The fuss about Big Brother and petty racism.

[phildwyer]

jesus wept are you REALLY this dense?

ETA: Ah, I see Jezza's banned. So I'll refrain from adding to his misery.

 

[ViolentPanda]

ETA: Ah, I see Jezza's banned. So I'll refrain from adding to his misery.

Well quite, and it would hardly be decorous for you to get yourself banned again so soon after serving your last, either.

 

[phildwyer]

Well quite, and it would hardly be decorous for you to get yourself banned again so soon after serving your last, either.

I don't think that "adding to Jezza's misery" is yet a banning offence. It is purely my magnanimous nature that bids me refrain. Although I'm not even sure that his misery *can* be added to--it seems rather complete to me.

 

[taffboy gwyrdd]

The BBC continues to say that "some people say language was racist". racism continues to be "alledged" and ""

I am writing to the BBC to explain how "fuckawalla" and "she should fuck off home" can concievably be non-racist. I would ask others to do the same.

The BBC has been cowed into not being able to name racism for what it is by reactionary shits who have endlessly trotted out pcgawnmad mythology to great effect.

 

[taffboy gwyrdd]

Feel free to adapt this

Dear Sir / Madam

I am writing to complain about coverage of the recent Celebrity Big Brother Story. While the BBC has described the behaviour of some housemates (around 5 people, I dont need to name them) as "bullying" the BBC is still not prepared to describe it as "racist"

The BBC continues to say the behaviour was "allegedly racist", "thought by some to be racist" or similar.

I would like to know on what grounds the use of the term "fuckawalla" or the phrase "she should fuck off home" can be in any way not considered racist by the BBC.

There are a wide range of behaviours and language amoung housemates that can be considered racist, some can be explained away as possibly- not-racist easier than others.

However, the cumalitive effect of all these behaviours and languages, which also include refusing to refer to someone by an easily pronouncable name and making fun of someones accent, is clearly racist. Above all, and I repeat "fuckawalla" and "she should fuck off home" are racist. Period.

Why is the BBC too cowardly to say so?

I consider it more than likely that the BBC has been cowed into not being able to describe the facts by a vicifourous tendancy by some to exagerate and mythologise what they describe as "political correctness" it is the duty of the BBC to report facts, not to dilute those facts for fear of being criticised by vocal activists.

You might consider this letter a bit of activism from the opposite side, but it is not. I am citing a fact and for you to refute that you need to explain how "fuckawalla" and "she should fuck off home" (to name two examples) can be construed as non-racist. What meetings were held to determine this? Are minutes available?

I look forward to your reply and a more coragous stance against racism in the future.

Yours truly

Taffboy Gwyrdd

 

[taffboy gwyrdd]

I don't think that's true. The "prole" BB in 2005 was noticeably divided on race lines (about half the original contestants were Black or Asian). Compared to this CBB I'd say there was much more sustained and overt racism from the Maxwell/Saskia/Craig axis, and a number of dips in sound that clearly cut out the dodgiest remarks from already dodgy conversations. Parts of the media did remark on it at the time, I'd assume that there were plenty of complaints, there's a fair bit in the digitalspy archives about it, and on here IIRC. It just so happened that none of the protagonists or the main target (Science) were "celebrities" with fans capable of kick-starting a diplomatic incident.

Jade getting kicked out this time, given the press coverage, was a foregone conclusion. Maxwell getting booted when up against Science was much more of a surprise, but IMO, it was for much the same reasons despite the fact that the media were not so united in condemnation of Maxwell et al at that time.

A significant different is the "celebrity" aspect. For "normal" BB contestants to have some lurking racism is not nearly as alarming as 5 "celebrated" and highly paid people to be so.

The media glorifies these ignorant bigots, that is far more disturbing than a random person with dodgy views making it through the BB audtions.

 

[treelover]

Bit confused by this banning lark, if RJ is banned, how come he is still posting,


anyway, BRING BACK RED JEZZA!

ETA: Ah, I see Jezza's banned. So I'll refrain from adding to his misery.
Reply With Quote

 

[treelover]

Taffboy, the new witchfinder general, are you also going to complain about terms such as 'witches, slapper, burn the lot, pramface, chav, british trailer trash, sterilise them all' that has been bandied around by commentators about the w/class, underclass?, what about this by Stuart Jefferies of the Guardian: 'The Big Brother house remains one of hate, divided between ugly thick white Britain and one imperturbably dignified Indian woman. What about the way disabled claimants have been described recently by the media: 'lazy, feckless, dole bludgers, skivers, lowlife, etc. Very selective in your anger there, why not spread it around a bit more? after all, 40, 000 people have already spoken out on your favourite topic


Don't usually cite the Spiked/Living Marxism, cultists , but here you go

btw, not saying you make these comments of course

One form of prejudice reveals another

The coverage of racism in the Big Brother house has highlighted commentators' own ignorant opinions about the working class.
Brendan O'Neill

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January 22, 2007 12:04 PM | Printable version

There have been some disgusting expressions of prejudice in British public life over the past few days. Foul-mouthed insults have been hurled at a defenceless woman just because of where she comes from, how she speaks and what she supposedly represents. Worse, an entire community has been branded as vile, amoral and corrupt on the basis of this individual woman's flaws and faults. Yes, liberal commentators' assaults on Jade Goody over the past week have been obscene.

The great irony of the "Jade v Shilpa" debacle is that in the same breath that commentators denounce Jade and her sidekicks Jo O'Meara and Danielle Lloyd for being prejudiced and ignorant, they express their own ignorant prejudices about entire swathes of people. Jade's idiotic utterance of the phrase "Shilpa Poppadom" has, unbelievably, been held up as an indictment of the entire white working class, who have been described as fat, thick, ugly and vile. You almost get the impression that some people were waiting with bated breath for a moment like this to arrive, such was the speed with which they unleashed their torrents of abuse against the "underclass". At last, they seemed to think to themselves, we can attack those ignoramuses while posing as tolerant opponents of prejudice.

 

[treelover]

I think this comment is telling on CIF

I'm glad The Guardian printed this. I wish it didn't seem like one token column in favour of the working class just to 'balance' the torrent of anti-working class bile.

interesting to see, by the way, that class trumps race for so-called liberals, who might otherwise have been expected to show some sympathy for Jade Goody. I see that the easy solution is to call her "white". Clever!

I'd already noticed that 'racist' means working class. Now it seems 'white' means anyone the speaker wants to abuse, regardless of their ethnic origins. It's worthy of George Orwell's Newspeak.

 

[TAE]

I see Jezza's banned.

What for?

 

[rutabowa]

everyone's a winner in this story!
–the paper's sell more copies and get to look like moral guradians.
–channel 4's viewing figures rocket.
–carphone warehouse get excellent free publicity (no wonder they won't ask for their money back from channel 4!).
–Jade becomes internationally famous and makes a ton more money.
–Shilpa becomes even more internationaly famous and makes even more money.
–The government gets to bury all its bad news.

the only loser is anyone who sees any of it as anything more than a clever publicity construction! wot a swizz.

 

[Guineveretoo]

mmm, perhaps puts thing in a new light, maybe?


Posted on another message board:

you do know that jade had to skip a lot of school in order to care for her disabled, drug addict mother? so all this stuff about her being "common" "from the slums" "ill mannered" "disgraceful" "stupid" "thick" "ill educated" "needing elocution" etc thats been chucked at her inside the house by someone who is part of the wealthy class (even has a bunch of "servants") is fucking unbelievable imo. nobody cares about that though because jade isnt pretending to cry about it. jade has put up with a couple of weeks worth of class based abuse in there, in her position id have chucked something at shilpas head within a couple of days.

It's simply not true, I am afraid.

 

[taffboy gwyrdd]

Taffboy, the new witchfinder general, are you also going to complain about terms such as 'witches, slapper, burn the lot, pramface, chav, british trailer trash, sterilise them all' that has been bandied around by commentators about the w/class, underclass?, what about this by Stuart Jefferies of the Guardian: 'The Big Brother house remains one of hate, divided between ugly thick white Britain and one imperturbably dignified Indian woman. What about the way disabled claimants have been described recently by the media: 'lazy, feckless, dole bludgers, skivers, lowlife, etc. Very selective in your anger there, why not spread it around a bit more? after all, 40, 000 people have already spoken out on your favourite topic


Don't usually cite the Spiked/Living Marxism, cultists , but here you go

btw, not saying you make these comments of course

No, I didnt make those comments, and some of them are objectionable. Probably not as much as "fuckawalla" all in all. Im not ranting against the press description of "dole scroungers" etc. here because this thread isnt about that. I agree those terms are objectionable and essentially propaganda for stupid people. But we cant call stupid people stupid either can we?
Nice to see you brand me a "witchfinder". Call a racist a racist or a stupid person stupid and this is exactly what one can expect, but usually from more reactionary quarters.

 

[taffboy gwyrdd]

Treelover

Thanks for the O neill piece from the Graun. I basically disagree that some of the people criticising the racist bullies have done so on the basis of class. I think some of the right wing press have, they have seen this as an opportunity to tut at the education system etc. but many people are just angry at virulent racism. I am angrier still that the press still tends to refer to the racism as "alledged" etc.

Believe me, a reactionary backlash is being prepared, a further attempt to deny peoples ability to describe racism as racism without being subject to a torrent of cliche-ridden "peeceegawnmad" accusations.

For me class doesnt come into it. Middle class and aristocratic racists may be better at keeping their nasty opinions under wraps where they consider it prudent, but that is about the only difference. The class argument is a deflection either cynically used by right wing class snobs or habitually brought up by "left" wing class-fetishists.

 

[fela fan]

interesting viewpoint from Mary Riddell in the Observer

excerpt

Britain will look back on this furore and cringe. Baghdad is burning, Iran may soon be bombed, the jails are full, the icecaps are melting, and the nation accords the gravity of the Cuban missile crisis to a row about Oxo cubes.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1995238,00.html

That of course IS why baghdad is burning.

Britain is full of bullying, ritual humiliation, covert racism that occasionally explodes into the open, class division, sexism, all of which are fueled by jealousy,ignorance and insecurity.

Is it any wonder the country is struggling in this modern day with such nastiness bubbling away in society, with the odd eruption as with this celebrity big brother thing?

Britain is chock full of people who point their finger at others who are different to themselves and pass negative judgements. It has denied this default for too long.

It is not a pretty society these days as evidenced by this episode (a window into british society) and the media reaction (another window into british society).

But no-one likes to face up to their demons in life. More's the pity coz our country has a lot going for it, but that too is denied!!

 

[fela fan]

Gawd help Britian...

No, they need to help themselves. But this episode shows how far they are from being able to even look at themselves to see what they are and where they're going in life this century.

Even having this programme as entertainment is a terrible indictment on society. But it's obvious why it has been so successful: all that racism, sexism, jealousy, anger, bullying, humiliation: self-flagellation by those are not comfortable being themselves.

No god is gonna be able to fix this one.

 

[treelover]

wrong thread again!

 

[Spion]

I've wondered if there's some truth in such things. We are one of the world's richest societies and so many people seem so fucking miserable and overworked as they try to keep up with the lifestyle that's been sold to them.

So, what's a good source to read on the welfare bill you keep mentioning, TL?

 

[treelover]

Mmm, as someone who apparently who just 'talks the talk' i can't possibly recommend this website and campaign I have some involvement with.


www.swansheffield.org. uk

or try this one

http://www.welfare-reform.org.uk/

or this one

http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/

 

[treelover]

This is from a comment on the Guardians Blog CIF, i think we are going to see much more of this Neo-Victorian attitude to the poor/the 'underclass, working class, etc. If they said this about other groups they could be committing a criminal offence and i have to wonder what the lecturer said to them, but hey they are only 'chavs' aren't they says Tory Edwina or estate scum in SWP speak(TM Julie Waterson) or 'the lumpen' in marxist speak.

So, who speaks for them, the BNP?

What did frighten me was at University recently was the silly little middle(?) class girls discuss the lower orders as something genetically different and no understanding of poverty. T

 

[Spion]

This is from a comment on the Guardians Blog CIF, i think we are going to see much more of this Neo-Victorian attitude to the poor/the 'underclass, working class, etc. If they said this about other groups they could be committing a criminal offence and i have to wonder what the lecturer said to them, but hey they are only 'chavs' aren't they says Tory Edwina or estate scum in SWP speak(TM Julie Waterson) or 'the lumpen' in marxist speak.

So, who speaks for them, the BNP?

I don't think such attitudes are new.

What's your answer to your question, btw?

 

[Spion]

but hey they are only 'chavs' aren't they says Tory Edwina or estate scum in SWP speak(TM Julie Waterson) or 'the lumpen' in marxist speak.

So, who speaks for them, the BNP?

I'm not sure who you mean here actually. Lumpen means the unemployed, those who have turned to crime etc. IE, not those in work. Is that what you meant?

If so, no-one represents them as such. The BNP and others may try to. I would say a party has to be built that fights for well-funded employment and training programmes for the unemployed.

 

[Jografer]

I would say a party has to be built that fights for well-funded employment and training programmes for the unemployed.

that of course implies that the neets want training and work.....

 

[Spion]

that of course implies that the neets want training and work.....

the what?

 

[Rio Bravo]

that of course implies that the neets want training and work.....

Of course they do, just like you, I or anyone else does. Infact I bet they want it more than any other part of society since they have far fewer opportunities in life.

i may have the wrong idea here but ur point implies that needy people are happy where they are, when infact I'm sure if anybody who was needy was offered a decent chance of a better lifestyle would jump on it.

my first post.



was probably rubbish

 

[treelover]

Welcome to P/P Rio, carry on posting...

 

[greenman]

the what?

NEETS = Gov't/Quango speak abbreviation/acronym for "Not in Employment, Education or Training"

Acronymn now discovered by broadsheet and tabloid media and increasingly used interchangeably for the more derisive/derogatory "Chav".

 

[Darios]

Two minutes of hate?

Gotcha Jade Goody right here........

Looks like Orwell's mistake was to assume a singular persona and not a continually changing merry-go-round of names and faces for our regular piece of self-flagellating catharsis.

Some excellent points made by the poster JHE quotes. I'd like to distribute those points in my workplace if I could ask the original poster's permission?

 

[treelover]

Excellent point Darios...

Looks like Orwell's mistake was to assume a singular persona and not a continually changing merry-go-round of names and faces for our regular piece of self-flagellating catharsis.