Member of Household resigns

[myrtleWilson]

Awful story just broken on twitter about horrendous racist questioning from Lady Hussey to Ngozi Fulani from Sister Space at yesterdays VAWG event.

Lady Hussey has resigned.

[Edited by MNHQ to correct typo at OP's request]

SHe didn't ask about the organisation's heritage she asked where Fulani was from, then persisted in "where are you really from" after being told "London". Because she doesn't see black women as really British.

The organisation's purpose and focus is domestic abuse btw. She could have asked about the women they support, how they find fund raising or a gazillion other questions to feign interest in the charity. Instead she chose to focus on an insistence that the organisation's lead must be "foreign" in some way.

Great post @Diverseopinions

So agree

So, something that can't be seen, felt, heard or otherwise observed in any way. By the person with the bias.

The rest of us see it perfectly clearly.

@mrschocolatte

I am so glad my posts have struck a chord with you, thank you. I totally get the name thing as it has plagued so many friends and family members of mine. Had a banging argument with my husband about our child's name as I wanted a name meaningful in our language but that was also easy to pronounce given where we Iive. He said, "Fuck them, we should not pander to the ignorant. If they can learn Russian names they can learn ours."😂

@MarieIVanArkleStinks

Can you imagine the response if the Windsors were elected politicians? They'd be out on their arses before their feet could touch the ground.

You and @Roussette are absolutely spot

This is is what is so risible. This is a greatly privileged, influential family whose power rests on centuries old traditions but that steadfastly refuses to look inward on race. The fact that the monarch is STILL exempt from race discrimination laws, when we know that black people used to be confined to the kitchens, is baffling.

And don't get me started n the many photo opportunities we have seen of various members with cute black kids since the Oprah interview. It is highly cynical to use black faces as band aids when you are unwilling to do anything at all about the structural issues in the institution.

They once promised a "diversity tsar" nothing came of it. They even committed to improving the number of persons from minority backgrounds working for the various palaces. Nothing came of that either.

Meghan and Harry's interview should have been an opportunity for self-reflection by the RF. Instead they set their attack dogs in the media establishment on them.

Like you @Roussette I'm sorry to see the Earthshot award overshadowed by this, But for as long as the family refuses to have a real conversation about race, and the wider issues of colonialism and their role in it, not as individuals but as an institution, I predict that this sort of thing will haunt them, as the gimlet stare of the world is now on them. You can only use the black-toddler-band-aid a finite number of times!

@C8H10N4O2 Bet Lynch 😁 I am so enjoying your posts.

It is such a lazy cliche to assume leopard print must means Africa. We do have clothes, people. We don't wear animal skins on a daily basis. Even the one or three kingdoms that use leopard skins for ceremonial purposes, like the AmaZulu of South Africa, now get their fake leopard skins from ... wait for it ...

... China. Heh.

Which is good because there are not enough leopards in the wild, and have not been for a while and to make Ngozi's long dress would have taken at least four dead leopards, and that's four too many leopards, and, in any event, she is not of the AmaZulu. Just another Bet Lynch who digs the fabric!

Well, whilst I was in school I was called a ‘P*’ daily without being asked where I was from. I was born in the UK. I always think about how those name calling bullies are now my age and still probably racist on most likely posting on mumsnet etc. It should never be assumed where a person is from based on the colour of their skin or anything else.

Yes yes yes to this

My yes yes yes was to this post!

Just to add, the teaching staff used to laugh and thought it was okay. Those men/women are probably now in their 70s or 80s or dead. That makes a lot of people in this country racist as all members of my wider family experienced the same. Does everyone on mumsnet think all of these racists have disappeared somehow? No, they are still alive and kicking and as racist as can be.

I'm sorry to hear about your experience.

The trouble is...racism is passed down through generations

However, not always. My parents came out with some awful stuff not through malice, more ignorance. And I could not be further from their stance. Sadly my siblings are in the parents mould

I'm so glad the lady in waiting involved resigned.
My only thought was maybe she has early onset dementia as someone repeating themselves so much is a classic sign of this disease
I'm not condoning her actions though or how that poor woman must have felt. There are ways of asking questions that do not upset people and moving her hair was also out of order.
It was just a thought as given the lady involved was older, but let's hope the Palace learn some lessons from this, they may need some kind of training ? Diversity training ?
The lady involved was on lbc yesterday and I did feel so sorry for her.

No. By the hypothetico-deductive method.

Is this ok?
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevrTIK7iwOX2M7VRxVz49Pxpv6JpeMeZPqE9V0C-R7-eXaCg/viewform

Sorry that happened to you. And yes, a lot of this racists are on MN now.

Good luck with hoping for a proper enquiry into HR practices, or indeed anything else, PatientZorro. The idea's sound but there's a question of who'd conduct it, and there's little chance of that being anyone not considered "safe" for fear of what may come out

The whole point about keeping a show like this on the road is that they need to retain control of their image at all times, and that can't be easy with some of the seedy, venal inadequates involved - doubly so when a few clicks send each new unpleasantness all around the world

HR practices are completely irrelevant here because she wasn’t an employee, she wasn’t paid and had no contract of employment. Essentially these roles are carries out by volunteers. Although why a woman of 83 would want to volunteer for this is beyond me.

You're quite right, Blossom, though I was thinking more of the broader picture than just this one incident, but no doubt Lady Susan's proximity to the RF brings her kudos among the sort who value acquaintance with the family

Or by a thoroughly researched widely used test that is used to inform advertising decisions.

IAT

do you dare take the test @MaulPerton ? I’d be fascinated by your results. My own results were a real eye opener.

Ngozi has given interviews to Radio 4 and GMB today.

Couldn't disagree more. But then I'm a therapist with years of experience in observing and analysing the unconscious.

Well if the bias isn't unconscious then its deliberate. So its deliberate racism instead of pig ignorance.

Thanks for clearing that one up.

Or, it retains the status of a hypothetical construct, like God, because it cannot be observed empirically like the physical world.

I'm aware of the meaning of hypothetical construct.

Nonetheless - if its not hypothetical construct racism, its deliberate racism.

Of course it can be observed empirically @MaulPerton. It is observed empirically by HCPs all over the world. Its called Psychology.