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Tokenism

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sp1814 | 13:36 Sun 20th Oct 2013 | News
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When the gorgeous Lorraine Pascal's cookery programme was first broadcast on BBC2 a couple of years back, a few right wing commentators accused the BBC of tokenism...because she was black.

Watched a few of her shows and to be honest, I didn't think the accusations had any validity.

She seemed capable in a Nigella Lawson kind of way (sultry hooded eyed glances to camera), and I made her sticky ribs and they were blinking great.

Now - there's a black finalist (Kimberley Wilson) in this year's Great British Bake Off, and I think she has a very strong chance of winning.

She knows her stuff (she talks with confidence about gluten strands etc) and she hasn't really put a foot wrong.

Thing I'm concerned about is that if she wins, are the 'usual bunch' going to scream 'tokenism' again?

On a related matter - exactly what do black people have to achieve for racists to stop using the 'T' word?
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Be elected President of the United States? Play for England at football (the racist shouts at Chelsea declined when Chelsea's own star players were black ) ? Win two gold medals in the London Olympics?
13:42 Sun 20th Oct 2013
sp1814

/// good to win (like the gay fella who won the first series). ///

Was that tokenism also?

Just sarcastically asking of course, and please forgive me for using the full "T" word.
Some further reading for you Sqad. Humour hath powers to ridicule racism.

http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Token_Black

sp. you know I hate the way racism is bandied about at every opportunity and also detest positive discrimination but Kimberley is by far and away the best cook and also has an in depth knowledge about ingredients - alright - she may not be as decorative as Frances with her finished product but definitely the best cook - tokenism - not this one.
sp1814

/// All of my work comes through email, so as long as I have my BlackBerry on me - I'm working. ///

And that is what one calls "Work"? I bet you have callouses on the ends of your fingers.
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Incidentally, AOG, your post of 15:33 contained 113 words...none of which addressed my question.

What do black people such as Lorraine Pascale have todo to avoid certain people levelling the term 'tokenism' at her

I'm asking you, because I suspect from your previous thread, you might have an idea...
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naomi14

It was reported when Lorraine Pascale was awarded her show, that she was the benefit of tokenism.

And with regards to looking for racism...seriously, one doesn't have to wait long for it to rear it's head here!
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Hey - it looks like we all agree then!

When a black MP is elected, or black characters are win roles is soaps and films and when politicians are pictured with black or Asian kids...it's not PC or tokenism...it's just life!

Everyone on board with that?


/And that is what one calls "Work"? I bet you have callouses on the ends of your fingers /

It's called working by applying our brains, knowledge, management skills and technical expertise.

I suppose you found more appropriate opportunities for navvying in your day.
it's possible to work by using your brain, aog.

Try it.
What was your job then, ANOTHEOLGIT?
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In AOG's defence, I think he was simply pulling my leg. Although if truth be told, I have now become one of those people who BlackBerry on the beach whilst on holiday.

Hmmm...all this talk about blackberries - think I'll make an Eton mess for our dessert tonight...
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joeluke

I think you may have misunderstood what I was getting at.

You wrote:

Yet another case of people finding racism issues where they don't exist

Actually, in this case it does. I referred to the reaction of some pundits on Lorraine Pascale getting her own tv cookery show. They referred to it as typical BBC box-filling and blatant tokenism (unfortunately this was on a radio show, so you have to take my word for it).

The reason why I consider this racist, is because the people complaining literally didn't know a thing about her her background, her qualifications etc...they just said it was the BBC being PC and that she only got the job via tokenism.

Now...do you see where I'm coming from?

What kind of person judges someone's ability purely based on their skin colour.

At time like this, is not not fair to use the term 'racism'?

If not...then what would be a more accurate adjective?

Regarding the black managers in football. Not only is that another tangent - it's the complete opposite of what's being debated.
All I can say is,if the totally gorgeous,wonderful, brilliant Idris Elba is perceived as a "token " then he can come and be my token any day :)
Who exactly used the word "tokenism" in this case? I can only see it was TV pundits. Which doesn't say much. It seems you can be called racist whether or not you employ a black person then?
A prime example

The FA have now got Rio Ferdinand on the commission a few days after that useless women Rabbatt compalined that they were racist because there were'nt any blacks on the commission

so at least theyll have someone to advise them on avoiding/missing drugs tests now

truly pathetic, another cave in

baz, the people on 5 Live Sport this afternoon were suggesting that Clark Carlisle would be an excellent choice. What do you think?
rockyracoon

Kimberley seems the most gifted of the three finalists. Ruby has been named the best baker on three occasions (or was it four), but she's been close to being chucked out a couple of times. I think you need to be consistently good to win (like the gay fella who won the first series).

And the Lorraine Pascale thing just completely foxes me. It's almost like (ahem) 'socially conservative' commentators refuse to believe that black people can make it through hard work and talent. It's the whole David Harewood, Idris Alba, Adrian Lester, Chiwetel Ejiofor (a man who's name can only be spelled after accessin Wikipedia...)

I went all fuzzy at the mention of Idris Elba, sorry ;)
SP, //with regards to looking for racism...seriously, one doesn't have to wait long for it to rear it's head here!//

But the reality is you can count them on the fingers of one hand. Life’s odd really. You can encounter 100 people, 99 of whom were pleasant – but you remember most the odd one who was obnoxious. ;o)

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pixie373

No, you can't be called a racist by employing a black person based on their talents and abilities. However, if others perceive that employment as mere tokenism, it's they who are racist.
sp. Scenario - a black guy is promoted to a very senion job on his qualifications - they some time later decide to check his qualification and find he does not have them (his colleagues are furious because some of them had applied for the position and had the qualifications. They knew he did not) what did management do - I kid you not - they sent him to college to obtain said qualifications and keep his job - do you still perceive his colleagues racist. I see them in justified to complain.

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