Kemi Badenoch responds to Emma Dent-Coad
What do you think people would say - and in particular, what do you think Labour activists would say - if a white Conservative councillor or MP referred to a black Labour parliamentary candidate and London Assembly member as a "token Ghetto-Boy?"
Can anyone doubt for a second that words like "racist" and demands for his or her suspension or expulsion from the party would feature in just about every Labour response?
Well, those words were indeed used in a 2010 blog post about an opponent by a councillor who has since become an MP, but the person who wrote them is not a Tory, but the Labour MP for Kensington, Emma Dent-Coad, speaking about the then Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey.
In my book that sort of language should be vigorously disavowed by any political party claiming to be civilised people opposed to racism, whichever party the person using it was a representative of.
Shaun Bailey has understandably said that he was shocked and saddened by the hate-filled, racist article written by Labour MP Emma Dent-Coad which has surfaced this afternoon.
A dignified and powerful response to Ms Dent-Coad's comments and to reactions from fellow Labour MP Clive Lewis whose idea of responding to criticism of racist comments by a Labour MP is to accuse the Conservatives of being more racist, came from the Conservative MP for Saffron Walden, Kemi Badenoch:
“I’m a black conservative. I don’t think every offensive comment is racism, but when I see real prejudice I have to call it out. Emma Dent Coad’s comments were profoundly distressing, and a toxic reminder of the struggle black people face daily in defeating stereotypes. The fact that she made them while an elected councillor is a disgrace. This is why it is still relevant to discuss today. The tragedy is that someone who holds these views is an MP, representing a sizeable black population, make no mistake, this is racism…
An assumption that there’s only one way to be black, and anyone who doesn’t conform is a “coconut” an “Uncle Tom” or a race traitor. It is a poisonous belief and destroys the lives of so many children. I once heard a black boy accuse another of “acting white”. Why? Because he wore glasses and liked reading. Imagine what it’s like being in a classroom where everyone thinks like that?
Where do such attitudes come from? From “Community leaders” like Ms Dent-Coad, who want to tell us what to think and how to behave. They haven’t given us permission to leave our ghettoes, be Conservative or make friends with posh white people. This was Shaun’s crime. This attitude traps many black children within imaginary boundaries they believe they aren’t allowed to cross. They end up living less than the very best lives they can.
I have read Clive Lewis’s awful remarks to Nimko Ali. Patronising and wrong-headed. Denying blacks a basic human right to support a party of their choosing. It’s the attitude I referred to in my conference speech -that you can’t be black and conservative. Emma Dent-Coad did NOT apologise for her offensive remarks, merely for Shaun being upset by them.
My message to young black people everywhere is please, please feel free to be who you want to be. Don’t let Labour’s stereotypes and low expectations hold you back and never let them treat you like black sheep who will always follow them.”
(Hat tip to Guido Fawkes for republishing Kemi's comments on Twitter)
Can anyone doubt for a second that words like "racist" and demands for his or her suspension or expulsion from the party would feature in just about every Labour response?
Well, those words were indeed used in a 2010 blog post about an opponent by a councillor who has since become an MP, but the person who wrote them is not a Tory, but the Labour MP for Kensington, Emma Dent-Coad, speaking about the then Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey.
In my book that sort of language should be vigorously disavowed by any political party claiming to be civilised people opposed to racism, whichever party the person using it was a representative of.
Shaun Bailey has understandably said that he was shocked and saddened by the hate-filled, racist article written by Labour MP Emma Dent-Coad which has surfaced this afternoon.
A dignified and powerful response to Ms Dent-Coad's comments and to reactions from fellow Labour MP Clive Lewis whose idea of responding to criticism of racist comments by a Labour MP is to accuse the Conservatives of being more racist, came from the Conservative MP for Saffron Walden, Kemi Badenoch:
“I’m a black conservative. I don’t think every offensive comment is racism, but when I see real prejudice I have to call it out. Emma Dent Coad’s comments were profoundly distressing, and a toxic reminder of the struggle black people face daily in defeating stereotypes. The fact that she made them while an elected councillor is a disgrace. This is why it is still relevant to discuss today. The tragedy is that someone who holds these views is an MP, representing a sizeable black population, make no mistake, this is racism…
An assumption that there’s only one way to be black, and anyone who doesn’t conform is a “coconut” an “Uncle Tom” or a race traitor. It is a poisonous belief and destroys the lives of so many children. I once heard a black boy accuse another of “acting white”. Why? Because he wore glasses and liked reading. Imagine what it’s like being in a classroom where everyone thinks like that?
Where do such attitudes come from? From “Community leaders” like Ms Dent-Coad, who want to tell us what to think and how to behave. They haven’t given us permission to leave our ghettoes, be Conservative or make friends with posh white people. This was Shaun’s crime. This attitude traps many black children within imaginary boundaries they believe they aren’t allowed to cross. They end up living less than the very best lives they can.
I have read Clive Lewis’s awful remarks to Nimko Ali. Patronising and wrong-headed. Denying blacks a basic human right to support a party of their choosing. It’s the attitude I referred to in my conference speech -that you can’t be black and conservative. Emma Dent-Coad did NOT apologise for her offensive remarks, merely for Shaun being upset by them.
My message to young black people everywhere is please, please feel free to be who you want to be. Don’t let Labour’s stereotypes and low expectations hold you back and never let them treat you like black sheep who will always follow them.”
(Hat tip to Guido Fawkes for republishing Kemi's comments on Twitter)
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