David Lammy/Stacey Dooley

PECS
By the way. I worked overseas and was treated less favourably than the indigenous population along with everyone else who worked/works there. There is no opportunity to remain and you are there on a work visa only. When the work stops, you go home. No social security, pension etc. Health care at the behest of your employer. Those who work there know the rules and take it ir leave it.

Mapleleaf
I agree with much of your last comment, however, many 'celebs' do the programme for no fee but do get accommodation, meals, flights and 'incidental expenses' paid by whatever charit(y/ies) they are representing.
I have a friend working for the WHO, who frequently flies to countries where they are installing water stand pipes and building clinics/hospitals etc.
He told me that many charities had bloated budgets for advertising across all media, through letterboxes and on the street.
The percentages were not small.

PECS
Joelsnan Because someone is offered work in another country and they choose to go does that make it OK to treat them as less equal citizens? As you point out it was mutually beneficial.. The UK needed the workforce..to treat them with respect and dignity was the least that should have happened!
For quite a number of years I lived in a West Yorkshire mill town, the exact place that WI migrants were offered employment. The town was and still has a large WI and Asian population. There was none of the current claims of mistreatment there, we all lived in council houses, side by side, socialised with each other, our children received the same education and work opportunities and we never saw colour. We were aware of some cultural differences, but these were just accepted as 'thats their way' i.e. WI having children before marrying and Asian children having to go to Koran school after normal school. Birthday parties were always multicultural events and my and my family and our children have forged long lasting multicultural frienships so generalising about mistreatment is far off the mark, remember there were bigots then who didnt like the Irish.

Which peoples are lazy GG ?

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Framilode
Your comment is interesting. I asked the same question in India and was suprised to get a different answer to what I expected (anticipated happy to be free). I suppose its who you talk to, within each community there will be those yearning for how it used to be and those who are glad to be free.
Incidentally, when you were growing up in Uganda, did you feel that you (your family) were there as opressors?

PECS I too grew up in East Africa (Uganda) and my father worked for the Colonial Service.

Three years ago I went back. I was talking to our taxi driver about the terrible times they had under Idi Amin and the driver told me that several of his relatives had been murdered by Amin's henchmen. We then discussed the current situation in Uganda which was not good. I asked him what he felt about everything Uganda had gone through since independence and how it compared with the 'benevolent' British rule. His strong view was that even though terrible things had happened, and were still happening at least they had their freedom and it was much better than British rule.

I think we have a lot to answer for.

I am well and truly fed up with these self congratulatory programmes, to be honest. I find them a complete turn off. They started out with good intentions, I’m sure, but they’ve got rather lost with the lovey dovey show biz approach.
I give to charities as and when and don’t need these programmes and all the associated merchandise they produce to remind me to do so.
It must cost an absolute fortune to use these celebs - I don’t imagine many are doing it for free, but correct me if I’m wrong, and I’d hazard a guess that they don’t pay for their own air tickets, accommodation, food, etc, when they go off to Africa to hold babies in their arms, and I don’t suppose they rest their heads on anything than a nice fluffy pillow in a nice comfortable hotel, either, but again, correct me if I’m wrong.

Also ..if we are talking corruption lets take the mote out of UKs eye before we go any further!

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/vote-leave-referendum-overspending-high-court-brexit-legal-challenge-void-oxford-professor-a8668771.html

Joelsnan Because someone is offered work in another country and they choose to go does that make it OK to treat them as less equal citizens? As you point out it was mutually beneficial.. The UK needed the workforce..to treat them with respect and dignity was the least that should have happened!

Am I the only one who gets totally fed up with Africa and its poverty. The countries wanted us out and home rule, no problem at with that. That is as it should be. But corruption is rife amongst its leaders and we are left to pick up the pieces and help out. Also businesses are making vast amounts of money from volunteers who pay to go and so called help for two or three weeks. This is not the way to help.

PECS
The UK actively sought Black Caribbean people to come to work to fill the gaps in the workforce.. you know what happened!
These people were offered jobs in the UK to fulfil a need. They chose to come, They arrived as economic migrants, it was a mutually beneficial transaction nothing more, nothing less. Just like the £10 poms who went to Australia in the 1960's. The majority of those who emigrated then went straight into work camps when they arrived in Australia, something that those who migrated to UK were not subjected to.

I can’t bear the race and just have to switch off the television. Race cards are there to shut down any meaningful conversation and often are the consequence of ignorance.

I have lived in East Africa for a year and I can only say that things are a lot more complicated than victim Africa v the exploiting west. The greed of the elite in Africa is very much comperable to the greed of the elite of any other nation.

PECS
It is a sad situation where we will only give our money for those in need because a famous face endorses the cause.
But this is not the case as billions of £'s is spent on these countries in Government Overseas Aid, The UK population who contribute to this aid fund through taxes and only rarely get to see what their contribution is spent on, yet the contributions continue.

Let's reverse ' the picture'.

It's not white Stacey Dooley holding a black child, bearing in mind African children are naturally black, for arguments sake it's Lenny Henry holding a white child because a country that is predominantly white has experienced a disaster and the UK are holding a charity fund raiser.

I don't think for one ruddy minute anybody would mention the colour of Lenny Henrys skin.

I don't think for one ruddy minute ' the majority ' of people look for the colour of skin to make a point .

I do think the majority of people have ' moved on ' from the days of Colonialism , they have emerged in 2019 to live in a society that means we live, work, marry raise mixed families and to put it bluntly are frustrated by those who use colour to try and cause division, especially when the subject is over giving money to help other peoples lives irrespective of whether they are black, white or another.

Those who see a white person holding a black child as a 'White Benefactor ' a ' White Saviour ' are creating an issue with the pure intention of being controversial.

You are joking aren't you GG5? History of China is totally different from that of Africa. The UK actively sought Black Caribbean people to come to work to fill the gaps in the workforce.. you know what happened!
Jeez! We now acknowledge that generational trauma can occur. Think abut it!

Here is a picture of Dar es Salaam the town I lived in in the 50s.. did not look like this then!

Dead Aid by Dambisa Moyo is worth reading if you want to know how Africa would survive without western aid.
Not referring to disaster aid of course, just this steady never ending donating.
I now only donate to small local charities where I can see how it's spent.

I think that the accusation of racism is wrong. Only about 3% of people in Britain are Black. 87% of people, the vast power holding majority , white. Racism is not just about name calling etc. it is about power and control.

Programmes such as the one that surround Comic Relief focus on deficiencies and poverty. Some people hold that image and do not see that, whist the continent of Africa has huge issues because of climate, war and some poor governments , it also has thriving cities. It has also been exploited for centuries.. and that takes time to recover from. China is of course cashing in on Africa now by building infrastructures.. but using Chinese workforce not training local people.

I lived in E Africa as a child, my father was part of the British Colonial Service. It takes a few generations for any society to become self sufficient after colonial rule ..even when not fighting drought or lack of infrastructure.. but huge advancements are being made and we need to see a better and more balanced view.

It is a sad situation where we will only give our money for those in need because a famous face endorses the cause.

I think David Lammy's comments might lead to an 'own goal'. Many generous people donate to oversea charities.

Lammy's comments are patronising and arrogant, and may lead to fewer people giving to these causes.

As a nation, we contribute £billions annually in foreign aid. Much more than most other countries, yet people like David Lammy can only find fault.

For his comments to be considered credible, he should go out to Africa himself, and hope that people will donate.

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We did that too "paddyann*. It seems ludicrous now but we never gave it a thought at the time.

I dont think Mr Lammy was asking for an apology ,just that whatever fundraising there is isn't presented in the patronising, superior style it has been for decades.
I went to school in 1959 ,we collected pennies and when our little cards were full we got to name a "black baby" so it appeared to us it was our baby and that is wrong.We shouldn't have been told it was OK to call children from a different culture by Scottish or European names .They HAD names that were appropriate to their lives already Any giving has to be without gain,no publicity for the "stars" no looking like the white saviour that missionaries tried to be
its good to give but not for gain and not to look like lady bountiful

It is depressing that there is never a nod to the good things that Britain has tried to do. Benjamin Zefaniah - another person who chose to stay in this country and has enjoyed freedom of practically everything including speech - refused an honour for his poetry because of our involvement in slavery. Yes, we and many other counties were involved, but as time went on this country did so much to help eradicate the foul trade. Out supremacy of the seas at the time helped to curb piracy and the slave trade, and many politicians - William Wilberforce for one, who almost worked himself to death with his efforts - petitioned for years and successfully brought new laws. Also, no apologies are ever demanded, or mentioned, from the descendants of the black gang masters who were the first to round up their own people and sell them on in the chain of slavery. There is never a word printed about their part in the suffering.

I personally cannot understand anyone wanting to put their lives online, people can find me by googling my name, but I try (not always successfully) to prevent photos going up. I never post anything remotely connected with family or friends, and get upset when people tag me in photos. Privacy is a relatively new concept, but I will defend mine as much as I can. I dread being identified on here, and have had to change my name once to prevent that.