Last weekend, the SKWAWKBOX exclusively revealed an offensive cartoon sent by Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy to a parliamentary WhatsApp group used by over 100 people – an image that one of her constituents described as a ‘racist advert’.
This blog was accused of fake news by some and of making a mountain from a molehill by others.
Today, the Mirror’s Kevin Maguire featured the same story, which presumably makes it no longer fake and – since he described it as “toxic black stereotyping… so obvious, hurtful and deserving of condemnation” – presumably also means it’s no longer a teacup-storm.
The Mirror’s article does not have a quote from Ms Creasy, who has been sending apologies to various people and explaining, according to Maguire, that she didn’t realise it was offensive.
According to her Wikipedia entry, Ms Creasy has a degree in political and social science. Maguire’s response to her explanation is ‘Hmmm‘.
A further image exclusively revealed by the SKWAWKBOX – another screengrab of a group chat – reveals that while she is not trying to minimise her responsibility for her message, Ms Creasy feels there is more to the story and agreed she would be making ‘a few’ phone calls, but did not feel like trying to explain in the group context:
Maguire’s article, which describes at least one ‘furious’ MP, is titled ‘What we can learn from Labour MP’s apology for sharing ‘offensive’ cartoon‘, but doesn’t seem to conclude that we can learn anything from it.
It’s just possible that a few of those who accused this blog of fake news and exaggeration when we broke the exclusive might learn something, though.
Not likely, but possible. Theoretically, anyway.
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Creasy, what a complete waste of intelligence and knowall!
She’s learned nothing in the cockup stakes!
First prize for putting foot in ones mouth, before brain is engaged!
Can’t answer question about her relationship with a bully!
My advise, “put up or shut up Creasy, along with your ilk”!
The hideous ‘black and white minstrel show’ was one of the most popular shows on TV when I grew up in the 50’s & early 60’s.
At 5 I’d never seen anyone not white British but could see even then that ‘blackface’ demeaned the white audience and insulted other races.
Racism, sexism and bigotry were all endemic in those days.
No matter how indoctrinated in youth, intelligent people apply logic to such views, find them insupportable and disown them.
It’s hard to accept that Kia-Ora, much less a presumably-intelligent Labour MP should have failed to recognise the casual racism embedded in that old US cartoon.
Not too late for her to change but it better be sincere and be soon.
Putting to one side the Creasy controversy, it’s interesting what you say about the Black & White Minstrel Show. My father used to watch it regularly and, as such, I too, as a kid, would sometimes end up watching it, as did millions of people at the time, and it was in no way demeaning to black people, or meant to be of course by those who conceived of the idea.
One could actually make the opposite assertion – ie that it was done that way out of a mark of respect for black performers (like Cab Calloway or Fats Domino or Harry Belafonte or Ella Fitzgerald or Sarah Vaughn or Nat King Cole etc, or Al Johnson for that matter) – and that in it’s own way it helped in terms of race relations and integration. I would actually go so far as to say – in retrospect of course – that it was more-than-likely a program that actual racists DIDN’T watch.
I was trying to imagine how it would be – or would have been – had history been the opposite of what it was, and black people had enslaved white people and then, in the 1950s and 60s there had been a program called The White & Black Minstrel Show in which black people painted their faces white, but I just couldn’t get my head round it.
This is quite interesting though:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiteface_(performance)
And just for the crack, here’s a brilliant song by a band called Voyager put to some brilliant film/video:
Brilliant clip … love Cab Galloway and the Nicholas brothers but note how no black performers were on the screen at the same time as white actors and dancers. Even the great Fred Astaire wasn’t allowed to dance with the Nicholas brothers (except in a film lot clip).
Apartheid was real in the USA even in Hollywood. Stella Creasy should have known that.
My memory is that even in the ’60s there was plenty of unease about the Black and White Minstrels — as there should have been, given the lengthy racist history of this sort of thing.
For further info., just Google “coon show”. The term itself arguably conveys all you need to know.
syzgysue You’re very knowledgable on the subject. Thanks for the lesson! And No, I hadn’t picked up on that until you mentioned it, and just assumed without really thinking about it that it was just several different clips strung together.
Maybe I’ve got it completely wrong, but didn’t the Marx Brothers break the mold in one or two of their movies?
Funnily enough, I was just on youtube when it suddenly occured to me that maybe there are some videos of The Black & White Minstral Show, so I did a search, and lo-and-behold there are loads of clips from their shows. And from the numbers of views it appears that many people still enjoy them.
Correction re my initial comment……Al Jolson
The cartonn is disgusting – If I’d been a Left Wing Labour MP it would have been front page news and all over the BBC plus referred to the NEC!
Oh and why isn’t a Labour MP calling for the awful ex-UKIP member who insulted Megan Merkle to be investigated for a hate crime? (and I say this as a republican but MM appears to be a decent human being).
And why are’t Labour asking the Speaker to rule if the £50k prize etc. at the recent Tory Ball (to spend time on Govt premises with the PM, at the National History Museum etc. – public property) are legal?
Is it ok for the Conservatives to raise funds from public property (paid for by taxpayers)? Hmmn
With regards mention of the Black & White Minstrel Show, like many others, with only three channels available, it was rather hard to miss. However, and not being one for “identity politics”, I’m confident that those slandered by this programme are competent to stand up for themselves – I suggest readers acquaint themselves with Black Agenda Report, these individuals don’t mess around and don’y need wishy washy liberals sticking their ore in if outrage is actual, let BAME deal with it.
With regards the thoughtlessness of Ms Creasy. Well, lucky it was the BAME community she upset and not the rabid anti-semitism lobby, which accuses numerous anti-racist campaigners of anti-semitism when defending Palestinian Human Rights. God, just imagine the furore. Actually, for this crime, lets just follow the example of our Zionist comrades and call for Stella to be ejected from the Party, I mean, whats good for the goose, must be good for the gander?
Stella Creasy has irreparably damaged her political career by posting this racist cartoon trope which demeans and ridicules black people.
Anti-Labour forces will forever be able to use this incident to attack Stella Creasy and, by association, the Labour Party.
Her lack of judgment posting this racist image calls into serious question her suitability as a Labour MP and her ability to continue as a Labour MP.
I’m not all that arsed about the cartoon, to be honest – I just loathe & despise greasy, and those what share her her hypocritical victim mentality…You all know who I mean.
Deserve all they get, in my opinion.
.
Don’t suppose there’s much chance greasy’ll be changing her hashtag to:
#takingloadsofshitforpostingaracistcartoonMP
??
Allan Howard – Thanks but I know very little beyond that and certainly not whether the Marx brothers did. The only black and white dance routine from that era, that I can think of, was Shirley Temple and an elderly black manservant (name unknown) who danced going up the stairs. I suspect that she being a child, and possibly the Marx brothers being comic, was significant. I think the stakes were quite different when it involved sexually attractive individuals.
The thing that is worrying is that although a fair degree of change has happened (not enough ), we are seeing a resurgence of openly eugenic thinking amongst the far right. It probably never went away but it seems more acknowledged, particularly in the US with the Trump/Robert Mercer type libertarians. The roots of libertarianism reach deep into the history of the slave owners and were part and parcel of neoliberal thought developed by the Mount Perelin Society.
Allan Howard is thinking of the lindy hop sequence in “A Day at the Races” (a title with perhaps unintended significance in this context); the performers came from the (unsegregated) Savoy Ballroom in Harlem — see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savoy_Ballroom
That’s the one Julian. Great stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfav2ocUpMs
And this just happened to be in the links on that page:
It was still all black or all white in the different frames.
Still waiting to hear her explination……. hellooooooooo……you there Ms Creasy …..
.nope nothing Perhsps SB should do an “empty chair “interview now That would be interesting