"I don't want to reheat Sarah Pochin's remarks about Black and Asian people on TV, and I don't want to situate the Reform MP within the new political spaces where it's acceptable to prefer the sight of faces that are white to those that are not white. I don't want to ruminate on whether it's better or worse to say these things on a TalkTV phone-in than at a private dinner."
"I don't want to dive into the new bigot-ology like Kremlinology, only less rewarding where smart liberal minds apply themselves to what kind of advantage Conservatives and Reform MPs might seek, when they nudge right up to race hate then back away at the last minute, squirming in the margin of space they've created for themselves with their meaningless caveats."
Racist remarks by public figures are being normalized and often escape firm condemnation. Political actors are creating spaces where preference for white appearance and coded hostility toward people of colour are acceptable. Evasive caveats and calculated ambiguity enable politicians to flirt with race hate while avoiding explicit racist labeling. Debates have focused for decades on what racist expressions remain permissible, with immigration rhetoric and dog-whistles sustaining poisonous innuendo. Cancellation rarely deters offenders and can be monetarily rewarding. Failure to confront and name racism directly allows prejudice to persist and shifts attention away from meaningful accountability.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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