House speaker fails to let Diane Abbott discuss abuse she received
House speaker fails to let Diane Abbott discuss abuse she received
Everyone got to speak about Diane apart from Diane!
The house speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle allowed everyone in parliament to discuss the racist and misogynistic abuse aimed at Diane Abbott today, apart from the one person we definitely did not need to hear from: Diane herself!
Yes, the house speaker did not let Diane discuss the racism she was the victim of, but he sensibly ensured lots of white people spoke about her. This is because white people understand the experiences of black women much better than black women do.
Obviously, black women can’t be expected to speak for themselves and should sit quietly in the corner while the people who know better pretend to be concerned for their well-being. This is because we live in a post-racial society.
Unfortunately, Diane had the audacity to repeatedly stand up so she could be called by the speaker to discuss her experiences, but Hoyle sensibly ignored her because being the UK’s first black female MP counts for absolutely nothing.
Black women are totally invisible to racists, unless they express an opinion, at which point they are accused of being “aggressive” and “hysterical”. However, if you wish to sound more understanding, you are free to call them “sassy” or “feisty”. Just ensure that you other them, even if you’re doing it politely. A bit of nervous laughter always helps.
You will be relieved to know lots of white men explained that Diane was not the victim of racism and misogyny. If Diane dares complain about this, we will hold her complaint up as further proof that she’s racist towards white men. And if she dares suggest white privilege played a role in today’s proceedings, she will be on the next flight to Rwanda. If you feel uncomfortable about this, just remember it’s nothing compared to what Frank Hester wanted to do to her!
To prove Diane has definitely not been the victim of racism or misogyny, our prime minister spoke as the token non-whitey. Sunak argued that Hester’s remorse should be accepted, even though Diane has still not been “accepted” by her colleagues a year after her suspension. Diane is sitting as an independent because she has not been forgiven for challenging the UK's racial hierarchy.
The prime minister does not think it’s a big deal for a white man to say Diane makes him “want to hate all black women” or that she “should be shot”. When challenged by the leader of the opposition, Sunak said he would not “take lectures from somebody who chose to represent an antisemitic terrorist group” and worked for Jeremy Corbyn who “let antisemitism run rife in this Labour Party”.
It does not matter that none of this is true. All that matters is false accusations carry more weight than actual racism and misogyny in our parliamentary system. This leaves Labour in a difficult position because they play the same game as the Tories.
The party that ignored the racist bullying towards Diane (that was exposed by the Forde Report it commissioned), and suspended Diane last year because she dared speak out about the racism she has endured, has decided now is a brilliant time to condemn racism towards Diane, but only if the racism came from the Tories. The racism from the Labour Party was, and is, totally fine.
The house speaker gave today's last word to parliament’s finest flag shagger Mark Francois and then he said Diane might be allowed to speak next time, but only if she apologises for becoming the UK’s first black female MP. I’ll be honest with you, no apology is ever going to be enough.
Today was a brilliant spectacle where one party got to deny their racism and misogyny and the other party forgot about their own racism and misogyny so they could attack the other party for their racism and misogyny, but the victim of that racism and misogyny was not considered by anyone! And if this doesn’t help you understand what black women go through in this country, I honestly don’t know what will x
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Hear hear!
This is the worst Parliament in my (60+ year) lifetime. It is truly a uniparty of the right and far right
The House of Commons continues to let the country down on a daily basis. What has Diane Abbott actually done to warrant this constant harassment? Other than exist and drink a mojito on the train.