Rupa Huq Can Keep Her Lame Ass Apology

Another politician exposing themselves as racist is no surprise. Frankly, it’s predictable. But Labour MP Rupa Huq’s remark that Kwasi Kwarteng is “superficially Black” because he attended some of the top schools in the country, is the kind of anti-Blackness that doesn’t even try to disguise itself as something else. It’s blatantly and overtly poisonous. 

Rupa Huq made the comment at a Labour Party Conference in Liverpool on Monday evening, referring to the Chancellor of the Exchequer as “…superficially a Black man… He went to Eton, he went to a very expensive prep school.” She further went onto say, “If you hear him on the today programme, you wouldn’t know he’s Black.” The Conference was a fringe event entitled “What’s Next for Labour’s Agenda on Race,” and this was what came out of her mouth. 

I’m asking myself, and I’m asking you, what Blackness means to Rupa. But it’s a rhetorical question. We know everything about how Rupa feels about Blackness through these words. They literally speak for themselves. Being Black to Rupa means being separate from education, from wealth and from worth. It means not knowing how to speak, act, or exist in a way that deserves respect or even recognition from non-Black people. 

I’m not at all surprised by the presence of racism within Parliament. Part of being Black and British is being forced to realise that systemic racism is a permanent fixture of this country’s framework. But admittedly, I am surprised by how brash Rupa’s comments were. Why was she so comfortable to be so openly racist in from of all these MPs? What does this say about the Labour Party itself? Was she expecting everyone to nod their heads and “Hear, hear!” in agreement? 

Rupa tweeted her apology, saying she contacted Kwasi to offer her sincere and heartfelt apologies, calling her comments “ill-judged.” Call a spoon a spoon, Rupa. What’s the point in apologising if you’re not actually going to admit to what you did? What’s the point in even saying sorry for your racist ideology without actively educating yourself and others to unlearn this toxicity? I can’t definitively say she’s not doing this, but is it even plausible to suggest she is? Given that the apology came after the news of her suspension from the Labour Party, it’s automatically illegitimate. Someone give this woman a book to read. 

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