Stewart Maclean, the twittering deputy editor of Newsnight (pursued by a supportive retweet from Emily Maitlis), isn't just promising us Comrade Paul Mason tonight, he's also promising us "@Lupita_Nyongo on colourism".
Now, there's nothing I love more than colourism in art - Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse and the Fauvists, the German expressionists, etc - but I'm guessing, this being the BBC, that 'colourism' doesn't mean what I hope it means but, instead, has something horribly divisive to do with race and identity politics - a leftist agenda the BBC seems far, far too eager to indulge and even more fearful to challenge.
Colourism is the daughter of racism runs the headline prefiguring tonight's Newsnight on the BBC News website.
The BBC explains, "Colourism is prejudice against people who have a darker skin tone or the preferential treatment of those who are of the same race but lighter-skinned."
And, thus, on the BBC rolls with its endless identity politics stuff.
So, Emily, will you give Lupita a challenging interview tonight or a free ride to gripe?
Pale Kirsty versus orange Emily?
ReplyDeleteMailtis asked one interesting question: what did Lupita think about Trudeau's blackface antics...well blow me down, but the liberal Hollywood actress didn't want to be drawn and refused point blank to answer not once but twice, giving no reason why she was suddenly deprived of speech. It's the Hollywood Code you know...
ReplyDeleteWhat about prejudice against people who have a LIGHTER skin tone or the preferential treatment of those who are of the same race but darker-skinned. Compare 'healthy tan' and 'pasty'. Because not all 'white' people are the same colour...
ReplyDeletePeople are definitely prejudiced against pasty faced people in the UK. Seen as a mark of poverty, for one thing, and associated with illness on another.
DeleteAlso we know in Africa that albinos aren't just discriminated against, they are on many occasions killed for their body parts. In many parts of Africa the majority population hate the idea of any people with white skin owning any land, even people whose families have lived in Africa for seven generations. Such things don't concern the BBC at all.
I had a (white male) friend who had a mixed race son. The mother's family were not exactly happy about having a lighter skinned child in the family.
I guess the logical consequence of the BBC-Lupita approach will be skin tone testing for acting parts. We are pretty much there with the latest from BAFTA.