RACIST POSTS ABOUT MEGAN MARKLE

[CrazyDuchess]

Time and time again this argument on Mumsnet about why you allow racist threads to stand for so long and take little action?

You assured us before that "lessons have been learnt" and all that rubbish but yet again here I am arguing with some other posters and your staff about whether a thread is racist??

I agree @Aridane and @CallaLilli - hence why I steered clear from that one, My blood pressure was already sky high from this one!

What's evident from the last few enlightened posters intent on conflating criticism=racism and trying to steer the actual purpose of this thread to make me look silly and OTT is that clearly MN is not a safe space for for posters like me.

There was clear overt racism on that thread and this was a response to the lack of action MNHQ was taking. I

Not sure how i am being unpleasant? I am responding to each of your queries like I am under interrogation? I an not sure why I have to justify this thread to you.

If you don't like it you know you could just hide the thread? Or start your own?

No, not everyone who dislikes her is racist, of course not. But the ones obsessively starting dozens of bash threads, copy and pasting lies from hateblogs, and sockpuppeting clearly have some kind of agenda.

Ah. Maybe I just haven't seen enough of the threads to spot that pattern.

Thanks for explaining.

@ColeHawlins What was so confusing about my post?

I'm pretty certain that @CrazyDuchess among others understood the point I was making.

What's the confusion. It's very black and white (pun not intended).

'Name one other person who has multiple threads bashing them started on literally a weekly basis. '

Well as you said Theresa May and Kate feature here frequently.

High profile people will always get negative comments.

Of course racist comments should be deleted, they are though? We return back to my original point that any comment on MM is now jumped on as being racist.

Anyway as the op said mnhq have accepted and admitted they were slow. Maybe we can stop with the constant racist accusations though?

Why are you being so unpleasant?

She isn't the one being unpleasant.

Or maybe we could stop with the constant racism. Just a thought.

Maybe we can stop with the constant racist accusations though?

Nope we need to call it out each and every time we see it!

What's evident from the last few enlightened posters intent on conflating criticism=racism and trying to steer the actual purpose of this thread to make me look silly and OTT is that clearly MN is not a safe space for for posters like me.

No, only one person conflated all criticism with racism and that was vladimir. You're too close to it to see that not everyone is au fait with the full background.

Most people are anti-racism and trying to get it right. Personally, I was trying hard to understand because I know the dog whistling sometimes goes over my head.

You can't just lump anyone who is confused or asking questions in with the EDL. Otherwise you just get people agreeing to be polite without understanding, and where's the progress there?

Of course racist comments should be deleted, they are though?

And then we come back to the original purpose of my thread - the fact is the comments were not deleted in a timely manner - they were allowed to stand despite my near constant reporting and emailing for over an hour.

It is not the first time I have had this run in the MNHQ and it won't be the last.

These were overt racist comments about her skin colour.

You can't just lump anyone who is confused or asking questions in with the EDL.

Woah Cole, talk about jumping the shark there??

Maybe we can stop with the constant racist accusations though?

Indeed we shall. Once the racist comments stop. It's not rocket science. The dog whistle racism, the remarks basically about her not 'knowing her place' these are well worn tropes with the intent of bringing black women down.

A comment the other day by someone in all earnest saying that they didn't even see Meghan "as being black" as though that's supposed to be somehow a compliment. It is not your job to police what others find offensive and I as a mixed race woman can read you chapter and verse about denigrating remarks about MM posted by those apparently with not a racist bone in their body. You need to listen - not shut the discussion down via accusations of seeking to push an 'agenda'.

The point of my post is that MM's skin may be a different shade/colour to mine but it doesn't make either of us superior/inferior. Everybody in the world has a skin colour - one is not better/worse than another! When I come back from holiday my skin colour has changed - this does not alter me as a person. Whoever thought up these divisive terms makes life difficult for those of us who don't care about the colour of someone's skin - just how they behave. I am not sure how to make the point even more clear to those who are deliberately misconstruing what was written.

No, only one person conflated all criticism with racism and that was vladimir. You're too close to it to see that not everyone is au fait with the full background.

Nope that was Gucci- Vladimir was responding.

And not sure what you mean about me being to close to it? Could you clarify? Because to me it seems to imply I am not seeing things clearly? Or that I am struggling to understand here?

• @ColeHawlins What was so confusing about my post?*

I'm pretty certain that @CrazyDuchess among others understood the point I was making.

What's the confusion. It's very black and white (pun not intended).

What you're saying sounds totally different to me to what OP is saying.

Il getting very tempted to just nod and slink off before someone accuses me of being Tommy Robinson's sister or something, but I can't make what you said make sense in my head.

Maybe I need to eat something and have another go.

I think people did understand it but coming home with a suntan isn’t really comparable to slavery, oppression and years of racism.

It minimises. It’s akin to ‘well we’re all a little bit autisric’ and ‘boys will be boys.’

Whoever thought up these divisive terms makes life difficult for those of us who don't care about the colour of someone's skin - just how they behave.

Look I get what you are saying - and I am happy for you to be "colourblind" I am sorry it makes your life difficult.

However - I am black, i can't change that, people see and and treat me differently because of it. That is my reality? I can't ignore my skin colour- it doesn't make it divisive or difficult, it just is what it is.

And not sure what you mean about me being to close to it? Could you clarify? Because to me it seems to imply I am not seeing things clearly? Or that I am struggling to understand here?

I just mean sometimes when you know something inside out it isn't easy to see how it isn't all so obvious to the initiated.

But hippo's post about the tin foil hatters etc did fill in a big bit of what I was missing.

Absolutely no offence intended towards anyone. I don't have anything against the Duchess of Sussex and have no particular gripe with her. I understand where you are coming from OP. Racism does need to be addressed in a general context and there should be robust systems in place to remove anything that is critical of an individual purely on grounds of race. However we should also remember that not every critical remark aimed at the Duchess is going to be about race. We cannot have a situation where people feel they cannot post anything even slightly negative about her without it being shouted down as racist. I don't have anything in particular to say about her as I don't know her but that doesn't mean that other people don't have opinions about her.

What I don’t understand is why people are so invested in their “right” to tell all of MN that they think a woman they’ve never met is a jumped up little bitch for the 8th millionth time.

"Freedom of speech" innit? 🙄

However we should also remember that not every critical remark aimed at the Duchess is going to be about race.

Completely agree - but that is not at all what I am trying to say?

@ColeHawlins I agree with your point. When someone knows something inside out it isn't that obvious to those not very well versed in the topic.

That's the point I was making initially in response to Gucci - that whilst not every criticism of MM is inherently racist - a lot of comments sail very close to the wind and those of us who recognise it for what it is call it out.

Calli made an excellent point on a thread the other day that racism isn't any more about men in robes burning crosses. These days it is a lot more insidious and pervasive. So a comment that might on the surface level seem pretty innocuous actually isn't to those of us that have faced these sort of comments for most of our lives.

that whilst not every criticism of MM is inherently racist - a lot of comments sail very close to the wind and those of us who recognise it for what it is call it out.

That's the bit I misunderstood.