Lady Susan Hussey quits over remarks to charity boss Ngozi Fulani

BoroFur said:
After telling the 'Lady' she was born in Britain I think it was racist to persist with a line of questioning which included "yes but where are your people from?".
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I don’t disagree with that. Sounds like a littlebritain sketch.
Just asking if it was racist to say ‘where are you from?’.

The ‘lady’ obviously knew that ngozi’s heritage was abroad but totally got her persistent questioning wrong.
 
In Germany you had to have parents born in Germany to be German, if you moved there from Turkey or your parents did, the official line was that you were guest workers. It may have changed in recent years, but I know the footballer Ozil had problems when playing for Germany. I don't agree with the German attitude, but I wanted to show its diferent to attitudes in the UK with regards race and nationality.
 
83 year old says something that is politically incorrect by inference, is sacked without delay and apologises. Victim is traumatised but manages to appear on media, re-living the ordeal.

I can't think of any over-80s I've known who were politically correct. Some of them were very kind people as well. Best not to let them out.
 
Anton_Berg said:
83 year old says something that is politically incorrect by inference, is sacked without delay and apologises. Victim is traumatised but manages to appear on media, re-living the ordeal.

I can't think of any over-80s I've known who were politically correct. Some of them were very kind people as well. Best not to let them out.
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Sounds like you don't believe the victim here Anton and that you excuse the behaviour of the person in question because of their age?
 
Anton_Berg said:
83 year old says something that is politically incorrect by inference, is sacked without delay and apologises. Victim is traumatised but manages to appear on media, re-living the ordeal.

I can't think of any over-80s I've known who were politically correct. Some of them were very kind people as well. Best not to let them out.
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Here is the full conversation, as recounted by Ms Fulani:
Lady SH: Where are you from?
Me: Sistah Space.
SH: No, where do you come from?
Me: We're based in Hackney.
SH: No, what part of Africa are you from?
Me: I don't know, they didn't leave any records.
SH: Well, you must know where you're from, I spent time in France. Where are you from?
Me: Here, the UK.
SH: No, but what nationality are you?
Me: I am born here and am British.
SH: No, but where do you really come from, where do your people come from?
Me: 'My people', lady, what is this?
SH: Oh I can see I am going to have a challenge getting you to say where you're from. When did you first come here?
Me: Lady! I am a British national, my parents came here in the 50s when...
SH: Oh, I knew we'd get there in the end, you're Caribbean!
Me: No lady, I am of African heritage, Caribbean descent and British nationality.
SH: Oh so you're from...

This isn't just a one off politically incorrect statement that she has made by mistake!! This sort of behaviour and beliefs are ingrained in these people. Disgusting
 
Wiseman_Vaughn said:
Ageism is a real problem too
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Maybe so, but I was pushing back against the idea in this thread that it's because she's upper class and close to the royals that she's said something very racist.

I've heard the same racist comments from very working class people.

She's rightly been made to quit.

It's a societal problem.
 
The good thing about the situation is that it's being treated so seriously, in years gone by this sort of thing would have been swept under the carpet or laughed off because she's old.

It's still headline news today, and hopefully it causes at least some people to take notice that that sort of questioning, especially the dismissal of a non-white people identifying as British, is very racist.
 
TeaCider said:
Maybe so, but I was pushing back against the idea in this thread that it's because she's upper class and close to the royals that she's said something very racist.

I've heard the same racist comments from very working class people.

She's rightly been made to quit.

It's a societal problem.
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I hear you. I would NEVER defend or justify an upper class twit like this. However, she is probably “racist” through the privileged bubble that she lives in, but she’s definitely not a hater of people with different coloured skin.

Referring to ageism, I was pointing out that all isms are not equal and that it is easy to fall in to the trap of labelling people because they are of a certain age
 
Anton_Berg said:
83 year old says something that is politically incorrect by inference, is sacked without delay and apologises. Victim is traumatised but manages to appear on media, re-living the ordeal.

I can't think of any over-80s I've known who were politically correct. Some of them were very kind people as well. Best not to let them out.
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It’s not politically incorrect it’s blatant racism

Age is no excuse either and to suggest so is incredibly offensive to millions the same age who wouldn’t dream of saying something like that
 
Facefuzz said:
Last season at fulham we got talking to 4 lads in the pub. Football tourists. All white, Scandinavian accents. I assumed they were Norwegian. Turns out they were Swedish.
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...and that's great and inoffensive because it's the accent that made them different not the skin colour. An accent is an accident of someones upbringing, skin colour isn't.

I'm not sure what this lady felt knowing the DNA heritage of a british born person would add to their conversation. If I find out somebody was born and raised in Sweden, I can talk about my experiences of working on Volvo Island and living in Gothenburg and maybe the conversation goes somewhere. If I find out someones grandmother was born in Ghana or Nigeria it doesn't enhance my knowledge or conversation with someone that has probably never been there.

I see a lot about how unfair it is an old woman was sacked, but is age a valid excuse for racism?
 
anth25 said:
Here is the full conversation, as recounted by Ms Fulani:
Lady SH: Where are you from?
Me: Sistah Space.
SH: No, where do you come from?
Me: We're based in Hackney.
SH: No, what part of Africa are you from?
Me: I don't know, they didn't leave any records.
SH: Well, you must know where you're from, I spent time in France. Where are you from?
Me: Here, the UK.
SH: No, but what nationality are you?
Me: I am born here and am British.
SH: No, but where do you really come from, where do your people come from?
Me: 'My people', lady, what is this?
SH: Oh I can see I am going to have a challenge getting you to say where you're from. When did you first come here?
Me: Lady! I am a British national, my parents came here in the 50s when...
SH: Oh, I knew we'd get there in the end, you're Caribbean!
Me: No lady, I am of African heritage, Caribbean descent and British nationality.
SH: Oh so you're from...

This isn't just a one off politically incorrect statement that she has made by mistake!! This sort of behaviour and beliefs are ingrained in these people. Disgusting
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Ms Fulani was being far too polite in her attempts to divert from clear racist comments.

If it was really so important to know her heritage, she could have asked in so many different ways that would be unlikely to be offensive. "Oh what a beautiful name you have, african names have such a rhythmic flow to them, if you don't mind, which part of africa is it from?", that is unlikely to be taken as offensive.
 
MolteniArcore said:
Sounds like you don't believe the victim here Anton and that you excuse the behaviour of the person in question because of their age?
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Nowhere do I say that. I am questioning why it is not enough, apparently, for that person to apologise and be dismissed summarily.
 
Wiseman_Vaughn said:
But was she being Racist? I'm not so sure.
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If she had an academic background in migration, studying the the socio-economic or health effects of mass human migration and the effects on modern populations then probably not.

If the transcript above is anywhere near correct it paints more of a Bernard Manning ' a dog born in a stable isn't a horse' type scenario though.

I'm a little on the fence, 75% a bit old posh person racist, 25% unintentional / misunderstood.

But the fuss around Megan makes it seem a bit more sinister / unacceptable to me. It seems almost inconceivable that someone in her position would feel comfortable and utterly unaware of how comments like that could/would be interpreted by any ethnic minority in the current media world.
 
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