Bias 'would hamper British Obama'

Neither of them are working class though, but then Mr Obama isn't either. Class shouldn't be a factor any more than race, judge people on the content of their character.

One way the Americans have moved from a lynched black person to a presidental black person was illustrated in a recent film where the judge was black and the drug dealer was white. In many British films criminals are still black and judges are still white...positive change is about positive perception. There is no point saying that there is equality in Britain when black, and poor white, kids have stopped caring. The keep-my job langusge of Trevor Phillips, where the word Racism becomes Bias and where Institutional racism becomes Strategic bias is part of the problem. The perception of black kids is that the social dice against them has been tampered with by the system and it agents...black and white. Obama came from the established roots of the black church, there is no such political base for black people in Britain. The universities and a better class background are still the political base of white politicians. It is difficult to achieve in a system that says the "right things" but fails to do the right things...hypocricy does not solve problems...it keep things as they are. American apples should not be compared with British pears. In additon, black history should be denied when white history is denied...

The British ruling class has no intrinsic bias against any race or creed just a terror of the working and lower middle classes, particularly someone from populous southern England, ever holding power.

 

I could quite easily imagine a black person, either from an impoverished working class Scottish background or from a very aristocratic/privileged background (or married into one), becoming prime minister.  He or she MUST have an instinctive resentment towards the aspirations of the common people of southern England, for the Southern English, London based, British establishment to really accept them in power.

 

Elect the house of lords is right and could have added anyone from a housing estate (me). John Major said he grew up in Brixton (itself containing wealthy areas) in fact he lived there briefly and grew up in Sutton and Cheam in Surrey. Middle class and a liar! Gordon Brown had working class parents, but not a working class (impovrished) upbringing. Please do your research properly before you criticise my statements Johnny Summerton

I'm going to add my tuppence ha'penny to this pointless debate! So many of the black and ethnic minorities who do get ahead are themselves privileged privately educated - just look at the Beeb!  Its rare these days to hear a working class voice on the Beeb, apart from that young guy from the North East who gives us the weather! That also includes the Black faces in Parliament, and there are precious few there yet!  I put it down to working class prejudice about who our leaders should be!  Remember that Toff - Douglas Hume?  Proper Ruling Class he was. just like the Toffs that ran the First World War - not that I can remember but my Dad told me what a bloody mess they made of everything.  These days they have a word for Ruling Class Incompetence:  hubris.

Remember:  There aint no black in the Union Jack!

Could you mark this piece as opinion please. You have highlighted the opinion of Trevor Phillips and as such your piece should be marked as opinion