The treatment of Diane Abbott, the first black female MP in this country by the press, the public, and by her so-called colleagues is horrific, it calls into question the kind the kind of society and country we are living in. Here is a woman, a woman that looks very much like me, that has worked hard to get to where she is and make no mistake she has worked hard, as black women we have to work twice as hard to get half as far as our white counterparts, we have to be cleverer, stronger and more resilient. There can be no argument that Diane has contributed positively to her party, the country and her constituents. She is a woman that tells the truth as she sees it and is punished for doing so time and time again.
What does Diane get in return for her efforts, undiluted hate, unkindness and ridicule. This ‘thing’ that has happened to Diane and of course to the Duchess of Sussex and other prominent black women, really does need further and much closer examination because usually it’s white middle class men, men in positions of authority and power leading the charge. What is it about these women that produces such strong, visceral and violent reactions in these men. A friend of mine would say it’s because they are untouchable, unreachable by these men. They quite rightly hold themselves high and apart. I recognise that, it’s what we have to do to survive and if we are Lucky, thrive. I recall Piers Morgan’s response to the Duchess of Wessex, something deep and dark was making him behave badly towards her, even in full public view he couldn’t restrain himself and walked out of the studio when Alex Beresford, the weather man questioned him on his attitude towards her.
As I write this, I can hear the words of Maya Angelous famous poem in my head.
“You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may tred me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise”.
Is it because these women do not need to lean heavily on these men, or is it that they appear strong, courageous, outspoken and many believe for a black woman that just won’t do. It offends their sense of well-being and balance, it tilts their world on its axis and puts questions in their heads about who they are.
This week was shocking and painful for Diane but shone a light, if ever one was needed on how things work around here. Diane dressed in bright red, tried desperately hard to have her voice heard, to have her say in parliament about what had happened to her and how it made her feel only to experience in full public view another powerful white man, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Speaker of the House ignoring her. His behaviour to her must have rubbed salt into an already wide and gaping wound.
I feel for Diane, as I felt for The Duchess, they are, who I am, black women in a white dominated society trying to have a voice, trying to be themselves, trying to make their way. The defence for Frank Hester will be that he didn’t mean it, that his words were ill chosen and that he is not a racist.
For clarity, this is what he said.
“ It’s like trying not to be racist but you see Diane Abbott on TV, and you’ re just like I hate, you just want to hate all black women because she’s there, and I don’t hate all black women at all, but I think she should be shot”- Frank Hester
There is always push back and defence of the indefensible, especially when it comes to black women, “No, that wasn’t racism” will come the cry from predominantly white men and women.
We will be told to look at the many women of colour in parliament as proof that racism doesn’t exist, it’s all in your heads, you are too sensitive. Pushback and defensiveness will swirl around, trying to dilute the hideousness of what was said out loud.
“Well, it must be a personality thing because not all black women experience what Ms Abbott has” they’ll say. Look at the black and brown women in Government, they have been successful without attracting abuse and nastiness” It must be her.
Or could it be because that those women say what these men want to hear? Is it that they behave in a way that is deemed acceptable and expected of black and brown women. I have a suspicion and I suspect they do too that if they stepped out of line, they would very quickly find themselves in a similar position to Diane and for them that place would be intolerable.
“Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells, pumping in my living room”.
Diane, matters to me, she matters because she is me. I worry about her safety, about her physical and mental health, the treatment she has received over decades takes its toll and her body must be battered with the amount of stress it’s had to withstand over the years. She is the living breathing example of what happens to black women that don’t toe the line.
“Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops. Weakened by my soulful cries”.
The answer to the questions in the Mayas poem is yes, people do want to see us broken and bowed the data we have has shown that the treatment we receive for just being damages us. The fact is, Black women break, many of us are broken, we biologically age years before our white counterparts, we lose our babies more often than they do. We develop more aggressive cancers. Our minds and bodies are crying out for respite but nobody is listening, nobody cares, where is the empathy for Diane, where is the empathy for us.
“Does my haughtiness offend you? Don’t you take it awful hard ‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggin’ in my own back yard. You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Diane, my sister I see you, I salute me, I salute you, I salute us. (Delia Mills and Beverleigh Senior)
ycoghill 