found somewhere to rent....they worked hard, put up with all the " thick paddy" jokes..(which still do the rounds) and eventually they bought a house in chiswick, funnily enough next door to a house that refused to have them....don't get mad get even!...they made a fortune on it, sold up and moved to Brixton..a more multi-cultural area you cannot find...i loved growing up there.

my dh is mixed race (grandfather is Jamaican)
my bil is sri-lankan
my best friend in RL is from iran.
our christmas dinner table is like a UN meeting...it's great...but we haven't all got our heads up our arse.
i'm catholic, alot of my mates are muslin. i have put up with mild racism, i've had people take the piss out of me because i'm catholic...oh, so that's why you have lots of children (yawn yawn)...but i really don't take offence....maybe it toughens you up?
i don't think anyone is superior to anyone else, black/white, man/woman ....i don't care what you are.....but i know alot of people are full of shit, and that's what i can't stand.

happywomble · 05/02/2009 16:27

Spokette - there are many people who think a golliwog is nothing more than a type of teddy. If a few people have been unpleasant enough to use the term golliwog in an unpleasant racist way, it doesn't mean that everyone who loved their golliwog teddy is racist.

Peachy · 05/02/2009 16:30

'doesn't mean that everyone who loved their golliwog teddy is racist.
'

no, agreed

as in loved

howevr if someone bought one fior my dc's now, in 2009, it wouldn't get past the bin.

Peachy · 05/02/2009 16:30

'doesn't mean that everyone who loved their golliwog teddy is racist.
'

no, agreed

as in loved

howevr if someone bought one fior my dc's now, in 2009, it wouldn't get past the bin.

gingerninja · 05/02/2009 16:53

Spaceman, in response to your question, if someone is being insulted in the workplace because of their sex, sexuality, religion, colour, whatever then yes, I believe it is wrong and the perpetrator should be disciplined. It is not just intimidating it is old fashioned bullying. I work very closely with a lesbian, a gay man and a black woman. We are all quite relaxed about talking about our differences but if one of us, or someone else, were to use those differences to insult another then I'd expect them to be dealt with.

Rhubarb · 05/02/2009 17:52

daftpunk, I didn't make any assumptions about who you are or where you came from, I am replying to your posts, which I happen to disagree with.

The latest is that CT made the comment in front of lots of staff members and guests and that Jo Brand was furious and stormed out of the Green Room. Many staff members complained there and then but CT refused to apologised.

Both Jo Brand and Adrian Chiles are said to have denied that they leaked anything to the press.

Here's the official lowdown.

I used to use the term half-caste to describe my brothers - both of them having one white biological parent. That was until an interesting debate on Mumsnet when I found out how the term originated and was made to fully understand it's offensive usages. Since then I no longer use the term. Same with Paki, when I was growing up in Oldham all our neighbours were Paki's, that's just the term we used as kids and no-one ever pulled us for it. Now I realise that the term has been changed and is used against them. Same as spastic and a lot of terms which have been twisted and used as ammunition to insult and humiliate.

I'm no follower of PCness. But if you find out that you've offended someone, surely the first thing you do is to apologise? What a twat you would be if you refused to accept that the words you used were offensive and refused to apologise to those very people who found it so.

Rhubarb · 05/02/2009 17:58

Oh and The One Show have apparently issued a statement saying that "the remark made by Carol Thatcher in The One Show Green Room last Thursday caused considerable offence....it has been suggested the word in question was used in jest. This was not the case and the use of the word to describe a black sportsman caused instant offence. Jo questioned Carol about it at the time but neither she nor Adrian contacted the press. The following day, a number of people who had heard the comment, or learned of it, made their feelings known to the show's exective producer, who raised the issue with Carol. Carol was given every opportunity to discuss the issue and offer an unconditional apology but declined to do so. As a result, The One Show will not be asking Carol to appear on the show again."

Carol's spokeswoman says the race row is just a campaign against the former PM's daughter.

Blu · 05/02/2009 18:17

Why would the BBC employ her and then start a campaign against her because she is the former PMs dd??

Bizarre theory!

ruty · 05/02/2009 18:36

i remember the way she showed total disregard, arrogance and callousness in front of Argentinian women who had lost sons in the Belgrano. They were supposed to meet as a sort of act of reconciliation - she couldn't have been less reconciliatory or more dismissive. Can't stand her.

And can you imagine? Gollywog must have been a normal term in the Thatcher house. The mind boggles.
All that well meaning blithery stuff is a front.

Spaceman · 05/02/2009 21:09

Rhubarb; I don't need stories about how bad racism is - you are preaching to the converted. I hate all form of bullying to the point where my national passtime is sticking up for the underdog at any opportunity. I love getting my sleeves rolled up when I see an injustice taking place, which is why I'd have probably smacked one on old CT's nose there and then and put her right rather than go to the big bosses.

As a result of the whistleblower's behaviour we now have six pages of mumsnet discussion about Golliwogs, black face dolls being shown on the six o'clock news (my DD laughed as she'd never seen or heard of one before) and headlines plastering the phrase everywhere. No good has been done - especially as the media types involved are partly responsible for the lack of taste and good manners prevelant in the BBC today. This has always been my point.

MrsArchieTheInventor · 06/02/2009 04:45

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Rhubarb · 06/02/2009 10:03

spaceman, there are plenty of words I do not wish my children to see or have to explain to them. Such as paedophiles, rapists, sexual assault, flasher, mutiliated, torture etc etc. I remember being in tears over the constant bombardment of pictures of Baby P - he looked just like my ds - in the newspapers, on the TV and even on the BBC website.

This is a shite world we live in and children will learn those words and their meanings, and will no doubt create some of their own too. That is something you cannot prevent. Blame not the whistleblower but the media for choosing to debate about the word 'golliwog' rather than the BBC's refusal to air the Gaza appeal, or the way the Whitehouse is trying to blackmail our judges to keep quite about torture.

The newspapers yesterday were full of Jade Goody's cancer and Carol Thatcher. Because they have a perception that we'd rather read celebritity stories than focus on what's happening in the wider world.

Rhubarb · 06/02/2009 10:03

quiet

madlentileater · 06/02/2009 10:09

I haven't read all the thread but wanted to let you know that the BBC hsa had 1000s of calls and emails complaining about CT being dropped but only 60 in support. So let's all take a minute to tell them they did the right thing.
Can't believe it's become a debat over whether she was worse than the Ross/Brand episode. Can't BOTH be wrong?

Rhubarb · 06/02/2009 10:10

Do people really think that kind of language is acceptable? Or has she got all her 'friends' to phone in on her behalf?

madlentileater · 06/02/2009 10:13

news.bbc.co.uk/newswatch/ukfs/hi/newsid_4030000/newsid_4032600/4032695.stm

took me a while to find the page, so here it is

madlentileater · 06/02/2009 10:19

There's probably something in the DM telling people to complain. Meanwhile all the normal people are thinking, yeah right, go Jo Brand.

abraid · 06/02/2009 10:27

This is rubbish. The green room is supposed to operate under Chatham House rules: ie, what happens inside it STAYS inside it.

If Adrian Chiles and Jo Brand were so offended all they had to do was tell her she was out of order and to shut up. End of.

I used to admire JB but now I think she's a little creep.