Lenny vs Lammy... Henry takes on MP in Dooley race row
‘Screw you, white people’
ComiC Relief co-founder Sir Lenny Henry has waded into the ‘white saviour’ row engulfing the charity over Stacey Dooley’s trip to Uganda.
The Strictly Come Dancing star was accused by Labour MP David Lammy of ‘perpetuating colonialism’ when she shared photos online of herself with a Ugandan child. Sir Lenny came to her defence, joking that mr Lammy might well say of the charity, ‘screw you, white people’. The 60-year-old actor, who set up the charity with Richard Curtis in 1985, made the gag at a Comic Relief fundraiser at London’s Wembley Arena on Thursday night.
The intervention came after critics accused miss Dooley of using social media ‘to look like a heroine saving “victim” black children’.
The 31-year- old investigative reporter and Strictly winner had posted images to instagram of herself with a Ugandan child while filming for the charity this week.
TV presenter Trisha Goddard accused her of sharing ‘disturbing’ images, while the Uganda High Commissioner said he was ‘uncomfortable’ with photos of the star with local children. Speaking on iTV’s This morning, Peter moto said: ‘We felt a little uncomfortable with the social media. if it is about a school or health centre, we have no problem but we want to protect the interests of children on social media.’
The row ignited when mr Lammy said the BBC star’s images were ‘perpetuating colonialism,’ adding: ‘The world does not need any more white saviours.’ The term ‘white saviour’ is used to describe white people who help poor nonwhites in a self-serving way. miss Dooley, a documentary maker, hit back, saying: ‘is the issue with me being white? (Genuine question)... because if that’s the case, you could always go over there and try raise awareness? ‘Comic Relief have raised over £1 billion since they started. i saw projects that were saving lives with the money. Kids lives.’ The row took a twist when Comic Relief revealed it had asked mr Lammy to travel to Africa with the charity, but he did not reply. ‘The offer is still open,’ it added. The mP dismissed claims he had not responded, saying he turned the charity down after two meetings because he was ‘not prepared to become part of a PR exercise’. He added: i had hoped – and still hope – your coverage would improve but Stacey’s post was more of the same tired tropes.’ He stressed his criticism of miss Dooley ‘wasn’t personal’ but said: ‘my problem is with British celebrities being flown out to make these films. it sends a distorted image of Africa which perpetuates an old idea from the colonial era.’ The instagram Tottenham posts mP added: continue ‘Stacey’s a very long- established trope of white female heroine with orphan black child with little or no agency or parents in sight.’ Comic Relief said it had intended to show miss Dooley’s film so audiences could ‘judge it for themselves when they see it’. miss Dooley’s film on malaria and neonatal clinics will be broadcast on Red Nose Day, march 15.