Politics Where are you really from?

[Metaphor]

Fulani chose to act as if she didn't understand what Hussey was asking her, in my opinion

Right… and deflecting while pretending and allowing them to leave having NOT been called out for being rude is the standard norm of what to do when someone is being unconscionably rude.


She did everything right from a social norms perspective.

I suppose calling out rude people and characteristing them as abusive and racist on social media and national television is also the new normal.

 

[Rhea]

I said Hussey was rude and out of touch in my OP. She seemed oblivious to the signals Fulani was sending her.

We agree. The story here is about the Rude Palace Lady who held a job in a high profile public setting that is drenched in nuance and couldn’t manage to stop herself from being ongoing rude and digging herself deeper and deeper.

I feel for the charity woman who had to enduure that rudeness. She handed it very well, trying half a dozen times to let the lady off the hook without calling out her rudeness. A role model for others caught in the same uncomfortable situation!

 

[laughing dog]

I said Hussey was rude and out of touch in my OP.

You did not say she was rude.

Again, two women are rude to each other. One publicly complains. Why does this merit an OP in the “Politics” section, let alone focusing on the complainant?

 

[Metaphor]

I said Hussey was rude and out of touch in my OP. She seemed oblivious to the signals Fulani was sending her.

We agree.

We don't.

The story here is about the Rude Palace Lady who held a job in a high profile public setting that is drenched in nuance and couldn’t manage to stop herself from being ongoing rude and digging herself deeper and deeper.

The story here is about the cultural purchase that accusations of abuse and racism has in the Anglosphere. The story here is about how easily an awkward conversation between an oblivious Anglo-heritage octogenarian volunteer and a black CEO can be parlayed into receiving a national platform.

I feel for the charity woman who had to enduure that rudeness. She handed it very well, trying half a dozen times to let the lady off the hook without calling out her rudeness. A role model for others caught in the same uncomfortable situation!

Without calling out her rudeness? I think you'll find she called it out on national television and radio.

 

[Metaphor]

I said Hussey was rude and out of touch in my OP.

You did not say she was rude.

Again, two women are rude to each other. One publicly complains. Why does this merit an OP in the “Politics” section, let alone focusing on the complainant?

Why would you listen to my answer this time, when you haven't listened to it the first half dozen times I answered this?

The OP is about race-baiting. The OP is about the cultural purchase that accusations of racist microaggressions have in the Anglosphere. And, in a meta way, the OP is about the very responses on this message board about the story.

 

[Rhea]

I feel for the charity woman who had to enduure that rudeness. She handed it very well, trying half a dozen times to let the lady off the hook without calling out her rudeness. A role model for others caught in the same uncomfortable situation!

Without calling out her rudeness? I think you'll find she called it out on national television and radio.

After the 7th, 8th and 9th, yup, that happened. SH should have stopped at 2, right?

 

[Rhea]

The OP is about race-baiting. The OP is about the cultural purchase that accusations of racist microaggressions have in the Anglosphere. And, in a meta way, the OP is about the very responses on this message board about the story.

Oh! Oh oh oh! We were supposed to read that and feel sorry for the Palace Lady for having her rudeness called out! Because reading the conversations really shows how she is the victim here! Because she’s an Octogenarian, and they haven’t lived long enough, with a job at the palace, to know better.

 

[laughing dog]

I said Hussey was rude and out of touch in my OP.

You did not say she was rude.

Again, two women are rude to each other. One publicly complains. Why does this merit an OP in the “Politics” section, let alone focusing on the complainant?

Why would you listen to my answer this time, when you haven't listened to it the first half dozen times I answered this?

The OP is about race-baiting.

I got the OP was about race baiting. I didn’t realize you knew it.

The OP is about the cultural purchase that accusations of racist microaggressions have in the Anglosphere. And, in a meta way, the OP is about the very responses on this message board about the story.

Riight, because you are infallible in your interpretations of people’s motivations and viewpoints.

 

[Metaphor]

I feel for the charity woman who had to enduure that rudeness. She handed it very well, trying half a dozen times to let the lady off the hook without calling out her rudeness. A role model for others caught in the same uncomfortable situation!

Without calling out her rudeness? I think you'll find she called it out on national television and radio.

After the 7th, 8th and 9th, yup, that happened. SH should have stopped at 2, right?

I think:
Hussey should have been better at framing her initial question, and she should have realised very quickly Fulani did not want to answer her questions. I can't exactly empathise with Hussey, because I've never been an Anglo ethnicity, of Anglo heritage, in an Anglo-majority country the way Hussey is.

Fulani, for her part, seems to me to have deliberately evaded answering Hussey's enquiry. As you say, Hussey's line of questioning got increasingly rude. Fulani's parents, like my own, emigrated to an Anglo-majority country and as first-generation children of those immigrants, we are marked as different from the majority. Fulani eventually gave Hussey the information Hussey was enquiring after, so it seems to me she was deliberately messing with Hussey.

But even if she wasn't messing with Hussey, Fulani seized the opportunity to shame her on social media and then on national television for being rude and oblivious. And still, Fulani is regarded as being the blameless party.

 

[Metaphor]

The OP is about race-baiting. The OP is about the cultural purchase that accusations of racist microaggressions have in the Anglosphere. And, in a meta way, the OP is about the very responses on this message board about the story.

Oh! Oh oh oh! We were supposed to read that and feel sorry for the Palace Lady for having her rudeness called out! Because reading the conversations really shows how she is the victim here! Because she’s an Octogenarian, and they haven’t lived long enough, with a job at the palace, to know better.

Rhea, I do not expect you to feel sorry for her.

She has a name, by the way--Hussey.

 

[Metaphor]

I said Hussey was rude and out of touch in my OP.

You did not say she was rude.

Again, two women are rude to each other. One publicly complains. Why does this merit an OP in the “Politics” section, let alone focusing on the complainant?

Why would you listen to my answer this time, when you haven't listened to it the first half dozen times I answered this?

The OP is about race-baiting.

I got the OP was about race baiting. I didn’t realize you knew it.

The OP is about the cultural purchase that accusations of racist microaggressions have in the Anglosphere. And, in a meta way, the OP is about the very responses on this message board about the story.

Riight, because you are infallible in your interpretations of people’s motivations and viewpoints.

Sure Jan.

 

[laughing dog]

Sure Jan.

Two women are rude to one another and your OP goes after the black woman because of “cultural purchase that racist micro aggressions have in Anglosphere”. Sure Jan, you’re just balancing the scales.

 

[TomC]

Sure Jan.

Two women are rude to one another and your OP goes after the black woman because of “cultural purchase that racist micro aggressions have in Anglosphere”. Sure Jan, you’re just balancing the scales.

No.
Two women were rude to each other. One made an internet mountain out of the molehill. That's why the exchange got enough notice to have a thread.

But since she's black, she must be the victim. Because, the other one is white and so obviously was in the wrong.
Tom

 

[Metaphor]

Sure Jan.

Two women are rude to one another and your OP goes after the black woman because of “cultural purchase that racist micro aggressions have in Anglosphere”. Sure Jan, you’re just balancing the scales.

The focus of my OP only gets more and more justification with each response on here.

 

[Toni]

I cannot understand why it matters to you that Fulani’s dress was not stereotypically ‘British.’

Can you explain it to me in a way that doesn’t sound like racism?

I've already explained. In the OP. I will quote myself:

Fulani was dressed in clothing that was obviously not of native British style or design, and even changed her name from Marlene Headley to Ngozi Fulani. She obviously wants to make a point of her non-Anglo heritage.

And then Fulani, in my opinion, deliberately missed the point when someone enquired after her obviously non-Anglo heritage.

Yes, she DID because such inquiries were irrelevant to the occasion and frankly personal and definitely racist.

Irrelevant? Fulani was there representing a charity that assists women of African and Caribbean descent.

Your characterisation of it as 'definitely racist' is not obvious to me. Why was it 'definitely racist'?

There is no need to treat such inquiries as meriting any direct response. Indeed, she showed great forbearance in attempting to supply a response that allowed Lady Hussey to recover from a racist faux pas with grace and dignity.

It is racist now to enquire after the ethnic and cultural heritage of somebody you are speaking to?

In a professional setting? Yes. It is.

Um, okay.

My boss is Vietnamese-born and always enquires after the ethnic and cultural heritage of members of his team (only one person in the team is obviously Anglo-origin). Should I snitch to HR about his crass racism?

I don’t know. Does he imply that the non-Anglo members are t really Australian?

 

[laughing dog]

Sure Jan.

Two women are rude to one another and your OP goes after the black woman because of “cultural purchase that racist micro aggressions have in Anglosphere”. Sure Jan, you’re just balancing the scales.

The focus of my OP only gets more and more justification with each response on here.

I have no doubt you feel that way. Just like each of your responses proves my point.

 

[Metaphor]

I cannot understand why it matters to you that Fulani’s dress was not stereotypically ‘British.’

Can you explain it to me in a way that doesn’t sound like racism?

I've already explained. In the OP. I will quote myself:

Fulani was dressed in clothing that was obviously not of native British style or design, and even changed her name from Marlene Headley to Ngozi Fulani. She obviously wants to make a point of her non-Anglo heritage.

And then Fulani, in my opinion, deliberately missed the point when someone enquired after her obviously non-Anglo heritage.

Yes, she DID because such inquiries were irrelevant to the occasion and frankly personal and definitely racist.

Irrelevant? Fulani was there representing a charity that assists women of African and Caribbean descent.

Your characterisation of it as 'definitely racist' is not obvious to me. Why was it 'definitely racist'?

There is no need to treat such inquiries as meriting any direct response. Indeed, she showed great forbearance in attempting to supply a response that allowed Lady Hussey to recover from a racist faux pas with grace and dignity.

It is racist now to enquire after the ethnic and cultural heritage of somebody you are speaking to?

In a professional setting? Yes. It is.

Um, okay.

My boss is Vietnamese-born and always enquires after the ethnic and cultural heritage of members of his team (only one person in the team is obviously Anglo-origin). Should I snitch to HR about his crass racism?

I don’t know. Does he imply that the non-Anglo members are t really Australian?

I don't know how he would imply someone isn't "really" Australian. He never enquires about citizenship, since you have to be an Australian citizen to work in the public service. He enquires about what country they came from or if they were born in Australia, what their ethnic heritage is. He certainly asked me those questions.

 

[Toni]

I cannot understand why it matters to you that Fulani’s dress was not stereotypically ‘British.’

Can you explain it to me in a way that doesn’t sound like racism?

I've already explained. In the OP. I will quote myself:

Fulani was dressed in clothing that was obviously not of native British style or design, and even changed her name from Marlene Headley to Ngozi Fulani. She obviously wants to make a point of her non-Anglo heritage.

And then Fulani, in my opinion, deliberately missed the point when someone enquired after her obviously non-Anglo heritage.

Yes, she DID because such inquiries were irrelevant to the occasion and frankly personal and definitely racist.

Irrelevant? Fulani was there representing a charity that assists women of African and Caribbean descent.

Your characterisation of it as 'definitely racist' is not obvious to me. Why was it 'definitely racist'?

There is no need to treat such inquiries as meriting any direct response. Indeed, she showed great forbearance in attempting to supply a response that allowed Lady Hussey to recover from a racist faux pas with grace and dignity.

It is racist now to enquire after the ethnic and cultural heritage of somebody you are speaking to?

In a professional setting? Yes. It is.

Um, okay.

My boss is Vietnamese-born and always enquires after the ethnic and cultural heritage of members of his team (only one person in the team is obviously Anglo-origin). Should I snitch to HR about his crass racism?

I don’t know. Does he imply that the non-Anglo members are t really Australian?

I don't know how he would imply someone isn't "really" Australian. He never enquires about citizenship, since you have to be an Australian citizen to work in the public service. He enquires about what country they came from or if they were born in Australia, what their ethnic heritage is. He certainly asked me those questions.

Well, Lady Hussey reportedly asked Fulani where she was ‘really’ from. Clear implication that Fulani isn’t ‘really’ British.

 

[Arctish]

Irrelevant? Fulani was there representing a charity that assists women of African and Caribbean descent.

Your characterisation of it as 'definitely racist' is not obvious to me. Why was it 'definitely racist'?

And she answered that she could not say where in Africa because they did not keep records. So any further badgering was beyond rude and achingly out of touch for not reflecting on WHY no records were kept.

Furlani doesn't know her ethnic heritage because, as she pointed out, there are no records. She does know her cultural heritage, and she told Hussey what it is: British.

"I am born here and am British".

For whatever reason, Hussey did not accept that answer. Do you, Metaphor? Do you accept that Furlani's ethnic ancestry is unknown and her cultural heritage is British? I ask because you appear to be implying that Furlani did not answer Hussey's questions even though it's clear that she did.

 

[Politesse]

Frankly, I don't see how contradicting someone when they tell you where they are from, and demanding a "real" answer, could be seen as anything other than extremely rude. Like, accusing people of lying at all is rude, let alone about something as conversationally trivial but personally important as one's place of birth.

If there weren't a racial element, the conversation would be baffling. "Where are you from?" "Chicago" "No where are you REALLY from" is a conversation only ever had between a white person and a non-white, because it would not make sense to randomly accuse someone of lying about their place of origin unless you're a racist trying to make someone feel out of place.

So, when I've had the same conversation hundreds of times in my life, but I'm white, what are the people trying to do to me?

Really now? Because you're white, people rudely insist that you're "really" from England and thus do not belong?