David Lammy/Stacey Dooley

Actually I used a dictionary yesterday.

Sir Lenny Henry does indeed come from Dudley, Nonnie, as you can tell from his accent (although probably toned down these days).

I would like to hear his views on this as a co-founder of Comic Relief.

I assume there are comics in the countries visited by Comic Relief?

Annie it would be very possible to have a sponsored TV event when celebs do things in UK once a certain amount has been raised.

Do not need to have the shots of celebs " in the field" could just have short clips of the impact of previous monies raised presented by local people.

It would be possible for the format to evolve .

Lily65 You are right.. too many comments suggesting racist attitudes one would hope had been consigned to the past.
Still many white people who do not want a black person to tell them they may be doing something wrong.

It is a tv show to raise money, people watch because of the celebrities , they do not want to sit for hours listening to ‘local experts’. Local experts belong in documentaries not in
Comic Relief, note ‘Comic’

Bob Geldof, Diana and the black baby ,are from many years ago. Things have moved on, life has changed. We live in times dominated by visual images and having everything we desire at the click of a button ( When was the last time you used a dictionary for example or a reference book?)

I feel the image was unfortunate and David Lammy was right to comment. We should be working in conjunction with local experts, they should be the stars of the show.

Comments like " playing the race card" and " he's got a chip on his shoulder" belong in another era.

So many defensive posts here! All DL was saying, albeit clumsily, was that he thought it was time to rethink how we present the image of Africa.
He did not say we should stop charitable giving or not be compassionate. Just think about what it might be like as a person/ family/ country in receipt of aid. Many people in UK hate to rely on charity though many do & would not be happy to be on national television being seen to be ' done to'.
I have not watched Comic Relief so not sure if there are celebs posing with individual UK recipients of aid in the same way.
If a white politician had raised this I wonder how many folk would have felt so annoyed?

Because Nonnie many of them are guilty of being wealthy

Annie, I do know a celeb who never courts attention and does good by stealth. Why they get pilloried when the don't seek publicity and when they do get publicity is beyond me. Can we not accept that slebs are just like the rest of us?

Some seem to know no one in the world of celebrity is capable of caring for others, they are all self seekers, any thing they say or do to show they care is rubbish.

Also re your good point sunseeker about the cost of flying and accommodation, and using people on the ground; they often do this but there is the cost of the camera crew, technicians, etc. who are needed to film anyway and need flights and accommodation. They incur costs too so it’s just the cost of an extra sleb who will attract more in funding.

I agree with Anja. It is about the best way to raise the most money to help the most people, simple. The past is gone, it is about the here and now, not about politics or anything else.

DL should listen to South Pacific - You've got to be carefully taught. He is British and is being racist to another Brit. Would he say the same about the London.Mayor who is also not from Africa? What has the colour of a person's skin to do with helping charity?

What? I think you’ve missed the point. That’s like saying David Attenborough could produce his documentaries without ‘travelling out of the country’.

The whole point is to bring the wider world and it’s problems to our attention.

Anja surely it is possible for them to use their celebrity status to support the charity without travelling out of the country?

BUT this is a ‘show’ put on by the media to raise money. That’s the whole point.

There is a long tradition of people in the public eye using their celebrity status to do good. Bob Geldorf is just one example. So to label them ‘self-seeking’ or ‘patronising’ is unkind. What have you done Saggi and others that has raised money on this scale?

Nothing! Because you haven’t the clout or the publicity machine.

Lots of people, including children, get behind these efforts and raise funds for people less well off. The money goes to causes in the UK too.

So if you’ve nothing good to say why cock it up for those who are only doing their bit. I’d say to DL ‘if you ain’t part of the solution then you’re part of the problem’.

Thank you Lily ....I thought I was the only one who physically cringed at thes first world shows of ‘we care’ rubbish. Luckily I don’t watch tv anymore ( Netflix so much better) and I don’t have to witness these self-seekers patronising all in their sight.

I have always wondered why it is necessary to jet celebrities out to these countries to make a film about how the money is spent. I would prefer the film to feature the workers who are there 365 days a year and the money spent on air fares and hotel rooms kept for those who need it. Celebrities could still support the charity, just do so from UK

D’you know GabbyG I never saw a famous white woman holding a little black child. I saw a woman holding a child.

I think DL has stirred up a lot of trouble for no good reason.

To appropriate some words spoken by Axl Rose during one of his concerts, 'There are some things you just cain't fix'. (sic)
Race and religious hatreds are two.
There will never be equality
There will never be a classless society
There will always be animosity (simmering or obvious) between certain factions as regards race and religion.
Not everyone dares step out of the circle and state their true feelings because of the scrum mentality seen so often on social media.
I, personally, am not afraid to get shot down. I don't have the herd instinct.
I think DL was correct in his interpretation of the photo-shoot.

This wasn’t about colour until David Lammy made it that.

I assume that Stacey Dooley was chosen both because of her cekebrity status following Strictly and because of her experience reporting on controversial matters in other countries. She has admitted herself to being uneducated but is fearless in meeting people and probing issues that many would prefer to see swept under the carpet. I know from experience that if you are in rural Africa local people - even adult ladies and especially children, will come up to a white woman, and touch their skin and hair out of curiosity. Children may beg be be picked up. Of course they may not be above hoping for something in return - biro pens are much sought after.
Yes corruption is rife and the future may see these countries further impoverished by being in thrall to the Chinese who have lent them the means to modernise way beyond their ability to repay, and in return for access to mineral resources, but had the original colonialists not plundered these countries in the first place, and had they educated and taught them how to rule, things might have developed differently. The locals saw the lifestyle of the white rulers and thought they could all have the same, but have been unable to elicit the necessary skill and labour from the worforce to support it. Enter the Chinese - who as often as not, bring in their own workforce as little more than slave labour.
Education is the basis of progress and there were a few examples of what can be achieved in the recent Ade Adepitan series - but alas drops in the ocean in a vast continent made up mostly of under 15s and whose potential wealth is still not being shared by all.

I believe Sir Lenny H comes from.Dudley,which makes him as British as TD so why is he not mentioned? It seems to me to be about colour.

Surely the point is that this fund raising is successful and dies a lot of good. The professionals who organise it seem to know what they are doing

Eloethan that's not how I've perceived it. David Lammy has been, at the very least, very clumsy in his comments. It's much too easy to raise the race card and silence even reasonable opposition. I don't support comic relief because I will not be told which charities I HAVE to support. I don't support animal charities despite that I'd never intentionally harm an animal ( other than those that form the basis of my dinner) I do support quite a few charities in my own quiet way...... those that achieve success in the areas I'm drawn to. Clean water, remedial surgery and homelessness in the UK amongst occasional donations to others. I do think realism should enter into the equation, the celebrity big bash does raise enormous amounts of money that wouldn't be raised otherwise. Sometimes one has to sup with the devil for the greater good!

Lammy has now been described by several people as a racist for expressing an opinion regarding what he and other black - and white - people believe to be the perpetuation of an unhelpful and patronising image of African people in TV money-raising campaigns like Comic Relief.

I do wonder if the tone of the debate would be different if a white person had raised this matter. There seems to be an underlying feeling in some of these posts that because Lammy is black and has the great honour of living in Britain he - and all other black people - should just be grateful and keep their mouths shut - especially in relation to issues of race.