Learning about discrimination

[RichA]

I think it is hard for any white male to truly identify with discrimination as groups that ARE subject to discrimination receive that treatment on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

It may be insightful to notice when we as a group are not treated favourably however it is not comparable to the experience of others.

Just my opinion 😊

[Hank]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-a8794521.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...n-culture.html
(I used the Mail purely as it was the first that didn't have a paywall.)

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/e...-a8676336.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/articl...quality-report

Should keep you occupied for a while

Yeah, there’s some interesting reading there (though I’m not going to click a DM link), particularly the school attainment stuff. There’s a pretty significant intersection of financial and race characteristics, i.e. the common thread across the ethnicities is income, so the poor white kid has more in common with the poor black kid next door than the posh white kid up the road. It’d be interesting to begin to understand the factors behind the drop off in that group of white males; are they being prejudiced versus non-whites or are there factors beyond that? Does the school system favour girls over boys? Pretty hard to unpick that stuff.

I don’t doubt for one moment that there are examples of white males having been discriminated against, and initiatives like increasing workplace diversity through positive discrimination (horrible phrase) are fraught with difficulties even though the overall aim is a good one. However, I’d still maintain that the vast majority of discrimination in UK society is against groups other than white males. Also, historically white males are the master perpetrators of discrimination and across society are still very much reaping the rewards of that discrimination, which you have to consider in discussions about who is discriminating against who and who is deserving of positive action to address discrimination.

[Hank]

I think it is hard for any white male to truly identify with discrimination as groups that ARE subject to discrimination receive that treatment on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

It may be insightful to notice when we as a group are not treated favourably however it is not comparable to the experience of others.

Just my opinion ��

Well said.

[Wheeze]

I think it is hard for any white male to truly identify with discrimination as groups that ARE subject to discrimination receive that treatment on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

It may be insightful to notice when we as a group are not treated favourably however it is not comparable to the experience of others.

Just my opinion ��

Seconded that well said. That was essentially my point. Of course the BWM has held sway over this islands society for millenia. And so even if we do feel the punch of discrimination it is nothing compared to that felt by groups who are regularly discriminated against.

I really posted this up because:
a. I wanted to stimulate a different discussion to the interminable B--it
b. I was intrigued to be on the end of a social experiment by our national broadcaster.

(p.s. of course I knew that most of the panel was UK born. It was the ethnicity/sex mix I was relating to)

[noel]

Good call Wheeze.

How come we're so collegiate and nice on this thread, and yet so polarised and unfriendly on the other one? It's all the same people. Maybe we should just stop talking about it.

[Witton Park]

What I think get's overlooked in the diversity debate though is diversity of opinion.

I posted about the June Sarpong appointment as "BBC Director of Creative Diversity" highlights the problem. It is seen as a race/gender/ethnicity issue, but going back to Wheeze's initial post my main criticism of the BBC these days is against diversity of opinion.

And whilst I note he's previous desire to get away from Brexit, QT has been highlighted as underrepresenting the Brexit argument (along with other BEEB political programmes) with around 70% Remain representation to 30% Brexit and that figure is even distorted as the 30% includes Remainers like Javid who now support Leave.

It also now has a policy of not pairing up (for example) an extinction rebellion guest with a climate change sceptic as the BBC considers now the IPCC position as fact; a done deal not up for discussion.

You can pack the BBC with every ethnic group under the sun, but if they are all projecting the same ideals and attitudes, in my opinion it does nothing to promote diversity.

[RichA]

Let’s definitely avoid the B word 😁

Discrimination, our beliefs, attitudes and then the biases (conscious or otherwise) that we all approach every interaction in our lives could definitely divert conversation away from B%^~xit.

The BBC try to be so representative as to distort the true nuances around most subjects that they cover. Most things are more complicated than a short section on a news bulletin.

[noel]

I'd like to agree with your wise words there WP, but for the benefit of diversity I won't.

[Witton Park]

I'd like to agree with your wise words there WP, but for the benefit of diversity I won't.

That you would like to, but refuse to, suggests it's for the benefit of obstinacy

[Hank]

What I think get's overlooked in the diversity debate though is diversity of opinion.

I posted about the June Sarpong appointment as "BBC Director of Creative Diversity" highlights the problem. It is seen as a race/gender/ethnicity issue, but going back to Wheeze's initial post my main criticism of the BBC these days is against diversity of opinion.

And whilst I note he's previous desire to get away from Brexit, QT has been highlighted as underrepresenting the Brexit argument (along with other BEEB political programmes) with around 70% Remain representation to 30% Brexit and that figure is even distorted as the 30% includes Remainers like Javid who now support Leave.

It also now has a policy of not pairing up (for example) an extinction rebellion guest with a climate change sceptic as the BBC considers now the IPCC position as fact; a done deal not up for discussion.

You can pack the BBC with every ethnic group under the sun, but if they are all projecting the same ideals and attitudes, in my opinion it does nothing to promote diversity.

I'd agree that diversity of gender, ethnicity, etc. does not guarantee diversity of opinion, and that diversity of opinion should be something the BBC provides, but it's likely to be a useful step towards achieving it (i.e. increasing the groups represented in BBC productions is likely to increase the diversity of opinion). It's another institution where the white man's hegemony is only slowly being eroded.

Re. their editorial decisions, I guess there will always be some subjectivity to these, and therefore disagreement. As far as Brexit goes, I don't consume that much of the BBC's output, but it seems fairly even-handed to me (happy to accept I might have that wrong though). Re. climate change, I'd fully support their stance of not giving climate change sceptics a platform. Others might disagree, but the BBC has to make a call one way or the other.