British racists could not wait to tell the UK's first black female MP she is the real racist

There is a grotesque thing that racists do where they twist the words of black women and insist they're "the real racists". It's like they take sadistic glee in projecting their own racism onto the primary victims of racism. It's vile behaviour and now it's mainstream. It's so mainstream, in fact, that British politicians and journalists are joining in.

Sir Keir Starmer has re-suspended Diane Abbott from Labour, following an interview where she discussed her previous suspension in 2023. This would be the Starmer who recently made an "island of strangers" speech with echoes of Enoch Powell. This would be the Starmer who said Israel has the right to withhold humanitarian aid from Gaza.

Before we go any further with Abbott's comments, it's important to highlight that Starmer has a history of racist behaviour, perhaps the worst being his failure to act on the Forde Report.

Starmer asked Martin Forde KC, a black barrister, to investigate Labour antisemitism and his report found the opposite of what Starmer had hoped for. Forde was so dismayed by Labour's failure to act on his findings that he spoke to Al Jazeera because the British press did not want to know.

Forde found Labour had a racism hierarchy in which it was failing to act on anti-black and anti-Muslim hatred. In one instance, Diane Abbott had been racially bullied by Labour staff until she was left crying in the toilets while they laughed outside.

Rather than punish the racist bullies in his party, Starmer promoted many and even paid out huge compensation sums. This makes it particularly grotesque that he is treating Abbott so harshly. It's racist behaviour from Starmer.

In the BBC interview that got Abbott in trouble, she explained she did not see what all the fuss was about over her previous comments.

Abbott was explaining her experience as a black woman is not the same as the experience faced by white minorities, such as Jews, Irish or travellers. This is 100% true, but the prime minister pretended to be infuriated. Starmer immediately re-suspended Abbott, saying he takes her comments very seriously. This gave ammunition to all the worst reactionaries on the internet.

Research has shown that Diane Abbott faces far more racism and abuse than any other British MP. Starmer has decided the MP who is most affected by racism is not allowed to discuss her perspective on racism because it might upset racists. If it wasn't clear, Reform voters are Starmer's target audience. He is not standing up to racism, he is encouraging racists.

If you want to have a discussion about racism with Diane Abbott in good faith and politely disagree with some of her points, that's fine. If your goal is to scream that our first black female MP is the real racist, you are not acting in good faith, you are projecting.

Incidentally, one of the biggest critics of Labour during the Corbyn years was David Baddiel. He was one of the celebrities who amplified the antisemitism smears. Baddiel made a documentary a few years ago in which he discussed racism and antisemitism with his mixed-race niece. Baddiel's niece made similar comments to Abbott:

"It's interesting for me as a biracial person… I can't hide the fact that I'm black… My dad can hide the fact that he's Jewish…. In America, if my mom gets stopped by cops in her car, I'm a little more worried than I am if my dad gets stopped in the car by cops."

Baddiel agreed with the words of his niece. There was no scandal after these comments. No one was calling the pair racist. No one was cancelling David Baddiel for accepting there is an "element of privilege" in whiteness. See the difference?

Robert Peston discussed Abbott's comments on the news and during his rant, he pointed out that he is Jewish. Thing is this only proved Abbott's point because many social media users explained they had no idea Peston is Jewish! His identity is not visible like blackness is.

When a Jewish person like Peston discusses racism, they are usually treated with respect. When a black woman discusses racism, the attitude is "oh, shut the fuck up". No group in society is more discriminated against than black women. That's not an opinion, it's backed up by data.

One study showed black women are 84% more likely than white women to be mentioned in abusive tweets, but black women are not supposed to talk about that. They're supposed to pretend their experience is the same as white women who've never faced what they've faced.

Kate Garraway discussed Diane Abbott's comments on Good Morning Britain. This would be the same Kate Garraway who recently discussed racism with Zarah Sultana and could not mask her contempt. She spoke to Sultana like she was a child.

You will be unsurprised to hear Garraway showed the same contempt for Abbott, delegitimising her experience of racism by saying her words upset Jewish people. Sorry, but so what?

If a Jewish person had said antisemitism is the worst form of racism, due to the holocaust and historical discrimination against Jews, Garraway would probably have agreed. She would not have dared suggest those words were racist towards other minorities.

Jewish people are just as entitled to their views on racism as Abbott, and it's perfectly healthy for Jews and black people to offer their perspectives. Even if you disagree with their perspective, even if you find their words upsetting, it doesn't mean you get to call them racist. It's not hard to show respect when people are coming from a place of genuine pain, is it?

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