Sunday Times Magazine - Cover story on Lewes

[Brovion]

Not sure if anyone's posted this but the cover story of yesterday's S.T. magazine is about a white bloke describing the 'uncomfortable' time he had living in Lewes with his black wife and mixed-race children. Basically he reckons the only decent people he met were fellow Londoners like himself; the locals he dismisses as bonfire-obssessed bigots.

Think he got it pretty spot-on myself! We all know it's a 'local place for local people'.

 

[Trigger]

I can comfortably say I HATE working in Lewes, there are execptions but the majority of folk I encounter are from a different planet completely.

 

[Mendoza]

It is all abit backwards in this village sometimes. I always thought I was one of 2 ethnic minority people in Lewes. The other sells the big issue outside Waitrose.

 

[BigGully]

Even you must recognise your negative generalisation of a whole community, is quite silly really.

 

[Tooting Gull]

Is there any way of reading this without subscribing? I imagine this is behind the 'paywall'...

 

[keaton]

Not sure if anyone's posted this but the cover story of yesterday's S.T. magazine is about a white bloke describing the 'uncomfortable' time he had living in Lewes with his black wife and mixed-race children. Basically he reckons the only decent people he met were fellow Londoners like himself; the locals he dismisses as bonfire-obssessed bigots.

Think he got it pretty spot-on myself! We all know it's a 'local place for local people'.

I read that article it was a bit wierd, he was critical of people who brought up race in a "nice" way but then seemed sure everything that ever happened with his kids was because they were mixed race.

But to be fair Lewes does seem to be where arrogant people with no manners go to die

 

[BigGully]

I read that article it was a bit wierd, he was critical of people who brought up race in a "nice" way but then seemed sure everything that ever happened with his kids was because they were mixed race.

But to be fair Lewes does seem to be where arrogant people with no manners go to die

But how did you come to the profound conclusion that the Lewes community is arrogant and without any manners.

 

[keaton]

But how did you come to the profound conclusion that the Lewes community is arrogant and without any manners.

I didn't come to a conclusion, I said "seemed to be". And from my own experience, how else?

 

[Tooting Gull]

Certainly stirred up a hornet's nest...

http://www.lewes.co.uk/Forum/Post/Sunday_Times_Magazine:_Is_Lewes_Racist?/66968

 

[clippedgull]

Is there any way of reading this without subscribing? I imagine this is behind the 'paywall'...

Just for you

ST article

 

[Domsdad]

I read the article. As it happens I'm white, my wife is black and our kids are brown. The geezer who wrote the article needs to stop seeing himself and his family as different to everybody else. After all, that is what he wants of everybody else - to see that the colour of his family is irrelevant. Once he stops expecting racism everywhere then he'll see that is isn't everywhere. Folk are folk - good, bad and indifferent in all shapes, sizes and colours. He knows that - least he should know that.

 

[Tooting Gull]

I read the article. As it happens I'm white, my wife is black and our kids are brown. The geezer who wrote the article needs to stop seeing himself and his family as different to everybody else. After all, that is what he wants of everybody else - to see that the colour of his family is irrelevant. Once he stops expecting racism everywhere then he'll see that is isn't everywhere. Folk are folk - good, bad and indifferent in all shapes, sizes and colours. He knows that - least he should know that.

You sound a lot better qualified to talk knowledgeably about this than some of the posters on the Lewes forum, and this guy may be a bit chippy.

But in general, if I was asked who to listen to on race issues, the 50-year-old guy who has written books about Mandela, has a black wife and four mixed-race kids, and lived for years in cosmopolitan London - or a load of middle-class white people in Lewes - I know who in the first instance I'd be more likely to believe. Sometimes you don't know your own prejudice until someone points it out, despite all the howls of outrage. And from black friends of mine, I do know that patronising black people doesn't equate to being a 'cool' non-racist, any more than overt racism does.

 

[BigGully]

You sound a lot better qualified to talk knowledgeably about this than some of the posters on the Lewes forum, and this guy may be a bit chippy.

But in general, if I was asked who to listen to on race issues, the 50-year-old guy who has written books about Mandela, has a black wife and four mixed-race kids, and lived for years in cosmopolitan London - or a load of middle-class white people in Lewes - I know who in the first instance I'd be more likely to believe. Sometimes you don't know your own prejudice until someone points it out, despite all the howls of outrage. And from black friends of mine, I do know that patronising black people doesn't equate to being a 'cool' non-racist, any more than overt racism does.

You first mistake is to validate this guys views based on his knowledge either accurate or not of Mandela and his life in 'cosmopolitan' London.

Irrespective of his background or experiences he comes across as a bit of a twat.

 

[Don Quixote]

They are all bigotted scum, I would have it burnt to the ground if I had my way.

 

[Domsdad]

Sometimes you don't know your own prejudice until someone points it out,

You are right, but that sort of prejudice is not something that the writer of the article should be taking to heart because generally these folk do not mean harm and he won't be doing himself or his family any favours by seeing evil everywhere. You can be sure that there are serious problem people out there. These are the ones who do know their own prejudice without it being pointed out to them, and are proud of it.

 

[Tooting Gull]

You first mistake is to validate this guys views based on his knowledge either accurate or not of Mandela and his life in 'cosmopolitan' London.

Irrespective of his background or experiences he comes across as a bit of a twat.

A twat he may be, I see only a couple of years ago he was going on about how much he loved living in Lewes.

And I haven't validated his views, just pointed out that the guy has lived a bit and isn't an idiot, so in general terms, without other evidence (which there may be) it's hard to dismiss it totally. He must have known the fireworks (sorry) that would follow.

Whatever, maybe they've decided to leave because as a few said, this isn't going to make it any easier for his family I wouldn't have thought given the tone of some of those responses.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I read the article. As it happens I'm white, my wife is black and our kids are brown. The geezer who wrote the article needs to stop seeing himself and his family as different to everybody else. After all, that is what he wants of everybody else - to see that the colour of his family is irrelevant. Once he stops expecting racism everywhere then he'll see that is isn't everywhere. Folk are folk - good, bad and indifferent in all shapes, sizes and colours. He knows that - least he should know that.

Indeed. Having spent the day walking the length of both the Shankill Road and the Falls Road in Belfast, and knowing Lewes as I do, I'm not going to jump into this debate with a glib definition of "bigotry".

 

[BigGully]

A twat he may be, I see only a couple of years ago he was going on about how much he loved living in Lewes.

And I haven't validated his views, just pointed out that the guy has lived a bit and isn't an idiot, so in general terms, without other evidence (which there may be) it's hard to dismiss it totally. He must have known the fireworks (sorry) that would follow.

Whatever, maybe they've decided to leave because as a few said, this isn't going to make it any easier for his family I wouldn't have thought given the tone of some of those responses.

He seems quite an unexceptional fella, he may not be an idiot, but then again he sounds a bit of an idiot.

But I will not blame his time living in 'cosmopolitan London' just yet.

 

[portlock seagull]

Black,brown,White,yellow.....I hope aliens don't exist. Imagine the chaos if green entered the equation?

 

[Tooting Gull]

Any road, here's someone who is more angry about this than anyone on here is likely to get (which is saying something), in a rant stratosphere all of their own...amazing the blogs you can stumble across.

http://idlepenpusher.blogspot.com/