That depends on the nature of the apology.
"Sorry for the offense caused" is the form of words often used in forced apologies and is, in fact, an insincere non-apology for holding and expressing a held view.
Racist Politician
- Thread starter spen666
- Start date
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That depends on the nature of the apology.
"Sorry for the offense caused" is the form of words often used in forced apologies and is, in fact, an insincere non-apology for holding and expressing a held view.
Milkfloat
Active Member
You don't remember correctly - he called them 'coloured' which has very different connotations.
matticus
Guru
You're probably right. I just remember that the word was considered the offence - not the intent.
p.s. he wasn't sacked - he was forced to resign. FYI.
Ian H
Guru
Given that this was a BAME person commenting on the behaviour of another BAME person, it might be interesting to hear your definition of racism.
Could a white person commenting on the behaviour of another white person ever be seen as racist?
To be clear, I'm not condoning her remarks, merely wondering whether calling them racist is a little lazy.
she made racist remarks, doesnt matter that she's also BAME.......
Bromptonaut
Rohan Man
- Location
- Bugbrooke, Northants
Both are BAME but she's of South Asian heritage while Kwarteng is African (Ghana).
Plenty of evidence of racism between different minorities.
The one time I've had to pull up a staff member for racism it was 'BAME on BAME'; Caribbean person commenting on West Africans.
matticus
Guru
Given that there is more than one race within the label "BAME", this seems a non-question. (Just hit google - I expect every single definition of racism that pops up will answer your question.)
AuroraSaab
Legendary Member
Lumping all BAME people together, whether black British, African, Asian, Chinese etc, as though they are all the same group not a number of very diverse communities, might in itself be considered a bit insensitive. Non-white people are not a hive mind and it shouldn't surprise anyone that their political beliefs aren't exclusively shaped by their skin colour.
Rusty Nails
Country Member
I don't know if it was racist but it was a very crass statement to make that used Kwarteng's race as a weapon to attack him.
I am perfectly OK with Tory leaning people (and others) to keep sniping while there is some mileage in it as there is no doubt the same would be happening in the other direction if it had been a Tory MP saying something similar.
Political opinion and argument is not fair and unbiased and never has been.
Suck it up.
I am perfectly OK with Tory leaning people (and others) to keep sniping while there is some mileage in it as there is no doubt the same would be happening in the other direction if it had been a Tory MP saying something similar.
Political opinion and argument is not fair and unbiased and never has been.
Suck it up.
BoldonLad
Old man on a bike. Not a member of a clique.
- Location
- South Tyneside
Agreed, but, couldn't the same be said about us Whites too?
people on this forum have been called racist for white on white comments. Its all according what's been said
Hitchington
Wokey Dick
- Location
- New York-Paris-Pokemon
I have nothing against Tory leaning people pointing out racism, sexism, homophobia or any other injustice too
But when the OP is an unwarranted attack on what left leaning members may or may not be thinking, then this thread deserves to be put in the lame bin.
I mean it's almost like spen has used a real life example of alleged racism to try to score a political point.
Ian H
Guru
I am aware of their different heritages, and of the fact that racism is not a uniquely white phenomenon. But what she seemed to be implying is that he as an individual wasn't respecting his ethnic heritage. So my question isn't whether it was right or wrong, but whether the term 'racist' is entirely appropriate in this case. I worry that words lose their meaning when used too loosely.
But feel free to disagree (I'm sure you will).
BoldonLad
Old man on a bike. Not a member of a clique.
- Location
- South Tyneside
IMHO 'racist' is an overused term, along with many others (eg 'nazi', 'toff', 'pedophile', etc etc, the list of casual insults, or, discussion stoppers is quite long).
AuroraSaab
Legendary Member
Yes, of course. I suppose the difference is that nobody expects a white person to behave in a certain way just because they are white. We accept that there are a wide range of views amongst UK white people. We don't charge a white celebrity or politician with the burden of having to be a role model for an entire community or conversely having 'let the side down' if they think the 'wrong' things.
Hence Suella Braverman and Priti Patel are the wrong kind of Asian heritage women for some people. We don't expect white peoples race to be the defining factor in their politics. Should it be for black and Asian politicians? Is the fact it isn't (for some of them it seems) actually something the UK should be proud of?
(You could argue that with Kwarteng his politics might be more defined by his class, but there are certainly black and Asian Tories of working class origin).
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