BigFatCoward Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 8 minutes ago, Spockydog said: I challenge you to present evidence of this phenomenon. It might have been mentioned in the news, but I've just scrolled through his twitter and didn't see any monkeys. Google has nothing either. His username is prodnose. Have at it. There is a huge amount of talking about it being a thing, I cant find any evidence if it actually being a thing. He himself said it's his go to picture when posh people have a baby, should be easy for him to prove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 17 minutes ago, mormont said: Eh, I'm prepared to believe that he's done it before. He may have, but HoI claimed that this is something he frequently does. I cannot see any evidence that he's even done it once. Also, I'm sure Baker's mates in the tabloids would have dug up some of these images to accompany their stories about his sacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 9 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said: There is a huge amount of talking about it being a thing, I cant find any evidence if it actually being a thing. He himself said it's his go to picture when posh people have a baby, should be easy for him to prove. Exactly. Where are all these posts? Looking forward to seeing a copy of the monkey in a suit he posted when Kate had her lizardlings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 I would have thought the most obvious thing here is that he did something very stupid without thinking about the wider consequences. He hadn’t considered the racial element because I assume he’s not a racist and doesn’t think in those terms. All the evidence points to that from what I can see. Of course there is the possibility that he is a massive racist and wanted to expose himself by tweeting something horrendous and offensive. But I don’t see any logical person coming to that conclusion. It makes zero sense. This is a bit like that Benetton ad with the kid in the jumper. Another case where most reasonable people would assume it was an honest mistake, but that the loudest voices of outrage culture liked to jump to the worst possible conclusions to satisfy their own bloodlust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nevarfeather Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 I'm willing to believe Baker is just stupid However when it was pointed out to him, why not sincerely apologise? Instead his apology was a sort of 'you guys are all diseased' and 'that's that' - umm no, that's not how to sincerely apologize for being profoundly stupid. So tired to this inability to apologize thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, Heartofice said: He hadn’t considered the racial element This is not a defence; it is the offence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, mormont said: This is not a defence; it is the offence. Not thinking like a racist makes people racist then? Sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, Heartofice said: I would have thought the most obvious thing here is that he did something very stupid without thinking about the wider consequences. He hadn’t considered the racial element because I assume he’s not a racist and doesn’t think in those terms. All the evidence points to that from what I can see. This is absolute bollocks. I do not buy, for one second, that Baker is unaware of the racial connotations of comparing a mixed-race child to a chimpanzee. No fucking way. The guy has been a journalist for decades. He supports a notorious football team supported by thugs and racists, who regularly engage in monkey chanting. In order to get that image, he's had to google for a monkey in a suit. Do you seriously believe he is unaware that Meghan is black? It's been all over the tabloids for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Which Tyler Posted May 10, 2019 Author Share Posted May 10, 2019 As someone who really doesn't hate celebrity culture - whether royalty or otherwise; I am prepared to believe that Baker didn't know who's royal baby it was (I had managed to know, but I didn't consciously know about Megan's heritage - though I did remember when the story broke). But then, I'm also not a public figure, who's job includes listening to headlines on the hour every hour, and being a part of celebrity culture. If he had many examples of him posting the same or similar pictures at similar occassions; then I'd give him the benefit of the doubt personally; whilst still supporting the BBC in firing him. Because, even if you're not racist, if you do a racist thing, there will be a price to play. His non-apology, and distinct lack of any evidence that he's made similar posts many times before make me dubous about it; and I suspect that it was a stupid, unthinking move, that speaks to his private thought process which he knows better than to publicise. I'm not going to hound him for it, but he absolutely deserves to lose his job and be the centre of a media circus for a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 2 minutes ago, Heartofice said: Not thinking like a racist makes people racist then? Sure. Still waiting for a link to one of Baker's previous posts of posh person as monkey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mormont Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 4 minutes ago, Heartofice said: Not thinking like a racist makes people racist then? Sure. No, but not thinking about race at all can lead people to do racially insensitive things. Baker wanted this to be his defence from the start, with his comment about not having a 'diseased mind'. But it doesn't wash. In fact, it compounds the offence: it says 'if you see racism, you're a racist'. The logical extension of this is that if a black person complains about racism, they're a racist, but if a white person posts an egregiously racist image (as here) they only have to play the ignorance card. And that's utterly ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 8 minutes ago, Spockydog said: This is absolute bollocks. I do not buy, for one second, that Baker is unaware of the racial connotations of comparing a mixed-race child to a chimpanzee. No fucking way. The guy has been a journalist for decades. He supports a notorious football team supported by thugs and racists, who regularly engage in monkey chanting. In order to get that image, he's had to google for a monkey in a suit. Do you seriously believe he is unaware that Meghan is black? It's been all over the tabloids for years. So your conclusion is that he knowingly posted an overtly racist image on twitter. What possible reason would anyone working for the BBC have for doing that. Please explain what you think his reasoning for doing that would be, knowing that it would be a life destroying event for him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 7 minutes ago, mormont said: No, but not thinking about race at all can lead people to do racially insensitive things. Baker wanted this to be his defence from the start, with his comment about not having a 'diseased mind'. But it doesn't wash. In fact, it compounds the offence: it says 'if you see racism, you're a racist'. The logical extension of this is that if a black person complains about racism, they're a racist, but if a white person posts an egregiously racist image (as here) they only have to play the ignorance card. And that's utterly ridiculous. There is a difference because this is all a matter of interpretation and intent. Whoever dressed the kid up in a monkey jumper at Benetton wasn’t consciously trying to make a racist statement, they simply hadn’t considered that some people might make a racial connection. They had been pretty oblivious to this. It might be considered racially insensitive by some and by others it isn’t. But the intent wasn’t to be racist. We can’t just exclude intent from all these discussions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 4 minutes ago, Heartofice said: So your conclusion is that he knowingly posted an overtly racist image on twitter. What possible reason would anyone working for the BBC have for doing that. You think the BBC is a racist-free Utopia? Come the fuck on. I have no idea what he was thinking. Maybe he was pissed - I mean, he certainly posts enough images of himself with a drink in hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 Just now, Spockydog said: You think the BBC is a racist-free Utopia? Come the fuck on. I have no idea what he was thinking. Maybe he was pissed - I mean, he certainly posts enough images of himself with a drink in hand. Really dodged that question didn’t you. So you think he purposely posted a racist image knowing full well the damage it would cause to his life? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 Maybe. The right wing nutter gravy train is in full flow right now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartofice Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 Well from what you are saying it seems you genuinely believe this is what he has done. So he wants to sabotage his career and life for the sake of a weak twitter joke? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFatCoward Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 19 minutes ago, Spockydog said: I have no idea what he was thinking. Maybe he was pissed - I mean, he certainly posts enough images of himself with a drink in hand. Weirdly that's the only plausible thing I can think of to explain this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 16 minutes ago, Heartofice said: Well from what you are saying it seems you genuinely believe this is what he has done. So he wants to sabotage his career and life for the sake of a weak twitter joke? No. You are asking me to explain the mindset of a 60 year old British journalist who posted a racist image in relation to a newborn baby. I cannot explain why he would do such a thing. One can only guess. The way I see it, the choices are: a) He's a closeted racist, got drunk, and made an epic boo boo. b) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted May 10, 2019 Share Posted May 10, 2019 23 minutes ago, Heartofice said: Really dodged that question didn’t you. Got that link yet....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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