Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
Welcome to the University of Exeter forum: where prospective and current students can discuss everything from what it is like to be in Teletubby Land to walking up Cardiac Hill, from being at a campus university to the shopping.
Re: Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
Originally Posted by OhNO!
I don't get what she's said that's particularly controversial. It all seems rather reasonable to me.
It's not controversial so much as patronising! What is essentially one racial incidient that happened to her son in his first year here, has meant that she now feels Exeter students need to be taught how to be 'inclusive'.
Re: Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
Originally Posted by OhNO!
I don't get what she's said that's particularly controversial. It all seems rather reasonable to me.
Exactly. She's not labelling the entire university as racist but since someone (and someone whom she's obviously very close to) has had real experience of racism at Exeter, she thought she'd get involved. If you read the article it's obvious that the University set up this diversity week. She didn't march down there, grab a megaphone and start accusing people.
It's also worth noting that she said 'Nick Griffin would feel comfortable here', which is entirely different from 'the BNP would love it here'.
And as for whoever said it was 'just something to campaign about', do you not consider it a just cause, whether it's just one incident or not?
Re: Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
Originally Posted by Peanut42
It's not controversial so much as patronising! What is essentially one racial incidient that happened to her son in his first year here, has meant that she now feels Exeter students need to be taught how to be 'inclusive'.
That's not even remotely the case. She was taking part in a university sponsored event that aimed to raise awareness about diversity, and whilst there she mentioned the very relevant experiences of her son. What's wrong with that?
Re: Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
Originally Posted by OhNO!
That's not even remotely the case. She was taking part in a university sponsored event that aimed to raise awareness about diversity, and whilst there she mentioned the very relevant experiences of her son. What's wrong with that?
That's the way it seems here. And she didn't bring up the experiences of her son whilst here, she mentioned them first and decided that was why she would get involved.
I don't have a problem with her giving speeches or anything, it's just the way she has been going about it, by implying that Exeter has a problem with racism which just isn't the case.
Re: Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
Originally Posted by Peanut42
That's the way it seems here. And she didn't bring up the experiences of her son whilst here, she mentioned them first and decided that was why she would get involved.
I don't have a problem with her giving speeches or anything, it's just the way she has been going about it, by implying that Exeter has a problem with racism which just isn't the case.
Even if it was the experiences of her son which spurred her to get involved, why on earth is that a bad thing? She's a very prominent actress who is helping to raise awareness of a very important and legitimate issue. From the article, it seems all of her comments came during the course of this 'One World' project, anyway, it's not like she's been badmouthing Exeter behind its back.
She's been invited to take part in an event aimed at raising awareness about issues of diversity at the university - what on earth do you expect her to talk about? Clearly she's going to be talking about race issues, that's entirely the point. I find it very difficult to believe that Exeter is completely devoid of any racial prejudice or discrimination - nowhere in this country is. Clearly it's issue enough for the university to sponsor this project.
Re: Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
Originally Posted by mummyperson
my thoughts:
emma thompson needs to educate her son as much as possible in english ways. I got teased at medical school because i didnt know who delia smith and various other stalwarts of the english cultural scene were- so they thought i was probably really dumb or geeky or something- no- I just hadnt watched english telly or listened to english radio all my childhood
Re: Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
I read the replies to this thread before reading the article.
I was expecting something along the lines of "Exeter is a racist university!" judging by some of the replies here. Far from the truth.
Racism and discrimination in this country is very subtle, more to do with perceptions and feelings. Slow ebbing away of self-confidence and instilling of ideas of inferiority. Out-right blatant racism is rare, but there is still a problem for as long as people feel there is one. If someone says they are depressed, you can not solve it by just repeatedly saying 'This is ridiculous, you aren't depressed, you're just trying to make it look like we all depress you!' You have to talk about it instead, find the roots. If it really is purely a personal/paranoia problem that does not actually reflect any reality, then talking and understanding will help the person realise that and recover.
There is nothing wrong with openly talking about it and I don't understand how the way she is going about it is implying that Exeter students are racist.
Re: Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
White people who live with other white people don't understand when they're being insensitive to others.
White people also don't really understand how one can get affected by racism. Sure, they could be called racist terms for white people, but they don't have as much effect as the real racist terms. Hence, from most of the above posts, I can tell they're white and so they may be more dismissive of what happened to Thompson's son, and vice versa.
Re: Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
"You're not going to get hundreds of black students here overnight, but what you can do is make them more comfortable. Visitors are never the ones who come up with the solutions, it is up to you." - Make us feel more comfortable? , exeter is pone of nicest anf friendliest places ive been too. And FFS just because its predominately white doesnt make it racist. So far i haven't experienced any sort of racism at all.
Re: Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
Originally Posted by Jingers
White people who live with other white people don't understand when they're being insensitive to others.
White people also don't really understand how one can get affected by racism. Sure, they could be called racist terms for white people, but they don't have as much effect as the real racist terms. Hence, from most of the above posts, I can tell they're white and so they may be more dismissive of what happened to Thompson's son, and vice versa.
What a load of bull.
Everything you've said applies to non-whites but of course non-whites can never be racist.
And by the way, I am a non-white and I am dismissive of this whole case.
Re: Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
Originally Posted by Jingers
White people who live with other white people don't understand when they're being insensitive to others.
White people also don't really understand how one can get affected by racism. Sure, they could be called racist terms for white people, but they don't have as much effect as the real racist terms. Hence, from most of the above posts, I can tell they're white and so they may be more dismissive of what happened to Thompson's son, and vice versa.
Read my post^ (so you can get a black persons perspective on it)
Re: Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
i was going to apply to exeter but as soon as i told my parents they were not too keen...lol. They seemed to have stories where family friends who have gone to exeter have suffered prejudice. Im not saying that everyone in exeter is racist but when i heard this story with emma thompson i wasnt surprised....
Welcome to the University of Exeter forum: where prospective and current students can discuss everything from what it is like to be in Teletubby Land to walking up Cardiac Hill, from being at a campus university to the shopping.
Useful Resources:
Re: Emma Thompson "The BNP would love it here" to exeter students
, exeter is pone of nicest anf friendliest places ive been too. And FFS just because its predominately white doesnt make it racist. So far i haven't experienced any sort of racism at all.
