I missed much of the twitter entertainment following Diane Abbott's tweet:
@bimadew White people love playing "divide & rule" We should not play their game #tacticasoldascolonialism
Let's be clear then - this is racist (I would prefer to say 'mildly racist' but I guess these days racism is an absolute - one either is or isn't racist). And it's ignorant (but then Diane is a Labour MP so ignorance is to be expected).
The comment shows Diane to be a hypocrite - first onto every anti-racist bandwagon, paraded as a paragon of political correctness yet ready to apply different standards to herself from others.
And, you know, all this is fine by me. The tweet displays both her deep prejudice and historical ignorance but we all come with a little bigotry and a lack of historical knowledge is perhaps excusable. Plus of course - from the moment she chose a private school for her child - we already knew Diane was a hypocrite, one of the "one rule for the leaders, another for the proles" school of socialist.
There are calls for her sacking - but if Ed Miliband were to remove every hypocrite and every bigot from his front bench team, he probably wouldn't have one left. And I can't see why Diane should be punished for something that, in her ignorant bigotry, she really believes.
And, quite bluntly, as a white person who thinks our colonialism did more good than evil, I'm not in the slightest bit offended by Diane's outburst. I just think she's bigoted and wrong - like most of her colleagues on the Labour left.
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3 comments:
Simon, I'm not in the slightest bit offended by Diane Abbott's remark, but it is a clear case of sauce for the goose.
In Diane Abbott's world, only white people can be racist, only West Indian mothers care about their offspring, and Scandinavian nusrse shouldn't be allowed to work in Hackney hospitals as they havem't seen black people before.
What galls, is the lies about context now that she has been exposed as a racist herself. Hopefully, the good people of Hackney will remember this at the next election (although I shan't hold my breath).
And, as someone who clearly abuses food, is deemed to be a suitable candidate for the post of Shadow Health Minister. I wonder what she'd say if someone pointed out this conflict of interests?
"but then Diane is a Labour MP so ignorance is to be expected"
Very fair comment, as is Anon's above. ;)
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