Poll: The "Oreo" comment... racist?

[Ben_spanna]

Cheeze on bred man! hearing this morning on radio that some leader of some African somethin movement calling it the "O" word??? like frisking seriously???
Our country really is hanging in the balance!

[kstt]

Petrotrin distraction

[Cantmis]

https://youtu.be/Q8kzD-pig5A

[Spitfir3]

for most people that doh know the meaning of the word i could see how they would see it as kinda racist because oreo black and he black but then again oreo sweet and Rowley sour like lime

[Rovin]

for somebody who in politics so long it was a very stupid phrase to use especially with d population so touchy on race

though what d rest of she said is totally true in that 1% controls rowdy


that 1 word will make her even more hated amongst poo nm supporters , rel beat up on fb about it ...

[maj. tom]

wait, Kamla is still the leader of the UNC?!
what the ass, 2020 is just now!!

[j.o.e]

wait, Kamla is still the leader of the UNC?!
what the ass, 2020 is just now!!

This. Sad thing about the UNC is that they’re not a functional party. They just scramble together when it’s election time. Are there even internal elections/ meetings/ strategies/ structure ?

[toyota2nr]

The opposition leader didn’t say anything wrong. Oreo is not a racist comment. If refers to behaviour not race.

[rspann]

Now if she did call him skrunt was a different story. The truth is the best defense for libel and slander.

[hydroep]

So if she de call him ah Chocolate Oreo, everything woulda be ok?

[hydroep]

BTW, ah didn't realise it have so many varieties of Oreo. Ah sure it have one to describe each "type" of person in sweet T&T.

[toyota2nr]

speaking of which, how come every new headline is called a "distraction"? Is it that our politicians are saying the population/electorate is too dumb to pay attention to more than one thing at a time? And when the population parrots that sentiment are you admitting you're that stupid? Ppl need to stop selling themselves so short

That’s what happens when you support PNM

[The_Honourable]

Kambon: ‘Oreo’ not racist



ACTIVIST Khafra Kambon did not think the Opposition Leader’s description of the Prime Minister as an "Oreo" was racist, but he did think generally the country’s elites, dubbed the "one per cent," should be held to account.

He spoke to Newsday after a furore over Kamla Persad-Bissessar saying last Monday that Dr Rowley was an Oreo –black on the outside but white on the inside – helping the elites but not the grassroots who had elected him.

“Something is racist if you are talking in terms of something that is derogatory to the race, but this remark referred to the individual (Rowley),” said Kambon, head of the Emancipation Support Committee. “It is not a statement against African people, but against a person.”

Kambon also made the point that someone is most likely to be dubbed an Oreo by a critic who is proud of his/her Africanness and who feels the targeted person has been betraying his race.

“I don’t see it as racist.”

However, Kambon said he would not be the one to assess the allegation that a person was not doing enough for their own people.

“People slam people all the time. That is something to be evaluated.”

He said the debate/brouhaha should have been taken up from the perspective of whether Rowley had done enough for people.

Newsday asked if local politicians were now descending into white-bashing, with Rowley, at a campaign meeting last Monday ,describing the Privy Council as “the Englishman, the white man,” and Persad-Bissessar’s Oreo remarks possibly being seen as anti-white.

Kambon did not see the Oreo remarks as disparaging whites, but merely as criticising Rowley.

“The defence against it is to show it is not so...calling it racism takes away from the real meaning of the term Oreo.”

Pressed on whether the Oreo remark was anti-white, he said all groups in this society vie for their own interests and coalesce around common interests. Kambon opined there exists a so-called one per cent, comprising particular groups, although the use of that term is “not necessarily racist” (to lighter-skinned people.)

Likewise he was unfazed by Rowley’s reference to the Privy Council as “the white man.” Kambon said the PM may have been speaking so as to try to arouse a particular emotion.

He saw Rowley as justified in advocating that the country shift from using the Privy Council to using the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as its highest court. Kambon lamented too many citizens have something in their colonial psyche where they think something British is better than something Caribbean, adding, “This has to do with white and black.”

Source: https://newsday.co.tt/2018/09/13/kambon ... ot-racist/

[toyolink]

I wonder if this is some kind of 'now-a-days speak' for people of African heritage who subscribe to NEOCOLONIAL perspectives?
These somewhat shallow ways we describe each other these days can always yield all kinds of inferences.
Using a type of biscuit to describe someone may well be left to comedians.

[j.o.e]

KPB could’ve said that Rowley sold out to the elites or 1% or whoever without using the Oreo term. Why use a slang that’s not even indigenous to here that will allow it to be twisted in different ways. It’s an amateur move even if not implicit racist. I think it’s racist tho..... my 2 cents

[Redress10]

Ofcourse it was racist

If was from another black person then it wouldn't have been racist. It would have been viewed as classist. Historically, this terms has been used for individuals and families etc who have been viewed as not having a typical black american traits. So if a black american person is focused on education, proper family values, financial intelligence and just an overally progressive mindset then they would be viewed as possessing "white" centric qualities. The local equivalent would be black girls who don't wear weave, go boat rides and attend convent etc.

This is something that has seriously stumped the black community because to be progressive could be seen as assuming white qualities. So people choose not to aim for education etc and instead choose to remain "hood". Ever wonder why the black community continues to suffer so much problems? This simply issue is central to black regression. Pay close attention to what is valued in the ghettos etc you would see that they are trying hard not to be "oreos".

What she effectively said is that as a black man he must be the "atypical" black person and only possess traits synonymous with "blackness".

Ignore Khafra Kambon and people like David Muhammad.....They the type of people who would call people oreos cause you don't wear dashaki and march on emancipation day.

[meccalli]

Text without context is pretext.

What she effectively said is that as a black man he must be the "atypical" black person and only possess traits synonymous with "blackness".

Applying your interpretation to Kamla's clear attack on the PM being controlled by some form of elite white minority makes the usage of the term nonsensical.
She's saying he's seeking the agenda of the elite( white 1%, his controllers) at heart.
She also obviously has no idea about the proper usage of the term, clearly looking for some sort of puppet terminology. Kamla is an idiot but those calling her usage of the term as being racially motivated are probably on par with her if not worse.
I'm beginning to think we need to emphasise reading comprehension at higher learning.

The dog ran.
There's a run in her stockings.
My nose is running.
My car is running on empty.
He hit a home run.

[shake d livin wake d dead]

And after all this people does line up to vote for the two ah dem...baldy and kams....not ah fck ah dat nuh

[meccalli]

I've had 2 opportunities to vote, I've never stained my finger. Makes no sense whatsoever.

[sMASH]

some school boys was saying that rowley is not a oreo biscuit, he is a dumbino biscuit

[gastly369]

BTW, ah didn't realise it have so many varieties of Oreo. Ah sure it have one to describe each "type" of person in sweet T&T.

Cool mint Oreo does lash eh

[rspann]

Oreo? If yuh not talking vanilla cookies with skimmed milk ,yuh aint say nothing yet.

[INHUMAN]

Such a disgrace to oreo towards a salted caraille biscuit.

[hydroep]

Oreo? I ain't no stinking Oreo...

Rowley: No apology for representing ‘one per cent’
Anna Ramdass 3 hrs ago

Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley says he makes no apology for representing the largest block of Syrian, Arab and Lebanese in his constituency as he slammed Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for descending into "gutter politics".

Speaking at a People's National Movement (PNM) meeting in San Fernando tonight, Rowley took issue with Persad-Bissessar's reference to him as an "oreo" controlled by the "one per cent".

He said Persad-Bissessar and the Unions are the two largest voices accusing the Government of lying as it relates to the closing of the Petrotrin refinery.

"And when that conversation doesn't seem to be working as well as they would like they resort to my skin colour and colour of the skin of my constituents," he said.

"The largest block of Arab, Syrian, Lebanese are in Diego Martin West and for that I make no apology and I don't care who they vote for, I represent them and I think it is a shame and a disgrace of all the people and on the record of Trinidad and Tobago that a former Prime Minister, a leader of the Opposition can sink into such gutter politics," he said.

"When all else fails, when rape fail, when paedophilia fail, resort to racism but me, I'm from Mason Hall in Tobago, that not fazing me at all," added Rowley.

At the United National Congress' (UNC) Monday night forum at Union Presbyterian Primary School, Claxton Bay, Persad-Bissessar said, 'They (one per cent) tried to own Mr (Patrick) Manning but they couldn't do that... they tried to own me but I sent them packing; they have their Oreo now who is their guy in Keith Christopher Rowley, and that's how the one per cent friends and family of Rowley controls him.”

On Wednesday, Persad-Bissessar in the face of calls for her to apologise for the comment maintained it was not racist.

'I do take note of comments by some that there may have been some insensitivity but there was not an iota of racism in my statements. My track record in public life speaks for itself. I acknowledge that relevant truths can be spoken with less sensitive words in future. The failed Rowley PNM PR team should focus on the bread and butter issues of real people instead of their continuous spin and deception. I will continue to expose this Prime Minister and his Government for the callous, uncaring bunch that they are,' Persad-Bissessar stated in release...

https://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/local/rowley-no-apology-for-representing-one-per-cent/article_e268ae50-b7c3-11e8-9819-5774abf17493.html

[shake d livin wake d dead]

https://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/lo ... 36f71.html

wanna see kamla back pedal now

[Redman]

Ironically it's obvious who bought Kams a long time ago.....so she eh lie....she was already bought when the other cartels came knocking

[The_Honourable]

So... is he the definition of an oreo? The context is that he studying 1% business and cares about them more on the inside while pretending to care (or don't care at all) for his pnm groundtroops on the outside except during election season.

[eliteauto]

Oreo? If yuh not talking vanilla cookies with skimmed milk ,yuh aint say nothing yet.

when school days were happy days

[teems1]

Did he just openly admit he's representing the 1% because they happen to live in his constituency?

As PM you're supposed to represent all 100% when making your decisions.

This is insane. Not even Trump is willing to admit the Koch brothers etc have him over a barrel.

KR is openly admitting he is ignoring 99% of the population.

[gastly369]

Did he just openly admit he's representing the 1% because they happen to live in his constituency?

As PM you're supposed to represent all 100% when making your decisions.

This is insane. Not even Trump is willing to admit the Koch brothers etc have him over a barrel.

KR is openly admitting he is ignoring 99% of the population.

Red a ready eh understand that statement....they will be voting him back no matter even if they have to feed grass to dey children