This is going in The Standard tomorrow or was in it today, not sure:
LETTER TO THE EVENING STANDARD:
The following letter from the Society of Black Lawyers will be published in the Evening Standard tomorrow:
"The Diane Abbott row is a sideshow being used for party political purposes. Generalisations are made every day by all races and nationalities, some complimentary, others not. The apology is inappropriate and unnecessary. White people, in power and authority, especially but not exclusively those with a racist agenda have historically played divide and rule, setting different ethnic minorities against each other to achieve their objectives.
Any political activist would have understood what was meant. Abbott clearly did not have in mind the ordinary white member of society. Ed Miliband's response itself marches straight from history as the kneejerk reaction of a white man who has to be seen 'controlling' this 'difficult black woman': two steps forwardand one embarrassing step back.
What the row does is divert attention away from the racism of white society and the underlying racial inequalities which in a number of cases have got worse, not better, since the Macpherson report, to the words of one Black MP.
Arguably, if we had a strong Black Parliamentary Caucus, this row would never have developed. But the current 30 odd Black MPs have less common cause and identity than the four (Abbott, Vaz, Boateng and Grant) who entered Parliament back in 1987."
Donald Peter Herbert OBE
National Co-Chair, Society of Black Lawyers
Now I understand even less.
