Take action to remedy ‘horrid behaviour’

I am shocked and disappointed at the behaviour of Conservative councillors Maureen Hunt and Leo Walters (Advertiser, October 29).

To think that both councillors had the sheer audacity to behave in the manner in which they did is a great disappointment to the Conservative Party, the Royal Borough and all those who reside within this borough.

I have been raised for the better part of my life as a native Windsorian who also happens to be a Polish/Caribbean woman, so it is not a small thing when I say that watching the RBWM Council meeting I felt disappointed in being the prior and attacked as being the latter.

It is fundamentally unacceptable for Cllr Maureen Hunt to see fit to describe the British Empire with praise as an institution that gave to the world so many things without realising that it also industrialised the practice of slavery in such a manner that we still see the fallout of black oppression today in the United States, our ex-colony, and frankly in our own country as well as many others.

To deem the trans-Atlantic slave trade merely as unfortunate and deem it irrelevant to modern discussions on race is smallminded and ignorant.

Not to mention that deeming modern slavery more important than its predecessors establishes a hierarchy for oppression where contemporary oppression is deemed more important than its historic roots – a point I do not need to clarify as being horrifyingly ignorant and encourages erasure of history.

Not to mention, it is atrocious that Cllr

Leo Walters saw fit to describe minority ethnic individuals as ‘coloured’ and I would ask him how racial sensitivity training is unnecessary when a councillor in 2020 saw fit to use such terminology.

The councillor failed to even act by his own argument and has highlighted exactly why such a motion is important and why it was a positive thing that it passed. Especially since the councillor seemed more concerned with being called a racist than dealing with racism, uniting against racism, or ensuring he and his colleagues are educated on racism.

Whilst the content of the motion is available to the public and I do not need to expand on its content past the work of the brilliant councillors defending it, I find myself disgusted at the councillors that represent part of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

Action needs to be taken to remedy the horrid behaviour they exhibited in this council meeting.

JESSICA LEE

Windsor