But the woman clearly didn’t want to have that conversation so it would have been better if Lady Susan had not persisted.
But the woman clearly didn’t want to have that conversation so it would have been better if Lady Susan had not persisted.She wasn't the only one asked. Lady Susan said her people were French.... She was asking where this woman's people were from. The charity she runs is for people from Africa and the Caribbean....is the charity racist because of that????
Point taken but this Woman is an old biddy in her mid 80's and probably not aware, I don't think it was racist, stupid yes, insensitive yes, but not intentionally racist.I’m sorry I have to disagree with you there. When you have a white person and a black person standing side by side and only the black person gets asked where they’re from then yes that is racist. It may be unconsciously so on the part of the person who is asking. But it IS racist. In the situations I’ve personally experienced with my friend the questioning had nothing to do with who we did or didn’t know. It was simply down to colour of skin. I’m not British but I’m white and speak with a British accent so I don’t get asked where I’m from. My black friend IS British yet she frequently gets asked where she’s from. The underlying cause is really pretty obvious. People may not mean any harm by it but I can fully understand how irritating it must be to black people.
It's the top story on most of the news channels. But why wasn't the attacks on the Cambridge kids also in the news when they happened.
We both have what what I think are called RP accents.There's no need to apologise.
Let me ask you question, when you say you have a British accent, what accent is it?
And this black friend of yours what accent do they have?
Agreed! I do also think it is worth remembering we only have 1 side of this conversation especially when this 1 side has been less than complementary about the RF before. Lady Susan has had YEARS of attending these types of events-she would be well aware of conversation etiquetteBut does that mean it's asked with malevolent purpose, or is it simply a way of making conversation? Kenya, oh yes, we lived there for years.... More interesting than Hackney!!
Prince William condemns 'unacceptable comments' by Lady Susan Hussey # via https://android.com
I’m not British but Californian and have met a number of British people over the years and their is a big difference in the accent of someone from Liverpool and London or I think it is the Lake area? Just liked there is a huge difference between a New England and southern accent or Texas drawl or Oklahoman twang or Minnesota wisconsin accentsThere's no need to apologise.
Let me ask you question, when you say you have a British accent, what accent is it?
And this black friend of yours what accent do they have?
I agree totally that this had a lot to do with the woman’s age. Which is why now that she’s apologised and resigned I hope she will be left alone by the media. While her line of questioning was inappropriate I don’t believe it was malicious.Point taken but this Woman is an old biddy in her mid 80's and probably not aware, I don't think it was racist, stupid yes, insensitive yes, but not intentionally racist.
If you seek it you will find it and to make a point aren't we all interested in where people are from, getting stupid and too woke now!!
Excellent post. My husband is a black man born in Britain. If someone asks him where he's from he says London. He only gets irritated if they persist with something like 'where are you really from?' because that intimates that they don't believe him based on the colour of his skin, because he's got a London accent.I'm feeling a bit confused, for the lack of a better word (thanks, brain fog!). On the one hand, I can see where Lady Susan Hussey might have just been curious and maybe just chose her words poorly, but on the other I can also see where she might have been offensive.
I come from a culture where asking where someone is from is a very routine, natural thing - considering how vast my country is and how much diversity we have in terms of regions, religions, languages, customs etc. This is something that is reflected in countries like the UK where there's a massive influx of people from all places and cultures. And yes, we sometimes end up realising that the world is a much smaller place than we had thought, or we make it into a smaller place by forging connections. For example, it was only a couple of years ago that we realised that our family doctor's wife is our relative, since she belongs to the same village as my great-grandparents (could be blood relative, otherwise also we consider someone from the same village a relative - more likely than not that we share ancestors). How do we know? They shared something, we asked where she was from, and it went from there.
On the other hand, there can be a negative element to this curiosity, since many tend to discriminate based on those same parameters too.
But still our natural instinct is to ask and share these details, even to the point of being extremely intrusive at times (and now it's dangerous too, with the current obsession with being 'pure' Indians - doubt there are any with all the conquerors and settlers).
Then I place myself, as a person of colour elsewhere, in that situation. Someone who has encountered racism before, or knows someone who has, or has just read the news at any point, would be quite wary and take such questioning as racist. Someone who's taking the interaction at face value might not. Also, someone who's been prepped to expect that a certain person (or in this case, an institution) might be racist would find racism in everything they said and did.
Basically, ultimately, it all boils down to intention which sets the tone, the words, and the personal bias (in the most neutral sense of the word) of the recipient. Message encoding and decoding - communication 101.
But also, I've met/observed IRL certain European diplomats who should have known better but still didn't even bother to hide their disdain for <insert racist descriptors for Indians/Asians>. So
The timing and the connections in this case though make the whole thing quite sus. Very likely that Lady Hussey didn't even say 'really from', which is usually misconstrued as the truly offensive part, but the BRF know that this won't go away and no defense would be accepted. Hence the rapid, and PR-wise smart, response. The damage is done though.
Convenient timing for her to stir this all up.The Daily Mail mentioned the woman's past comments:
View attachment 1772068
They need to dedicate a full article to this. Including her previous tweets.
Agreed. Probably trying to make polite conversation and missed the fact that the woman took it as intrusive.But the woman clearly didn’t want to have that conversation so it would have been better if Lady Susan had not persisted.
The things that our parents and grandparents come out with make you squirm!!!Point taken but this Woman is an old biddy in her mid 80's and probably not aware, I don't think it was racist, stupid yes, insensitive yes, but not intentionally racist.
If you seek it you will find it and to make a point aren't we all interested in where people are from, getting stupid and too woke now!!
I don't mean to cause offence and excuse my ignorance but what is a RP accent?We both have what what I think are called RP accents.
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