Well done Lawrence Fox!

Anyone care to answer my question at 13:27?

I'd be saying the same if told that "various studies" had shown the opposite of what those referred to are said to have shown.

Various studies have shown that when people with surnames that suggest they have non-white origins apply for jobs, even though their qualifications may be superior to other applicants, they have far less chance of being short-listed than people with typically British or European surnames. Estate agents have been recorded informing colleagues that certain landlords have specified non-white potential tenants should not be put forward for consideration. These are FACTS.

I don't think statements like these should be made without mentioning which studies, with information about who conducted them and with links if possible, and whether there were also studies which showed otherwise.

This is not to say I don't believe the claims but that I'd like to be able to check the evidence.

Am I allowed to metaphorically do something else with your head - how patronising can you be.

When did Trisher shout or sneer?

And before I log off, I will stick my foreign head out and say ladymuck's post was clearly racist.

I'm quite calm thanks suziewuzie, just trying to point out an alternative viewpoint to you and trisher, but as usual you come back shouting and sneering at anyone who holds a different opinion to you. Carry on sweetie, the rest of us will just smile and shrug our shoulders and metaphorically pat you on the head.

Just pointing out that the possibility of Harry becoming King is quite remote. It is true to say we do not know what the future holds and nobody knows what could happen.

Ladymuck you say the Royals have a habit of travelling together. It only takes a plane crash.....
I have read many of the royalist books and I am certain that is why the Royals do NOT travel together as it is supposed to be a safety precaution should anything go wrong with plane etc, that everybody would not perish together and someone would always be on hand to take over the missing ones role.

Cross post with Jura

How would being British protect people from a plane crash. The royals fly everywhere.
Prince Philip isn't British! Dud the Queen make a mistake?

Yes, it is incredible to make such a comment today. The Royal family is so mixed and have always married foreigners- be they Greek, German, French, Spanish ... and on and on.

What difference would the nationality or ethnicity of a Royal or spouse if there was to be a plane crash??? And it seems that Harry and Meghan are not likely to travel with other Royals from now on.

As said, incredible comment

No, it wasn't incredible at all. He is the second son of the heir to the throne. We don't know what the future holds and there is just a chance that he might be our king one day.
I think he should have borne that in mind when he decided to marry.
The royals have a habit of travelling together. It only takes a plane crash......

Just looking at a post from Wadesnan and agree you do have experience of what racism is about. Hopefully yourself and husband were strong enough to overcome it. Once again I will say the same thing if people have not been in the situation you have then they cannot understand how it feels. Yes someone saying your husband must be your pimp if he is black and you are white would be common also the old chestnut how he will have you hooked on drugs and dealing them as well is another the list could go on.
That did not happen to me but I have several good friends who were in that situation and most of them found it too much to deal with and split up so sad because a few of them had children and a white mother left with mixed race children is also a difficult area to be in.
One interesting thing I will bring up and maybe many people do not know I personally wanted to try to foster a child and the checks were done and everything okay and I was told the wait was quite long, as I knew there were many mixed race children in the care system I said I would not mind taking that on. I was told that was very complex as the problem was they did not know what to do with the mixed race children because they were neither one or the other and they had to know that if a mixed race child went into a family all it's cultural needs must be met (obviously the white side and the black side) I found this to be utterly abhorrent as all a child needs is shelter warmth food and tons of love also later I was told I did not fit the criteria as I had specified I would take a mixed race child. This is truthful of what happened to me and I think the social services do have a policy of institutionalized racism

Ah of course, another arranged marriage- like that of his mum and dad - that ended well

Incredible comment.

I've just realised that my post could be construed as anti-American...that wasn't intentional. I just feel that someone so close to the throne should have chosen a British girl.

I think if Meghan were not mixed-race, she would still have got the same reception. She is American, she is an actress (remember the dubious reputation actresses used to have) and she has been married and divorced more than once already.

That is quite enough to make her an unwelcome choice for the son of our darling Princess Diana.

Spot on trisher

I feel it would help if all discriminatory remarks were just considered plain 'rude'! Because that's what they are and this covers every comment that makes the listener think they are considered less worthy than the ill mannered oaf uttering it.

I think racism is involved but so is misogyny. The only good female royal needs to smile a lot, breed and not have an opinion or a career, if she doesn't, and she happens to be mixed race as well she's had it.

Forgetting Fox for a minute, how many agree that the phrase ‘lets call this what it is, it is racism’ is correct. That racism and only racism is responsible for Megan’s attitude to living in this country.

I don’t. I think it is multiple issues but I would be interested in how many think it is all about racism.

Opal it's quite simple make your point wihout using hackneyed expressions with racist connections. Perhaps try saying I don't believe race is involved or something similar. Is it 'mud slinging' to try and clarify the real meaning and origins of an expression? I don't understand why you would feel the need to use such an expression.

Oh calm down Opal. trisherdidn’t call you a racist. Can’t you get the difference between saying someTHING is racist and someONE is racist?

How will we know though? Some of the criticism of Meghan may be because of her actions but some will be racist. It's just a fact of life. I actually think most of the criticisms of her are because she is a woman who wont do as she is told and lots of people dont like that.

So, in trying to make a point about racism, I am now a racist, according to you trisher. That is not what I meant about "playing the race card" at all, and you know it. What would you call it, when someone claims they have been criticised due to the colour of their skin, when it is in fact criticism based on something else entirely? Maybe you have a different term for that? Your response is typical and is a good example of why a sensible and reasonable discussion on racism descends into mud-slinging. Try reading my post again and maybe appreciate that my argument has some merit.

just re-read this thread and noticed the early post from Evianer 'Meghan is not black, she is mixed-race.'

does that make a diference? Well in many ways, people who are mixed race (and let's not kid ourselves, we are only talking about the ones who look mixed race - I know many mixed race people who have 'turned out' paler than their sibblings- and this influenced their individual life, personal and professional - in our family) - often experience a very insidious double racism, from both sides.

Read Trevor Noah's 'Born a Crime', for instance. Even during the terrible years of Apartheid, those who were mixed race were even more (if it was not bad enough) discriminated against- than Blacks.

What vacuous lives some must live when it appears every waking moment is spent on how they can find fault.

The expression "playing the race card" is in itself racist amazing that some don't realise that.
An interesting history-
The real point about race cards is that claiming their existence is itself deeply racist. The idea first seems to have entered the lexicon in the 1960s, when “the race card” was used to describe the ways in which rightwing politicians weaponised fears about black people to gain votes – such as the 1964 Conservative parliamentary candidate for Smethwick reportedly warning his prospective constituents: “If you want a nigger for a neighbour, vote Labour.” These days, it is more frequently deployed to delegitimise the voices of people on the receiving end of those narratives. Either way, the one consistent thing seems to be that it always involves setting up people of colour to lose.