Unless racism is involved, isn’t that the case everywhere?
A white guy would feel unwelcome in Saudi, Black guy would feel unwelcome in Japanese society etc etc.
Yeah, I’ve been into country pubs with people who aren’t white and they’ve felt pretty uncomfortable at times. I would expect that they more mean this kind of thing when they say “countryside” as opposed to the BAME experience of walking through forests and shit, but it’s hard to tell because the tweet doesn’t really say much at all, or link to a piece or video.
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Are white people stopping them from going out into the countryside?
Because too me it sounds like the tweet is suggesting that the countryside is racist, or that being able to go to the countryside is “reserved” for white people.
No one is stopping the Khans from Milton Keynes or Jay and his mandem from Bethnal Green from heading to their nearest national trust park, beach or manor.
I can totally imagine that.
People with open mindset & liberal views are mostly concentrated in big cities and someone in countryside won’t be as exposed to diversity as someone in London, so it would be odd for both set of people.
Liberals have folded in on themselves and inadvertently diluted the whole point of the protests in the first place.
I don’t think anybody thinks there’s an army at the border waiting to stop them from coming in but it’s perfectly plausible that BAME people may feel uncomfortable in areas that have long been predominantly white. There are stories in the replies of people who have spoken openly of being uncomfortable in certain areas in the past.
It’s just not quite as outrageous as some people want to make it out to be. I think it’s very plausible that some people are protective of the identity of their area and don’t want it to become overrun with foreigners and whatnot.
Funny enough, my sister said today the reason she doesn’t like holidaying in rural England is because of how people stare at her and her kids (she wear a headscarf and her children are both half black) and it makes her feel out of place and uncomfortable.
So it can happen and contrary to what the droves of angry people in the Twitter replies suggest - it’s just not implausible.
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man I love twitter.
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Tbf I’d go even further. I know a lot of my coloured friends won’t even consider living in certain London districts or towns because they feel they’d be too much an oddity race-wise.
I think that’s what the guy is getting at. I know he’s probably not worded it the way it comes across either.
But I’m a bit different. I walked through Ballymena to my mate’s wedding earlier this year and felt pretty much every pair of eyes I walked past just watch me (everyone I had to verbally encounter was very nice though).
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Oooft, yaar. You may have to reconsider that phrase 
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On a side note though I don’t think it’s hugely controversial. I think wherever you are in the world there’s a desire to protect an established ideal/order/whatever.
You can go to rural villages in Morocco and find some people follow certain tribal beliefs and don’t like outsiders. I’m sure the same can be said across the world.
I think the challenge of racism comes in changing people’s attitudes and creating a more welcoming environment. But I think the countryside has long just been a predominantly white area and the thought of change rarely sits well with anyone. Especially when they see what a mess some of the other parts of the country are.
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But do we really need that much diversity?
Let the countryside be English or German or French. It’s nice to experience culture like that.
People stared at me when I was walking the streets of Erhwald at 6AM but it’s fun. I never got a negative response when I needed help.
Let them be, they are not hurting anyone. It’s cute when a granny looks at you wide eyed.
Yeah mate it’s really cute when people make you feel unwelcome because of the colour of your skin. Nothing quite like it.
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By just staring?
plenty of people can’t help looking at someone they don’t come across often.
I so fucking relate to this
Let me touch
China is a very very bad example
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They might not mean offence, but it would very likely lead to the person being stared at to feel wildly uncomfortable, and that they’ve done something wrong by looking different. They’re not attacking the person explicitly but, it is rude - could even be classed as a micro-aggression.
Whether someone looks different because of race, height or other disability, it’s making people feel accepted by how you act, not just what you say.
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I don’t understand. Do you guys not prepare yourself mentally when you go for a trip in rural parts?
If you, as a white woman, went for a solo trip in Thailand’s rural side, do you expect people to not stare at you?
If you go to some African rural village and they are looking at you like you don’t belong there, is it racism or just curiosity?
Heck If I go to some remote parts of India, I would stand out because of my attire and I would get stared at.
It’s human nature and we are expecting too much from humans who have never experience diversity like you guys do in big cities.
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This whole countryside debate is funny.
When I lived in China and went into places where only Chinese live it was the same experience, people stare at you, talk about you, giggle, ask you dumb things. I remember a Chinese man coming to fix my air conditioner going through my cupboards to see what I’ve got because he was curious. It’s silly to project racism onto people just being a bit parochial and backward. As long as people are basically nice to you it’s not bother.
I’ve taken my Chinese wife into the British countryside to meet my farmer family. People in small villages stare at her. But she doesn’t think it’s racist to be surrounded by white people in a white location because that’s clinical insanity. I know that in a small town / village where some of my cousins live there is a black person and when my cousin explained their friendship I definitely found it a bit racist, I can’t remember what exactly but some black related nickname for him which was stupid, but I don’t think it’s malicious, they’re just a bit backwards so I agree with this sentiment below:
Edit:
No it isn’t! LOL
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I’m not going to argue with someone who has actually lived there. I concede on that
Tell me how are people with black/brown skin people are treated over there from your own experiences
I dont think I’ve ever been to a rural village pub and felt comfortable, the locals stare, gossip and Alcoholic Bill will say something to piss you off and try and cause a reaction…almost every time.
Local drinkers are full of nobheads on a whole.
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I accept that it will continue to happen due to human nature. There is always more to learn about other people if knowledge or interaction with these other people is low, by default we are all ignorant about something until we’re exposed to it or take the time to learn about it.
I’m used to interacting with people of various backgrounds but appreciate that other’s don’t have that privilege, I can only hope that all curiosity can be used constructively to learn more about the world we live in.
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