Put some respect on Diane Abbott’s name
AMINA TAYLOR Contributor Malcolm X was right. “The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.” Now substitute ‘Great Britain’ for ‘America’ and have the recent diabolical treatment of black political stalwart Diane Abbott as your starting point, and the statement is even more powerful, and sadly truer, than ever.
Instead of celebrating the achievements of the first black woman elected to ament and the longest-serving member of parliament still in the House of Commons, we find ourselves genuinely worried for Diane Abbott’s safety and disgusted by the way the political establishment has seen fit to treat a decades-long public servant and trailblazer.
The revelation that the Conservative Party’s largest donor, Frank Hester, is no fan of a high-profile, accomplished black woman is not in itself surprising, but the contemptible display of vitriol and violence still managed to be so shocking.
Hester, who has donated over £10 million to the Conservatives, told colleagues that looking at Diane Abbott makes you “want to hate all black women”, and said Abbott “should be shot”.
Unsurprisingly, despite calls for them to do so, the Tory party has indicated it will not be returning the donations of a clearly racist and misogynistic individual who felt comfortable enough to share his repugnant thoughts in an open setting.
Furthermore–and let me say this part with my full chest–had Hester substituted ‘Jewish’ for ‘Black’, I would have no need to be writing this article, expressing my anger and disappointment at Hester’s comments and the subsequent fallout. He would have– rightly – seen his donations returned and senior political figures fall over themselves to call out his dangerous rhetoric and distance themselves from him. So ironically, the hierarchy of racism argument is being played out here. Perhaps the irony won’t be lost on Abbott, especially in light of her still having to sit as an Independent in Parliament after Labour withdrew the whip in 2023.
ONLINE ABUSE
It took a few days, but instead of Hester losing his lucrative contracts with government bodies (he runs Phoenix Partnership, which has been paid more than £400m by the NHS and other government bodies since 2016, plus having over £135m in contracts with the Department of Health and Social Care), we had PM Rishi Sunak say: “The comments were wrong and they were racist. He [Hester] has rightly apologised for them and that remorse should be accepted.”
So, my grandmother called that one ‘punching me in the face and telling me where to drop’. Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called what happened “abhorrent”. Quite.
If Abbott supporters were expecting the parliamentary sisterhood cavalry to come riding to Abbott’s defence, the reaction from Tory l eadership hopeful and business secretary Kemi Badenoch would have been particularly nauseating. While acknowledging the comments “as reported” were “racist”, she goes on to state: “Some people make flippant comments without thinking of this context. This is why there needs to be space for forgiveness where there is contrition.”
I hope Badenoch maintains this energy of forgiveness when she experiences the level of threats of violence and abuse Abbott has suffered over the years. Any woman in politics, especially one of colour, will be operating with a bullseye on her back.
The intersectionality of gender and race, especially in the Diane Abbott case, has been particularly frightening in terms of the way it seemingly triggers the vilest racist and misogynistic folks in the UK. One only has to see the report looking at online abuse from the 2017 election campaign, published by rights group Amnesty, that shows the Hackney North MP was the subject of a third of all abusive tweets about female MPs, and the majority were of a sexually violent nature.
POLITICAL DIAMOND
Diane Abbott herself has spoken of her concerns around the most recent Tory donor scandal, and previous instances of abuse. As renowned human-rights lawyer Jacqueline McKenzie wrote: “This has hit [Diane Abbott] to the core and that is what it is meant to do. It is meant to diminish her, it is meant to diminish me, it is meant to diminish all black women.”
The sheer horror of Hester’s comments should have the Labour Party leadership using this as an opportunity to welcome back a foundation of their movement with open arms. Instead, Abbott may well end her political career outside the Labour fold.
What Labour HQ did manage to do, however, was use the incident to solicit for handouts, urging supporters to close the huge fundraising ‘gaps’ between the parties. Some called the move ‘cynical’. Abbott herself categorised it as ‘hypocritical’. My terms would be less polite.
Black women, predominantly, have not let this abuse aimed at one of our trailblazers go unchecked. What you will not be doing is disrespecting Diane Julie Abbott on our watch. The online campaign #IStandWithDiane took off and a public meeting in Hackney to show support was an absolute roadblock, with the woman herself making an appearance and looking visibly touched by the outpouring of support.
Abbott even had the grace, in a moment that was honouring her, to turn the conversation into a wider, one about racism and misogyny in the public space. Diane Abbott walked so we could run, and the mistreatment of
this political diamond reminded many of us of our power. We have a voice. We can elicit change. To paraphrase, ‘they tried to bury Diane, they forgot she was a seed.’ Now, go put some respect on this woman’s name and protect her at all cost.