Danny Baker should be sacked immediately

I really do think a point is being missed here. He is (was) a highly paid public figure working for our national broadcasting company. He should have known better, he either didn't or thought it didn't matter. We will never know what his intention was but surely we can agree that he was wrong or stupid and, either way, deserved to lose his job.

You've got to laugh at all the people who call their GC little monkeys, or believe throwing bananas is about suggesting somebody ups their potassium levels, or showing a picture of an orangutan makes it all alright.

More misinterpretation here. Possibly the most extreme yet.

The first two don't apply to me but the third does since I showed a picture of an orangutan baby sucking its thumb alongside a picture of my baby sucking her thumb. The orangutan pic was in a wildlife calendar some years after DD's babyhood but as soon as I saw the picture it reminded me of the one of her on her dad's knee. I put them together because I thought they were both sweet babies and because it reminded me, after I'd been reading about people who don't believe in evolution, how close we are in some ways to other primates. In short, the babies were scientifically comparable. The picture had absolutely nothing to do with race and my posting it here was to illustrate that one can talk about different primates and their similarities to human beings without being racist, just as David Attenborough and others have in wildlife programmes.

As for Danny Baker's tweet, the evidence seems to suggest that it was deliberately, or at least negligently, racist.

Throwing bananas at black footballers is another trope I didn't know about. Why would I? I have no interest in football. I did see mention in the media of some football hooligans being racist and left it at that. Why would I need, or want, to know the details of racist thuggery? I have seen on another thread that at least one other person doesn't see fit to wallow in horrible news. I expect there are plenty more.

Sparklefizz of course DB knows, as a human being, that racist comments are out there and particularly rife among the football community.

The point is, did he use a picture of a well dressed couple, holding the hands of a well dressed monkey, to make a point about privileged royals or was it intended as a dig about a mixed race baby?

He has said he did not. Some think he did.

maryeliza there is no 'end of' as some people do not believe it was a racist tweet. It's only 'end of' in your mind.

I believe in innocent until proven guilty and there has been no evidence in my mind to say that it was a deliberate act of racism. Which I would deplore.

DB, btw, has previously condemned the attack on the US synagogue last October. He was, in his usual eloquent manner, scathing of that attack. He has also posted tweets praising black musicians, which, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have done if he hated black people. And, he retweeted a post by someone, whose name escapes me, but it's there if you want to dredge through some tweets, where it was specifically mentioned that they allow racists which is wrong.

One thing I will add before I post this, I completely agree with Mycatisahacker. She has started another post on how angry people are and the violence it creates.

When I tuned in late to this post last night my hair stood on end at the 'Witchfinder General and the lynch mob with pitchforks' nastiness I read. Maybe reading it all at once gave me a better perspective.

Not one of you personally know DB and know for sure he is a racist. You only suspect.

That was addressed to trisher

Isn't it racist to think that the RF should be different to yours and indeed that the event is at all important?

How?

He is only grovelling because he's been sacked! He hasn't had an epiphany.

He is grovelling away on twitter today, and amazingly he is getting a lot of support.

UK 2019, He must have been aware Meghan was mixed race, knew the tweet was racist, but tweeted it anyway. I guess he thought he was living up to his reputation as a "shock jock".

Not funny

Not clever

Not acceptable

You've got to laugh at all the people who call their GC little monkeys, or believe throwing bananas is about suggesting somebody ups their potassium levels, or showing a picture of an orangutan makes it all alright.

It's not alright and as has been pointed out neither is this..... But hey whilst we have politicians who write about women looking like letter boxes, UKIP and Tommy Robinson condemning Islam, and the Conservative party Chair refusing to investigate racist comments

breeze the bottom line is that it was a racist tweet. End of. He is guilty of sending a racist tweet. He should not have done that. ?????????????

However, Danny Baker is a life long Millwall fan, living in London. There are regular complaints about racism by the Millwall fans chanting Monkey racist comments at other players, these insults have been going on for years. Danny goes regularly to the games so he MUST know that monkey can be construed as a racist insult.

Seacliff He's a fan and perhaps he joins in with these taunts and chants, hence he sees nothing wrong in it?? We don't know, do we, but if a place I regularly attended was full of people behaving like that, I would seriously wonder what I was doing mixing with them. Clearly he doesn't think like that.

When I mentioned this before, Gone responded that football was nothing to do with it, but in fact the racism displayed by his favourite team shows his "back story" and says much about him.

breeze <sigh> the bottom line is not his intention. I really can’t see how you don’t get that - every damn racist, misogynist, homophobe will nearly always plead they didn’t mean it, it wasn’t their intention, it was a joke. If intention is the answer, it’s a damn stupid question imo. And if you really believe he didn’t know? God help us.

Maryeliza so guilty then until proved innocent. Didn't it used to be the other way around

You all seem to assume that a black person marrying into the RF is of great consequence, yet many have written about their own family's diversity. Isn't it racist to think that the RF should be different to yours and indeed that the event is at all important? If Meghan presented as obviously black the situation might be different for Baker but she doesn't so not noticing because you aren't interested and don't care seems entirely possible to me.

He may, or may not, have known Harry married someone of mixed race but the point is his intentions with that post.

He has said he did not consider the racial aspect. That he posted it as a dig at the royal pomp and ceremony which he seems to disagree with.

knickas63 I accept that some people , including you, do not associate a monkey image with racism. I myself might call a grandchild a little monkey, when playing with him. It can be an affectionate term.

However, Danny Baker is a life long Millwall fan, living in London. There are regular complaints about racism by the Millwall fans chanting Monkey racist comments at other players, these insults have been going on for years. Danny goes regularly to the games so he MUST know that monkey can be construed as a racist insult.

www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/competitions/league-cup/6095367/West-Hams-Carlton-Cole-suffers-monkey-taunts-during-night-of-mayhem-at-Upton-Park.html

www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/news-and-comment/cole-monkey-taunts-investigated-by-fa-1778318.html

Maybe he was sick of hearing about it and it's racist?

Perhaps because the media was full of the royal birth and he was sick of hearing about it. I know Spurs won a football match recently and it was incredibly important for some reason but I don't know the details.
It was a joke about privilege, class and media attention.

Yes breeze that’s basically it. Of course if a formal accusation were made, the circumstances of the case would be judged. I gave the example of a banana as that is very clear cut. I’ve dealt with cases of racial harrasment in the work place. It’s never or hardly ever just a one off incident. Usually the victim has asked the perpetrator to stop whatever s/he found upsetting and why. But the behaviour has continued - that’s racial harrasment absolutely regardless of stated intent. I think if a colleague put the monkey image on a black colleague’s desk if her dd had just had a baby, they woukd be in very serious trouble indeed even if it were the first time they’d behaved in a racist way. The more they made a jokey apology, the deeper the hole they would be digging but with the right behaviour they woukd almost certainly avoid the sack as a first offence. But DB is not just any colleague in an office is he and in all the circumstances of the case, he should have known the connatations.

Oh come off it - DB who lives in London and works for the BBC 'didn't know' that a black woman had married into the royal family . That's about as weak a defence of his actions that you could possibly come up with.

Just because some are obsessed with who the RF marry doesn't mean we all are. And perhaps not knowing or caring about it is as far away from racist as you can get.

That argument cuts no ice - if someone knows little about the Royal Family and cares even less about them - then why would that person bother to tweet about them at all and make an announcement about the birth of a royal baby? And then try to defend themselves and prevaricate by pretending that they did not know the picture was racist when they know all about racism in football.

On the other hand perhaps he didn't know and indeed didn't care that someone of mixed race had married into the royal family. And I must admit that if someone had asked me about it I would probably have put it quite far down on the list of "Things I know about Meghan". Being a Hollywood star and the fact that her father has been difficult, coming in as my top two. Just because some are obsessed with who the RF marry doesn't mean we all are. And perhaps not knowing or caring about it is as far away from racist as you can get.

I have called my dgc little monkeys - they are white, it is not a racist comment in that context. My friends daughters children are mixed race - I would not call them little monkeys. We are all grown ups (supposedly) on here. Most of us live in the UK. It is 2019. We all have a responsibility to understand our obligations as human beings as to what is acceptable language and behaviour towards others. It’s not rocket science.

Correct me if I am wrong maryeliza54 (and I am sure you will) but are you saying (leaving bananas aside) if someone perceives you are being racist, even if you are not, then that person has every right to accuse you of racial harassment. And it's 'their' perception that counts. Not 'your' intentions?

I would hazard a guess (trying to imagine being in his shoes) that having been accused of being racist when perhaps he is not; that he was cross. When you are cross you do not think straight. When you've had time to reconsider, realise you did a stupid thing, but want to reassure that you did not mean what everyone thought you meant then comes the apology.

I never associate the image of a monkey as being racist - because I don't think that way! Perhaps he doesn't either. There was a similar issue with a clothing ad with a child in a monkey jumper. I have always called my children and now my grandchildren monkeys!

I understand the background to this, but so many people don't think that way that it is possible to be accused of racism when nothing was further from your mind?

I guess all we can do if inform ourselves and attempt to live our lives in a way that causes least offence. There is no point getting caught up in obsessing about the N word, the P word and so on.

You know, in your heart if you meant to cause harm and you know if you got it badly wrong and you should apologise with sincerity.