Snowy560

Apparently everyone is talking about this photograph and tweet:

The professor, his wife and the photo everyone is talking about - BBC News

It's only when I see something like this that I remember that I suppose the label (inter-racial relationship) applies to me and my husband. And to my (late) parents. Yes, it was thought of as unusual in the 1950s for a white person to be in a relationship with a non white person. People used to make comments to and about my parents in the streets (of London).

The thing that always gets me and my elder daughter who is the same colour as me are the questions:

"where are you from?"

"I'm from the UK but I live in Canada now"

"But where are you originally from?" (we were both born and raised in London).

My younger daughter, who is almost white, is never the recipient of the same questions. Nor is my husband.

Anyway, is the "photo that everyone is talking about" really so unusual?

mahdawg

I'd never even heard of that photo until now!

Nonetheless, even as someone in an inter-racial relationship, I suspect the vast majority of people would not look at that picture and think it's unusual because they were together. The only unusual, but interesting thing about it is, is their traditional choice of dress that both are choosing to wear.

In contrast, the bottom two photos in the article, I doubt anyone would bat an eyelid.

Paul_Shepherd

Thats the only thing I noticed too...the traditional/cultural dress, its almost as if they were making a point....or if it was staged. So I suppose that is the only reason the photo is being "talked about"

Put them in both everyday clothing and its nothing unusual at all, its 2017 after all...well nearly 2018... not 1918! Classic media trying to make a story from nothing.

Snowy560

I sent the article via email to my husband at 230am last night (I couldn't sleep and started trawling the BBC site).

He said to me today: I got the article but didn't understand why you sent it or what the big deal is.

I agree: it's a non issue being made into an issue both in the article and by the type of people who ask me where I'm "really" from.

BristolUK

Of course it's an exaggeration to say "everyone is talking about it" but nobody really takes that literally do they? It's just a figure of speech.

I'm no follower of twitter and how many 'likes' is exceptional, but I do know that these things get reported because of shares, likes, retweets and all the rest of it.
So someone is talking about it and that's just the positive responses "resonating" with others.

It doesn't seem unreasonable to think there might also be a few raised eyebrows, tuts of disapproval and worse, not from those enquiring where Snowy is from - at least they sound polite/curious - but from others that we do know exist.

Not for nothing did racist incidents reported to UK police increase following the Brexit vote.

There's also....

https://www.theguardian.com/football...e-england-uefa

MillieF

It's a good thing if it gets anybody talking positively!

I married a man who thinks that anything other than plain black socks is overly avent garde! How wonderful to have the ability to turn up at the Queen's Garden Party looking like you were there for a celebration! Bring it on! They look super.

Souvy

Yes. I had a very interesting conversation with my son's girlfriend last night. She's a very nice, intelligent, girl. But she is from Saguenay. She honestly didn't know what a Sikh is, or the difference between a Muslim and a Hindu. I found that a bit sad but I wasn't overly surprised.

Shard

She should watch The Simpsons, it explains all that religiony stuff.

BristolUK

I'm not sure whether you mean Saguenay to be the 'explanation' or if you mean Canadian and Saguenay is just a passing reference.

My wife and stepdaughter were educated in Montreal but I was quite often surprised at some of the knowledge of matters outside Canada that despite their intelligence they didn't know.

Souvy

Cradle Canada in general but Saguenay in particular. It's cut off and rather homogenous. There are 66,000 households. The phone directory says that almost 20% of them share just five surnames. You've a 10% chance of success if you dial a number at random and ask for Mr Tremblay.

No wonder they don't know much about the outside world. I spent two weeks up there a few years ago. I saw one black guy and one Asian girl.

Shard

There must be pockets of the UK like that. Cornwall and Norfolk come to mind.

Souvy

I don't doubt it for a second. Saguenay is maybe a bit different because it is remote. There is nothing between it and Quebec City, which is over 200km away.

Shakyuk

I'd never seen the photo but I like it because they're both wearing what I assume is traditional clothing from their cultures.


On asking people where they're from, if I'm talking to someone and they're clearly not from around here I do ask them where they're from because I like hearing about people's stories coming to the UK.


I was once in a kebab shop late at night and I got talking to a guy, I asked him where he was from and he said 'Pemberton', which is where I live. After a talk about glorious Pemberton I asked where originally and he got very offended by that question. He had a very strong accent, he clearly was not from Pemberton originally and so I'm not quite sure why he got so offended.

BristolUK

It's a lot like that here. LeBlanc, Cormier, Richard, Robichaud, Melanson and it's similar with the non-French names like Steeves.
On the NB Gov website search of staff names, there are 104 Cormier, 173 LeBlanc, 107 Robichaud....contrast with 60 Smith. Only 21 Steeves.

Shard

Is that Pemberton, BC ? Where was the guy from?