I’m not going to call for Diane Abbott to resign. I think she should either attempt to justify her remarks by explaining how she has experienced ‘divide and rule’ from the ‘white community’ as a whole personally or else apologise immediately for causing such obvious offense.
Abbott just does not get it. What she’s done may be rather minor in comparison with Aiden Burley’s Nazi stag do, or St Andrews’ Conservative Association burning of black leaders in effigy and what she said may have been a throwaway or casual remark but by generalising on the basis of race Abbott has been, inadvertently or otherwise, racist and caused offence.
Racism cuts both ways. You don’t need to look like a BNP skinhead or turn up to an EDL march spouting nonsense about ‘muslamic ray guns’ to be offensive to a group of people based on the colour of their skin or their race. Generalising about people based on their skin colour is racist. Be it white on black or black on white.
By suggesting that all white people are employing, as she said in her tweet, ‘tactics as old as colonialism’ by trying to ‘divide and rule’ today’s black community isn’t just woefully ignorant and wrong, it is grossly offensive.
Abbott has a long history of fighting racism and was the first black female MP elected to our Parliament. I’m not angry with her. I am disappointed.
I am disappointed that after decades in Parliament tolerating no casual remarks about her race she sees fit to make casual remarks about another race. I am disappointed that she has caused this sideshow in the same week that the Lawrence family achieved some degree of justice over the racially-motivated murder of their son. I am disappointed that Abbott refused to accept that she had caused offense and to apologise for that offense until she was made to by the Labour leadership.
I’m disappointed both with her and that cadre of Labour party members who are making the base argument that a black MP cannot be racist by definition. Abbott later responded to a supporter saying that, in essence, she was proud to have prompted ‘'outrage' from UKIPers and other Tory trolls.’ It is a funny sort of pride to me.
Whether she likes it or not, Abbott is a highly visible member of the black community, a Member of Parliament and a member of the opposition front bench. By making such sweeping and derogatory remarks about ‘white people’ she has done nothing to help race relations and, unless she apologises and withdraws, gives cover for others to make sweeping generalisations about the black community.
Abbott thinks her remarks have been taken out of context. I think she said exactly what she meant to say. Twitter is not a private place and we should expect our leaders to be careful what they say online. We are all human. We do all make mistakes. What matters is what you do to make amends.
What Diane Abbott said was a crass throwaway remark. I am sure that it is not her view that people can be defined by the colour of their skin. She made a mistake. In the year ahead it would be nice if politicians could engage their brains before tweeting.
Comments
John Marshall / January 05 2012 12:32pm
D Abbott put her 'words' down on the Tweet in the Present tense, she was therefore thinking in the present tense. A Professional Person as u would expect a M.P to b would right in the Past or present tense depending on the conversation.
As she said she was in a conversation about colonial rule ,she was clearly not thinking about the past as she wrote her Tweet , I.E ,They did,
They would hav, Then they, Then Whites, and so on. Guilty as charged and should Resign
John Marshall / January 05 2012 1:56pm
D Abbott put her 'words' down on the Tweet in the Present tense, she was therefore thinking in the present tense. A Professional Person as u would expect a M.P to b would right in the Past or present tense depending on the conversation.
As she said she was in a conversation about colonial rule ,she was clearly not thinking about the past as she wrote her Tweet , I.E ,They did,
They would hav, Then they, Then Whites, and so on. Guilty as charged and should Resign
Lucy Taylor / January 05 2012 2:48pm
I think it is easy to make the mistake she made. We live in a society that is largely populated and controlled by white people. To make disparaging remarks about the controlling elements of society strikes me as different than the majority/controlling elements making disparaging comments about minorities. In any case, I don’t think her comment is racist -- it is political. It is a generalisation about the people she views as being in power and who, in her view, take advantage of that power. She is not making a comment about innate character or abilities based on race, which is what racism means, and how it is used to discriminate against people.
K.R.Lohse / January 05 2012 5:03pm
No mention of Ed Balls wearing a Nazi uniform to a party? I'm sure that the omission was unintentional.
erica / January 06 2012 11:51am
Talking about 'crass remarks' serves no useful purpose.
The issue of Divide & Rule is absolutely what we should be discussing in open public fora but have consistently failed to do this.
What is the new political mileage in The Community?
Shouldn't we be told that Brussels years ago documented its aims to steer Europe towards a collection of 'autonomous communities' governed by a central power.
If we allow ourselves to be defined by ethnicity we will all be divided and ruled. Europeans are not the only people who had empires and oppressed people, they were simply the last. But they did some good things too. Let's move on, united against the financiers of this world who would have us live in puppet communities that they can manipulate.