Ulster unionist (now ‘crossbench’ peer John Taylor, Baron Kilclooney since 2001, has tweeted describing new US vice-President Elect Kamala Harris as ‘the Indian’:
The tweet, made barely an hour ago, has already seen hundreds of replies. Some have described it as racist and misogynist, while others have wondered whether he is trolling to wind people up:
But when challenged, Kilclooney has responded to say he considers describing Harris as ‘a black person’ is racist and that he wants to ‘keep colour out of it’:
Harris has mixed Tamil and Afro-Caribbean heritage.
Kilclooney is a former Ulster Unionist politician who became a ‘crossbench’ peer in 2001 under Tony Blair.
Harris referred to “generations of women — Black women, Asian, White, Latina, and Native American women throughout our nation’s history” in her speech following the confirmation of Joe Biden’s victory in the US presidential election.
Kilclooney has been contacted for comment, but as noted above he has already responded publicly to challenges over his tweet.
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The Ulster Unionist have a long history of only having a very tenuous understanding of prejudice.
This pig taylor was with paisley burning out Catholic houses in Belfast in the late 60s in water street Belfast.For this and numerous other ethnic cleansing and murder he ended up in the house of lords and his side kick in the militia was the very Reverend Ian paisley who ended up in the lords and rewarded with leader of the Queens privy council.Do you seriosly expect orange scum to behave in any other way.Racist,secretarian bigots of the Orange order and loyal subjects of Her majestic humongous highness the Queen of ?.Quote from Paisley “the catholics breed like Rabbits and spread like vermin” .Some forget but I have personal experiences of this bunch and no one doubt that the Conservative and unionist party are just the same.What a way to start trade talks with Biden and Harris..looking down their noses and insults from the House of lords .ITs looking more and more that the Conservative party are leading us to misery and isolation.Even old joe Biden will have to get more than just a bung from Johnson for a deal and its also looking bleak on the European front after the public schoolboys have pissed off little Napoleon macron and madame Merkal….
This exemplifies the idiocy of identity politics- the ridiculous idea that because someone bears a superficial physical relationship to oneself that person will favour one’s interests and protect one from persecution.
This is a subject which white, English people ought to understand very well: how does being represented by people with the same skin pigmentation work out for them? Do they regard Boris and Tony and Thatcher and May and Keir as fellow white people who have protected them and favoured their interests?
The whole point of identity politics is to reinforce the differences between various ethnic, religious and language groups, sexes and skin pigmentations that experience in class society demands be broken down.
Totally agree bevin.
Let’s be absolutely clear. This comment is not made in order to be accurate. This comment is racist, very deliberately deprecating and insulting. I don’t know anything about this man, but it isn’t necessary, the comment is definitely nothing other than a sneering racist slur. Arrogant, shameful, and his attempts to wriggle out of it are really quite pathetic. Too clever by half, and parading the very worst of posh British ignorance and prejudice.
I completely agree with Noelstevenson12 ‘s analysis. The man despite his peerage he retains the instincts of the gutter. He is clearly a nasty piece of work.
As far as I recall one of the Ulster Unionists called the then Irish PM Leo Varadkar “the Indian” I think it was this man and if so he has a history of racist comments. If it was not him but another Ulster Unionist then they need to look at running an equality training programme and drag their party into the 21 Century
Smartboy – You have good memory
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/john-taylor-apologises-for-referring-to-leo-varadkar-as-the-indian-1.3305600
You’d think he would have learnt his lesson.
Steve H
Thanks for this – I wasn’t sure but I thought it was him. Given that he had already apologised for calling Varadkar “the Indian” and must have known knew it was wrong to say such things . Therefore his current comment cannot be judged as anything other than racist – shame on him.
Smartboy most of this crowd of Ulster unionist are still in the 1600s and havnt moved much from that period ,cut off from the mainland from which they came,abandoned by the British and nothing left other than a gun in one hand a Bible in the other and a deep hatred for the Catholic natives that sorounded them.No wonder theyre all praying for the “end of times” ITs no good giving this bunch of lunatics equality training when they are proud of their achievements and bigotry and have turned it to their advantage for hundreds of years..Ulster unionism is a mindset .and a survival trait.
Joseph – My impression is that NI is culturally in a very different place from the one it occupied in the 70s
Reply to Joseph and Steve H
I think there are probably knuckle draggers like Lord Kilclooney in Ulster society just like there are knuckle draggers everywhere but they do seem to be a lot of them in Ulster politics. We just have to look at the antics of them in Westminister. They let themselves down when they make nasty racist or other offensive comments – look at some of the things they said about gays for instance. I heard a joke once about a pilot on a plane saying ” we are now approaching Belfast airport Turn your watches back 50 years ” Lord Kilclooney appears to be living proof that there is many a true word spoken in jest.
Smartboy – Fortunately the upcoming generations also appear to think that some of their politicians are dinosaurs.
Given the way that Brexit is playing out we may well end up with a united Ireland.
I dispute that – he’s no more a racist than Godfrey Bloom is 😉
Straw men, why bother with them. Both Biden and Harris, regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, are tools of the US bourgeoisie between them responsible for locking up countless thousands of poor people, a disproportionate amount of them blacker than Harris could ever hope to be. IDPOL is the obverse side of the racism coin, both serve to obscure the true economic/class relations between people.
(Smartboy) Or in the case you mentioned : ‘Many a true word spoken in jet.’
(SORRY!)
Touche Noelstevenson LOL
Wheres the EHRC when you need them
Called Leo Varadker “a typical Indian “. Claimed that there was no discrimination or misrule in N.Ireland before the troubles. Also said any Catholics living north of the border were members of the Irish diaspora. I could go on folks but if you lived over here its nothing out of the ordinary for these type of remarks. At least he has had the grace to withdraw the comment but it should not have happened in the first place.
Reply to exiledinardmhaca
I don’t think Lord Kilclooney would know what good grace means – he is a racist yob in a pinstripe suit
His comments don’t seem to have gone down too well with his fellow peers
UK Labour Party MPs and peers have criticised a “despicable” tweet by former Northern Irish MP Lord Kilclooney that referred to new Vice-President-elect of the United States Kamala Harris as “the Indian”.
https://labourlist.org/2020/11/labour-mps-and-peers-slam-despicable-lord-kilclooney-tweet/
Last act of violence by the Official I RA was to gun down the controller of the Ulster unionists party Taylor,who surprisingly survived 7 bullets fired from a machine gun in 1972.The official I RA .then disbanded and put away the guns to form the Irish workers movment an offshoot of a unpopular marxist ideology in a Society not normally associated with any left wing politics.1972 was notable for what the British press ignored The disbandment of the longest campaign against the British rule by the IRA.and the entering into the mix of PIRA,who were a different beast altogether than the marxist IRA. The war carried on till both sides understood that a military solution could never succeed.nearly thirty years later.