A rich white Tory disputed Dawn Butler’s experience of racism and these 9 takedowns were spectacular
Labour MP Dawn Butler was recently stopped while driving in Hackney, by police who claimed her car’s licence plate was registered in Yorkshire, although they subsequently admitted that they had typed in the registration incorrectly.
I JUST GOT STOPPED BY THE POLICE DRIVING THROUGH HACKNEY… MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW…@metpoliceuk
I recorded the whole incident.
— Dawn Butler MP✊🏾 (@DawnButlerBrent) August 9, 2020
Two things – driving in London while being from Yorkshire isn’t an offence and it’s the third time Ms Butler, a black woman, has been stopped by police in London since she became an MP.
To put it another way …
Police stopped Dawn Butler for a ‘Yorkshire number plate’ but Dominic Cummings took his kids on a potentially blind joyride and a 260 mile trip during lockdown and he held a press conference about why that’s okay
— Kam Sandhu (@Kayayemela) August 9, 2020
Responses to her tweet, and her suggestion that the police may be institutionally racist, were divided between messages of support and an all-you-can block buffet of vile bigotry.
Some people even called for her to be sacked, many of whom hadn’t troubled themselves to call for the suspension of the unnamed Conservative MP arrested on suspicion of sexual offences including rape.
Conservative commentator, Tim Montgomerie shared his hot take.
It’s a classic of the “I haven’t experienced X so X doesn’t exist” genre.
Here’s how Twitter responded.
1.
This guys transition from ‘let me play devils advocate to show how reasonable I am’ to ‘flag in my username nothing is wrong with MY country shut up Black woman that’s why people are voting tory’ has honestly been the least surprising event in the last two days. https://t.co/C8PqJEm2Wm
— Shahmir Sanni (@shahmiruk) August 10, 2020
2.
We interrupt this week long national debate on how to best use warships to stop asylum seekers from making it to the uk to bring you a white guy telling us how tolerant and non-racist we are https://t.co/6WiTRVgiXB
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) August 10, 2020
3.
“Least racist”
=
“I acknowledge that racism is present, but consider the current level acceptable.” https://t.co/dfwi9wSI5F
— Andrew James Carter (@Carter_AndrewJ) August 10, 2020
4.
Hark, a wealthy, white, man speaks on Britain's lack of racism. https://t.co/sqpPsnV335
— John Smith (son of Harry Leslie Smith) (@Harryslaststand) August 10, 2020
5.
No, no it's not. I keep seeing this. British people are polite. British people never say what they mean. Just cause it's all codified you & fannybaws Laurence Fox can stop patting yourself on the back that you didn't outright use the n word. https://t.co/FnOdeq37Kf
— Fern Brady (@FernBrady) August 9, 2020
6.
BREAKING: Posh old rich white man says racism isn't a thing https://t.co/HWB3qBoA6h
— Will Black (@WillBlackWriter) August 9, 2020
7.
Britain ran largest empire in world history and for a significant period it was an exercise in brutal white supremacy. Those days are over, and we've made progress, but the legacy of that history remains in modern day racism. I'll be explaining how in my new book #EmpireLand https://t.co/68GWruLU2F
— Sathnam Sanghera (@Sathnam) August 10, 2020
8.
And if anyone's qualified to lecture black people about racism, it's a posh white Tory called Timothy. https://t.co/5u4oxrqwpK pic.twitter.com/Xw1p5dcrI8
— Frank Owen's Legendary Paintbrush (@WarmongerHodges) August 9, 2020
9.
People who are not affected by a particular form of bigotry to shut the fuck up about what does and does not constitute that particular form of bigotry challenge. https://t.co/15VGrraPou
— 🏳️🌈 Max 🏳️🌈 (@SpillerOfTea) August 10, 2020
LBC presenter and author, James O’Brien, had some insight into the real culprits.
Woke snowflakes (note to subs: is this lingo up to date?) suggesting that white men might know a bit less about the policing of BAME people than BAME people are, obviously, the real problem here.
— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) August 10, 2020
Nathaniel Myers gave Tim Montgomerie some advice.
Instead of feeling offended when a black woman says she feels like our institutions express a racial bias, try listening to her. She's not saying it just to annoy you, she's obviously expressing her qualitative experience of living here, and it will be different to yours.
— Nathaniel Myers (@UberNaffa) August 9, 2020
We strongly suggest nobody holds their breath waiting for him to follow it.
READ MORE
A Brexiter pulled the old “I’m not racist, but …” about David Lammy – our 9 favourite takedowns
Source Tim Montgomerie Image Screengrab, Screengrab
