'Utterly abhorrent': House of Lords peer accused of racism referring to Kamala Harris

[Ammi]

. A member of the House of Lords has been accused of racism for referring to US vice-president elect Kamala Harris as “the Indian”.

Life peer Lord John Kilclooney, 82, a former Ulster Unionist MP from Northern Ireland, was criticised after he used the term in a tweet about the Harris on Monday.

He tweeted: “What happens if Biden moves on and the Indian becomes president. Who then becomes vice-president?”

Harris was born in Oakland, California. Her late mother was from India, while her father was born in Jamaica.

She made history on Saturday when she became the first woman – and first woman of colour – to be elected US vice-president.

Labour MP Wes Streeting said that “action must be taken” over the life peer’s “unacceptable racism”.

...full article...

https://uk.yahoo.com/news/house-lords-peer-lord-kilclooney-vice-president-elect-kamala-harris-indian-140147143.html

[Ammi]

1325766477841043461

1325788482934091777

[Niamh.]

I mean how intelligent are these people, he actually tweeted that ****? What a moron, a disrespectful racist moron

[Cherie]

oh dear me

[arista]

Yes she can become President

The Old peer is a Fool.

[Niamh.]

1325766477841043461

1325788482934091777

Oh he really doesn't like Indians it seems, he made a similar comment about our Leo in 2018 :/

I like Leo's response to it though :

“I had thought it was a parody account, but seemingly it is not,’’ he added.

“It is for real…that is all I will say about it.’’

[Ammi]

Oh he really doesn't like Indians it seems, he made a similar comment about our Leo in 2018 :/

I like Leo's response to it though :

“I had thought it was a parody account, but seemingly it is not,’’ he added.

“It is for real…that is all I will say about it.’’

...I mean, he’s not going to address his prejudices is he...in his eighties..he is what he is now..?...so what really can be said in response other than Leo’s....

[arista]

Was just on BBCnewsHD

[Niamh.]

...I mean, he’s not going to address his prejudices is he...in his eighties..he is what he is now..?...so what really can be said in response other than Leo’s....

No most likely not, it's just making the whole house of Lords look bad though

[Niamh.]

One of the best replies to his tweet :laugh2: :

John is disapointed that an Orangeman is leaving the Whitehouse

[Ammi]

One of the best replies to his tweet :laugh2: :

John is disapointed that an Orangeman is leaving the Whitehouse

...yeah, I loved that one...such a perfect response...:laugh:..

[Cherie]

One of the best replies to his tweet :laugh2: :

John is disapointed that an Orangeman is leaving the Whitehouse

:joker:

[Liam-]

Fred Elliott isn’t doing too good these days

[Shaun]

there really needs to be an age limit on the HoL... at least "no one whose views are from 1886" anyway...

[joeysteele]

Ulster Unionist, enough said.
They mostly possibly have very dubious views of others in my view.

[Ammi]

...’I didn’t know her name..’...

1325833621530419200

[Ammi]

...he withdrew his reference because it had upset people....it wasn’t his reference, it was the upset people, of course...

[Niamh.]

...’I didn’t know her name..’...

1325833621530419200

load of bollox, he knew very well what he was doing, he used the same sort of excuse when he called Leo a "typical Indian"

[Crimson Dynamo]

Im confused she is half indian and half jamaican by her parents?

Maybe he did not know about her father

storm in a teacup

[Oliver_W]

He’s in his mid 80s.. is there really any need or purpose to point out someone elderly on their looks? People age... deal with it

I think he was joining in with the racial profiling rather than being ageist.

[Glenn.]

...’I didn’t know her name..’...

1325833621530419200

You would think google didn’t exist or something or literally ANY news article relating to the election for that matter.

[Liam-]

Aye, it’s entirely possible that he doesn’t know the name of the newly elected most powerful woman in the world, definitely

[Crimson Dynamo]

Aye, it’s entirely possible that he doesn’t know the name of the newly elected most powerful woman in the world, definitely

i bet if you went to any high street in the UK and asked 100 people about 5 would know

maybe less

[DouglasS]

I think he was joining in with the racial profiling rather than being ageist.

I don’t think that is the case at all personally

[rusticgal]

i bet if you went to any high street in the UK and asked 100 people about 5 would know

maybe less


Maybe more than 5...maybe 55. Not everyone is interested in American politics.

However...he should have just referred to her as the Vice President Elect if he didnt know her name.
Im not making excuses but its an generation that were ignorant to racial terms. My dads 90 and he uses a word when he is pointing someone out to me at football...he isnt racist and I have told him its not a phrase he should be using in this day and age but he forgets. Sadly its just the era they grew up in.
However...this guy in his position should be called up for it and he should really know better. Unacceptable.

[Oliver_W]

You'd think he'd know better, racism against the Irish was within his lifetime , and long before.

If he couldn't remember her name he'd be better off saying "the woman" or "the vice president"

[Liam-]

I fail to see how it’s possible for someone to know her racial background but not her name, he did a racism and he’s trying to backtrack

[Cherie]

You'd think he'd know better, racism against the Irish was within his lifetime , and long before.

If he couldn't remember her name he'd be better off saying "the woman" or "the vice president"

Oliver he is an Ulster Unionist, he identifies as British not Irish

[SherzyK]

I see it the same way but seem people live for the drama.

He has a history of racism so it’s hardly a coincidence that he’d make such a comment. Why would he even make such a comment and why would he use the term if he didn’t know her name?

[Niamh.]

Aye, it’s entirely possible that he doesn’t know the name of the newly elected most powerful woman in the world, definitelyDoesn't know her name but knows her heritage

[Niamh.]

Maybe more than 5...maybe 55. Not everyone is interested in American politics.



However...he should have just referred to her as the Vice President Elect if he didnt know her name.

Im not making excuses but its an generation that were ignorant to racial terms. My dads 90 and he uses a word when he is pointing someone out to me at football...he isnt racist and I have told him its not a phrase he should be using in this day and age but he forgets. Sadly its just the era they grew up in.

However...this guy in his position should be called up for it and he should really know better. Unacceptable.He knows though Rustic, he did the very same thing to our (ex)Taoiseach 2 years ago who has an Indian parent and he got plenty of backlash then as well

[SherzyK]

Doesn't know her name but knows her heritage

Exactly :skull:

[Ammi]

Kamala Harris: NI peer Lord Kilclooney told to apologise for 'offensive' tweet...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-54874541

[rusticgal]

He knows though Rustic, he did the very same thing to our (ex)Taoiseach 2 years ago who has an Indian parent and he got plenty of backlash then as well


In which case he SHOULD know better...:wavey:

[Ammi]

...it’s one of those things when you don’t really know which is the worse thing...his racist remarks themselves, which this obviously wasn’t an isolated one...or that he got to be in his 80s and not able to identify racist remarks when he says them...

[Oliver_W]

Oliver he is an Ulster Unionist, he identifies as British not Irish

:hehe: oops I didn't know that!

That's crazy though, he's literally not British, Britain is the "island" of England, Wales, and Scotland...

[Jake.]

If he has Twitter, he has access to Google. All he had to do was take 10 seconds to find out her name. Instead, he chose to be a pig. No excuses.

[GoldHeart]

Sadly you can't apply logic to ignorance

[Jigs]

This ugly fool sounds so pressed UGH the power of Kamala Harris striking fear into all men :love:

[LaLaLand]

Disgusting.

[Ammi]

...this is always difficult, I think...because prejudices/racist remarks etc...can’t be excused or in any way dismissed or sidestepped/averted or whatever ‘because of a time’ and an age...we all have parents/grandparents etc who have no prejudices....who would never have had a thought process of ‘that Indian’...and obviously as has been said, this wasn’t a one off thing either, he said similar with Leo...so it does appear to be his mindset and can’t be excused as a ‘thing of his time’ when his time has also lived all of those years from then until now...there was no frozen time for him not to address any possible inherited prejudices, type thing....

...but how these things are addressed is surely the thing as well... because otherwise in responding with anything derogatory about him but that doesn’t associate with what he said, will completely also sidestep away from the prejudices we see with things like this...just divert and take off topic, as it were ...and it’s also the toxicity that, that in itself can bring...well, really it inevitably brings because of social media ‘hate’ ...it’s just a very difficult thing because he himself has ‘put something out there on social media’ which reflects very badly ...but what I fear, he’ll receive back in possible ‘hate’...?...once something is out there, then what it can become is a potentially monstrous...the focus needs always to remain on the prejudice and prejudice behaviour...

[Niamh.]

I've deleted a number of posts in here for a number of reasons including Baiting, Trolling, Arguing, Insulting and just general OTT comments. Some posts that were deleted were not breaking any rules but may have quoted a post that did

[arista]

Kamala Harris: NI peer Lord Kilclooney told to apologise for 'offensive' tweet...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-54874541


The Stubborn Old Peer
will not

[Ammi]

The British peer who referred to US vice president-elect Kamala Harris as “the Indian” has been condemned by Joe Biden’s former special adviser.

Jon Wolfsthal, a former special adviser to the president-elect, said Lord Kilclooney “should be ashamed” of his racially-charged remark – reminding the life peer that Ms Harris “is American”.

It comes as the Speaker of the House of Lords, Norman Fowler, demanded the peer apologise for tweeting: “What happens if Biden moves on and the Indian becomes President.”

The Speaker said: “Lord Kilclooney should retract and apologise. This is an offensive way to refer to anyone, let alone a woman who has just made history. The comment is entirely unacceptable and has no place in British politics.”


https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/biden-harris-indian-tweet-lord-kilclooney-outrage-b1720226.html

[Niamh.]

The British peer who referred to US vice president-elect Kamala Harris as “the Indian” has been condemned by Joe Biden’s former special adviser.

Jon Wolfsthal, a former special adviser to the president-elect, said Lord Kilclooney “should be ashamed” of his racially-charged remark – reminding the life peer that Ms Harris “is American”.

It comes as the Speaker of the House of Lords, Norman Fowler, demanded the peer apologise for tweeting: “What happens if Biden moves on and the Indian becomes President.”

The Speaker said: “Lord Kilclooney should retract and apologise. This is an offensive way to refer to anyone, let alone a woman who has just made history. The comment is entirely unacceptable and has no place in British politics.”


https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/biden-harris-indian-tweet-lord-kilclooney-outrage-b1720226.html

Yes, good point here, it's almost like he was attempting to "take her down a peg or two"

[Ammi]

Yes, good point here, it's almost like he was attempting to "take her down a peg or two"

...just off topic a bit but I love that Jill Biden will continue her full time job and that Joe is fully supportive of that...it’s lovely to see that respect for female independence and ‘female firsts’...

[Niamh.]

...just off topic a bit but I love that Jill Biden will continue her full time job and that Joe is fully supportive of that...it’s lovely to see that respect for female independence and ‘female firsts’...

Yeah I heard that about her, that's pretty cool

[bots]

I want to know why he is getting any attention, that was obviously his aim and he succeeded

[Niamh.]

I want to know why he is getting any attention, that was obviously his aim and he succeeded

Well I suppose it's one thing to say that about a Katie Hopkins type figure but I think that because he's a "Lord" and belongs to the House of Lords means it should be receiving attention because it reflects badly on the house itself

[Ammi]

I want to know why he is getting any attention, that was obviously his aim and he succeeded

.....hmmmmmm, turning away from or ignoring racism, as it were...is a form of enabling it, I feel...

[arista]

That Old Peer
did not know her name
so said "The Indian"


He does not have time to find her name?

[Amy Jade]

.....hmmmmmm, turning away from or ignoring racism, as it were...is a form of enabling it, I feel...

Exactly this. Excusing this man based on age is enabling him, he's not some random man in the pub after a few beers spouting off he's in a position of power

[Amy Jade]

That Old Peer
did not know her name
so said "The Indian"


He does not have time to find her name?

That is bull**** and honesty you should be ashamed of yourself for brushing it off. If he doesn't know her name then say vice president.

[user104658]

If he doesn't know her name then say vice president.

Well exactly... referring to someone by their race if you don't know their name is a terrible excuse for racism, in that... it is itself quite a racist thing to do.

He didn't even say "The Indian lady" or whatever, using it as an adjective, he used it as a noun - "The Indian". The tone and intent is quite clear.

[Niamh.]

Well exactly... referring to someone by their race if you don't know their name is a terrible excuse for racism, in that... it is itself quite a racist thing to do.

He didn't even say "The Indian lady" or whatever, using it as an adjective, he used it as a noun - "The Indian". The tone and intent is quite clear.

Yeah and he clearly knows a bit about her for him to be able to refer to her as Indian, I don't think anybody would assume she was Indian/of Indian heritage by looking at her so I don't believe for one minute that he didn't know what her name was

[Ammi]

...I feel as though it was also intentionally dismissive of her gender...he didn’t refer to Biden as ‘the American’...and that’s based on his own explanation of why his reference was as it was...Joe had a name, Kamala didn’t...and then he added a layer of racism...

[bots]

there are plenty people in foreign governments that i have no idea what their names are, and protocol always dictates that you refer to them by their title. Like the secretary of state, foreign secretary, PM, President or whatever

[rusticgal]

Exactly this. Excusing this man based on age is enabling him, he's not some random man in the pub after a few beers spouting off he's in a position of power


May be this man is racist...I dont know anything about him. However people of his era grew up in a different dynamic to what we have now. I posted about my dad yesterday but its been taken down, it explained what you call an 'excuse'...but in fact its understanding and seeing the flip side of the coin.
I dont condone what this man said and maybe he needs to step down from his position...
Im sure if your grandparents used a word that today is Politically incorrect you would tell them so...or would you label them Racist...or by excusing them does that make you racist too (your own words).

[Tom4784]

He claims not to know her name but knows she's part indian, despite the fact that anyone who didn't know much about her might be mistaken in thinking that she is black instead of mixed race....

He's a racist making excuses and people are trying to enable him by buying into his bull****.

[user104658]

He claims not to know her name but knows she's part indian, despite the fact that anyone who didn't know much about her might be mistaken in thinking that she is black instead of mixed race....


True, I even knew plenty about her in terms of politics and that she was mixed race but couldn't have told you that she was part Indian before this thread. It's clearly something that has stood out to him about her, and that probably speaks volumes in itself.

[Amy Jade]

May be this man is racist...I dont know anything about him. However people of his era grew up in a different dynamic to what we have now. I posted about my dad yesterday but its been taken down, it explained what you call an 'excuse'...but in fact its understanding and seeing the flip side of the coin.
I dont condone what this man said and maybe he needs to step down from his position...
Im sure if your grandparents used a word that today is Politically incorrect you would tell them so...or would you label them Racist...or by excusing them does that make you racist too (your own words).

I can forgive some era speak such as when some of the patients I go to see call me a dollybird, it's clearly not meant derogatory towards me and I completely understand its old school lingo.

However, what this man wrote was clearly racist, he has done it before and will carry on being offensive and racist while people lazily allow it and give him a pass.

[arista]

That is bull**** and honesty you should be ashamed of yourself for brushing it off. If he doesn't know her name then say vice president.


Thats what the Old Peer
has stated.

He does not know her name


So "Indian"
is enough for him.


He is living in the past.

[Oliver_W]

To be fair every newsreader seems to pronounce her name in a different way so maybe he got confused :hehe:

[Niamh.]

To be fair every newsreader seems to pronounce her name in a different way so maybe he got confused :hehe:

"Harris" isn't that complicated, he refereed to Biden by just his surname

[arista]

To be fair every newsreader seems to pronounce her name in a different way so maybe he got confused :hehe:


No he Claims to not know Harris
her Surname
the easy way to name her



He is so old he lives in the past

[Ammi]

...that isn’t really fair or accurate to the many who ‘live in the past’ who don’t make such racist references...someone shows racism because of their mindset, not because of their age...

[arista]

...that isn’t really fair or accurate to the many who ‘live in the past’ who don’t make such racist references...someone shows racism because of their mindset, not because of their age...



The Problem is
that Old Peer
does not know he is being Racist.............

[Ammi]

The Problem is
that Old Peer
does not know he is being Racist.............


Lord Kilclooney accused of racism after calling Taoiseach ‘typical Indian’...

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/lord-kilclooney-accused-of-racism-after-calling-taoiseach-typical-indian-1.3480151

...in 2018, Arista...I think that he fully knows that his references are racist...but doesn’t seem to feel that he needs to address that mindset...he seems fine with it and that isn’t because of his age, it’s because of his personal thoughts...

[rusticgal]

...that isn’t really fair or accurate to the many who ‘live in the past’ who don’t make such racist references...someone shows racism because of their mindset, not because of their age...


...but many dont realise that they are being 'racist' because its a language they have lived with for most of their lives.

Im not excusing this guy because it seems he has done it before...its unacceptable but we should try and understand that these terms are used by the older generation but it doesnt make them racist.

[rusticgal]

The Problem is
that Old Peer
does not know he is being Racist.............


I think the Old Peer
Needs to disappear...:laugh:

[AnnieK]

I don't think its to do with his age at all, more entitled ignorance.

He is woke enough to Tweet, he will know that anything racial is never welcomed. :shrug:

[arista]

I think the Old Peer
Needs to disappear...:laugh:



You can not get rid of those Old Peers

[arista]

I don't think its to do with his age at all, more entitled ignorance.

He is woke enough to Tweet, he will know that anything racial is never welcomed. :shrug:



Sure.

[Ammi]

I don't think its to do with his age at all, more entitled ignorance.

He is woke enough to Tweet, he will know that anything racial is never welcomed. :shrug:

...yeah, I agree, Annie...because he’s lived all of those years/decades etc in between ‘back in the day’ and now...it isn’t something that had just jumped from a specific mindset to another in a fleeting way ...?..it’s a very lengthy progression of time from any ‘perceived acceptability’ back in the day to that of now...and that person has experienced...(hopefully..)...all of that life experience and wisdom in between...

[Crimson Dynamo]

he said sorry so best to let it be and move on

[Kizzy]

May be this man is racist...I dont know anything about him. However people of his era grew up in a different dynamic to what we have now. I posted about my dad yesterday but its been taken down, it explained what you call an 'excuse'...but in fact its understanding and seeing the flip side of the coin.
I dont condone what this man said and maybe he needs to step down from his position...
Im sure if your grandparents used a word that today is Politically incorrect you would tell them so...or would you label them Racist...or by excusing them does that make you racist too (your own words).

That's a piss poor excuse my dad was born in 1926 and wouldn't have dreamed of using race as an adjective. It's very colonial langusage.