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Danny Baker on Twitter

Undoubtedly a stupid thing to do in the current climate. But it was clear to me the "joke" was about performing animals. 

Nothing will save him from the virtual Wicker Man they're currently building. I suppose there's just too many people who don't like him. 

he clearly didn't intend it to be racist and only an ass would think he did

he meant it to be like a silly meme

you wouldn't think of the racial connotations unless you were a bit racist imo

I'm not a Danny Baker fan and I don't really get the "joke" he apparently saw about royal grandeur being undermined by circus animals (eh?) but I would be utterly staggered if he intended to make a pointed racist remark in this form.  (Not that I accept that a depiction of an ape in this way should automatically be taken to be racist, by the way - I'm kinda with Danny on this)

the context was the kid is a performing monkey. Given his mothers history of grabbing any bit of press that she can, its a fair coment. 

but, the fact that it can so easily be taken out of context should not have been lost on him

Even if he is 'innocent', only a complete and utter moron could consider it acceptable to make a joke out of  portraying the child of a mixed-race parent as a monkey.

 

The joke would have been exactly the same had he used a photo of a clapping sealion, balancing a ball on its nose. 

Intention was innocent, if completely misguided, especially from someone with his experience. Nevertheless, perception is all. But I'm not entirely convinced how much of the perception is genuine. 

 

 

Is the irony not this: it is only someone truly innocent-minded who could make a joke like this and not realize there is a connotation.

I just don't feel you can fairly conclude from this that he's racist.  More controversially, I don't really accept that just because it could be perceived this way (which it shouldn't - chimps are animals and have nothing to do with people of mixed racial background) then that automatically makes it out of bounds, especially if done innocently.  I guess I'm saying that it's time to abandon the perceived link/connotation/whatever you want to call it - and it's only when we do that that we can start to become a less racist society.

 

Even if he is 'innocent', only a complete and utter moron could consider it acceptable to make a joke out of  portraying the child of a mixed-race parent as a monkey.

 

THIS

How is it even a 'joke'?

How can a new-born baby possibly be analogous to a performing circus animal?

Indeed, apart from brief photo-call yesterday, his parents seem to be doing as much as they can NOT  to have him 'performing'.

The folks on here defending him clearly have the emotional intelligence of a plankton.

He’s so unfunny that I would not be surprised if he did just think of it as a joke without any racist context.  However, as someone in the public eye both on the radio and his column in the sun, it is part of the duty of his job to understand when something so obvious as this would be taken as racist.

The fact that he did not give a moments thought screams a combination of total stupidity and incompetence at his job.  All in all a good thing he got sacked.

Regardless of motive I think we all know that it's seriously ill advised these days to make a joke involving monkeys when dealing with people of other races.

He was surely set to retire soon anyway.

The problem with being in your 60’s in that sort of job is that these sort of howlers provide the opportunity to freshen up the schedule a bit and get new blood in. 

Maybe just maybe he was making a joke about a three ringed circus and performing animals and didn't intend to be racist.  Even if that is genuinely true it was just a stupid thing to do.

Wibble - if it isn’t intentionally racist, how is it racist? (Genuine question)

IG - it is a far from clear cut example of intentional racism.  Danny Baker has an alternative explanation and it makes little sense that he’d torpedo his career this way if the connotation occurred to him.  If this is the clearest example of racism you have ever seen, where the hell have you been?!

I've just seen the very good point made on twitter that as a sports broadcaster the connotation of a monkey should be obvious to him, given that there have been several well publicised episodes of black footballers being subjected to monkey chanting during games. 

True and he is a huge Coventry fan as I recall, once even did a bit with Cyril Regis in some publicity for them a long time ago trying to stop people throwing bananas onto the pitch.

Nothing from my point of view.

If it’s perception based, he’s fooked.  In my view it is a great shame that the perception is that his tweet was motivated by hostility or prejudice.  I don’t think that’s clear cut at all; respect people’s right to disagree.

 

I doubt his tweet was so motivated however he absolutely should have thought before engaging fingers to post that.  The impact on others was always going to be negative.

Its a bit like that conscious/unconscious bias thing we get taught about in diversity courses. 

"If it’s perception based, "

 

yes it is, has been for a long time, rightly so. 

his motivation is not relevant. It makes no difference if you agree or not.

 

HTH. 

 

These left wing 'comedians' think they have a licence to say anything which is 'edgy' and which would upset anyone over 14

Of course he knew what he was doing

The sort of media cr*p that destroyed Diana 

Oh FFS give it a rest the sanctimonious witchhunters on here. Yes it was ill judged. So he should apologise profusely and all move on. If Baker was a racist it would have come out a long time ago. 

I fail to see why a silly fooking tweet should immediately spell the end of your career. 

whatever the rights and wrongs, I am surprised that the BBC can make such a major decision so quickly.

Baker is clearly not a racist by the way and I don't think anyone really thinks he is - who exactly is genuinely deeply offended?  Nobody.  That's who.

I don't really see how a "silly tweet" - clearly intended for public consumption - is any morally superior to Ron Atkinson being caught off camera.  Or Rob Keye and the other bloke being sexist.

Oh what a load of bullocks. No basically there is no suggestion that Baker is racist. So we are punishing him because we are worried people are genuinely offended by something that wasn't meant as racist. So he's sacked on the spot. 

Big Ron was a bit different - he very clearly used the N word about Desailly. Again I don't think he should have been sacked on the spot but there was no debate about the word. 

"Nice of Guy to speak for all black people". 

 

Interesting you think only black people are offended by racism... this is not racism it is a mistaken use of a racist trope- very different things. 

Wow I had no idea there were so many people, professional I assume and probably generally pretty clever people, who in 2019 still do not get it.  I’m actually pretty damn shocked.

I'm equally shocked that so many lawyers can't see where the flaws in a law based on perception of the victim rather than the intentions of the person committing the act might be.  Or that people are so sure what DB's intentions were.  Or that if you question his dismissal suggests you must be racist (if you question a murder conviction it doesn't make you a murderer, does it?)

The law has been like this for ages mate, maybe 20 years (off top of head I think it’s the equalities act 2000?).

Thats the bit I was stunned at people not realising.

I don't particularly care if he was racist or not it's just a spectacularly dumb thing to do in this day and age and his stupidity alone warrants being fired.

Sorrydidyousaysomething rather than crying about it all being so unfair would you care to point out the flaw in the law that worked pretty well for decades? 

 

If you are going to suggest a need to prove intent then you are a twot. 

 

 

How do Roffers think that their firms / chambers would react if one of us posted that tweet and it was clear from our twitter profile that the Roffer was a lawyer and firm / chambers identifiable?

i don't think you should lose your  job for a stupid tweet. It would be interesting if he took it to an employment tribunal.

I don't think it would be interesting as I understand he was not employed by the BBC but was rather a (very tax-efficient) self-employed contractor and has no basis for a claim

Olly Robbins should be fired for this joke.

A laughing Verhofstadt reveals in BBC4’s new behind-the-scenes Brexit documentary that Olly Robbins came to him and said:

“Guy, can I become a Belgian citizen after this whole thing? Because I don’t think I will return.”

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