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Was Piers Morgan right?

(86 Posts)
oldbatty Tue 09-Oct-18 15:41:35

A professor has claimed that Sir Winston Churchill was a 'clear racist' in a heated debate in which Piers Morgan asked him: 'Why do you live in a country that you loathe?'

Kahinde Andrews made some interesting points on This Morning.

Jalima1108 Wed 10-Oct-18 20:23:46

He could have the most impressive qualifications in the world but that may not stop him from looking at history from today's perspective and with his own pre-conceived attitudes.

ie not impartially or dispassionately

lemongrove Wed 10-Oct-18 20:39:51

Andrews sounds a complete idiot to me, no matter what his qualifications in Sociology.
Well said luluaugust Diana54 Jalima nigglynellie
Iam64 Monica POGS Maggiemaybe anniebach and stansgran.....in fact the majority of posters on here.
He was, like everybody else a product of his time and upbringing and from all I have read and seen in documentaries, we would have lost the war without him as Leader. Even if he never did anything worthwhile before then, his war years during WW2 were just what was needed.
This daft professor knows this country is a good one to live in, so not so daft in that respect.

PECS Wed 10-Oct-18 20:49:17

Well I guess you would know Lemongrove you present as very expert on many things!

However I have not seen any post on here that feels WC did not provide the leadership needed in WW2! Not sure why you don't want to see that!

I sense an underlying negative attitude to a non white person daring to criticise WC. Hope it is not racist!

PECS Wed 10-Oct-18 20:52:27

Jalima are you looking at WC "dispassionately or impartially"? hmm

oldbatty Wed 10-Oct-18 20:52:36

I believe the daft professor (?) is British.

lemongrove Wed 10-Oct-18 20:55:13

What a very silly post from you PECS always looking to make your comments to others personal, I do wonder why.

PECS Wed 10-Oct-18 21:09:01

lemongrove I am happy for you to think my post silly. But you do know a lot about things in many threads. I try hard to avoid being personal. I obviously failed this time.

However I am entitled to think that there was an underlying racist element in some comments about this black professor who lives in this country and benefits from it but suggesting that he should not be critical of it or British historical figures. That is how it sounds to me.

oldbatty Wed 10-Oct-18 21:12:21

But PECS surely you realise he is here taking advantage of our wonderous free speech......oh hang on he was born here

lemongrove Wed 10-Oct-18 21:14:31

I expect you know a lot about things in threads too PECS they are called opinions and this is a social chat and opinions forum.
You are entitled to think anything you like, but I would imagine none of us even realised this professor isn’t white!
The fact that he is black though, now that we do know, is neither here nor there.

Iam64 Wed 10-Oct-18 21:22:18

Not to 'realise' the prof isn't white says a lot lemon grove. I don't imagine you meant to reflect the casual assumptions about white men being most likely to be professors but you did. The fact he's black isn't neither here nor there imo. His black experience is different to my white older woman experience. From what I read, he is of Caribbean heritage, that means his ancestors were slaves. He's more qualified than I am to speak about the black experience - that's my view anyway.

PECS Wed 10-Oct-18 21:26:58

how come anyone is expressing such strong opinions on Professor Kahinde Andrews ability to comment on issues if they actually know so little about him!

oldbatty Wed 10-Oct-18 21:31:05

coz its in the Mail

maddyone Wed 10-Oct-18 21:31:58

I don't think it's at all fair to judge a person by today's standards when they lived during completely different times with completely different standards. Churchill was flawed, is that really news? Aren't we all flawed? I thought that was part of the human condition. The thing about Churchill is that it seems certain that we would not have won the war without him. And that is why he is remembered. He was probably racist, along with about 99% of the then population. Why would we judge him now for behaving in what was a perfectly normal, if repugnant to us now, way. We must judge the attitudes of the past, not the people who were holding those, at the time, completely acceptable attitudes.
With regard to Kahinde Andrews, I'm afraid I think it is him who is racist.And he's racist right now.

lemongrove Wed 10-Oct-18 21:36:11

Not at all Iam64 there wasn’t a link to see, so colour didn’t come into it.At my DD’s Uni her favourite prof was black, academics come in all colours and nationalities.
Saying the UK is a very racist place and that Churchill was a clear racist is his opinion, but that’s all it is, an opinion.
Actually, within Europe, I would say the UK is the least racist country.
Prof Andrews may feel slightly different about Churchill had he ( the prof ) grown up here a little earlier, say, the 1940’s.
It has become fashionable to slag off well known names from the past by applying today’s standards in any case, you simply can’t do it.

PECS Wed 10-Oct-18 22:14:14

But he apparently did do it..so you can! You might find it distasteful, wrong, uncomfortable , inappropriate, wicked , etc etc. But it can be done!

Jalima1108 Wed 10-Oct-18 23:23:31

Well, PECS and oldbatty fyi I have not read the Mail - or any newspaper.
Nor do I watch Piers Morgan (don't like him, but this time he could have a point).

But I did google the Professor and read straightforward factual accounts about him.

Jalima1108 Wed 10-Oct-18 23:27:46

Jalima are you looking at WC "dispassionately or impartially"?
Yes - are you?

I believe the daft professor (?) is British.
I don't believe anyone said otherwise did they?
Could he be a Brummie shock?

lemongrove Thu 11-Oct-18 08:44:59

I don’t find it ‘distasteful, uncomfortable, wicked’ etc
It simply doesn’t show any common sense to apply modern standards to figures from the past.

PECS Thu 11-Oct-18 08:51:51

I think some comments seemed to be judging this man's right to comment on WC because he was not British / an immigrant. Googling would have given a little bit more info on his background & ethnicity.

oldbatty Thu 11-Oct-18 09:07:37

Because he earns more here than any other country that will have him. There are plenty of others who do the same they loathe the UK but will take the money and all the other advantages like freedom of speech, which they don't always have in their home country

I think this alludes to the fact that he comes from outside of the UK.

luluaugust Thu 11-Oct-18 09:27:51

Now you are playing an interesting card are we all making our remarks only because this gent is black. Well for myself I would have a go at any old Professor who loathes this country but still lives here and enjoys the advantages of being here.

nigglynellie Thu 11-Oct-18 09:44:53

Hear, hear luluaugust!!??

Blinko Thu 11-Oct-18 10:12:18

Could he be a Brummie?

erm… Brummies are British. At least, last time I visited the city (which was yesterday).

Jalima1108 Thu 11-Oct-18 10:14:25

Diana54 Tue 09-Oct-18 17:51:14
As Diana says - in comparison to other world figures of the time he was positively benign; he did not go round murdering swathes of the population on the grounds of their race, colour or creed.
He was a man of his time.

Jalima1108 Thu 11-Oct-18 10:15:24

erm… Brummies are British
Joke alert Blinko - I hail from the Midlands myself grin