Sorry I cant figure out how to quote posts on my phone . There are a few posts that insist we are basically in denial about our own racism . Now that I object to
One a different note I cannot see how a vote to stay or a vote for our favourite can be seen as racism against anyone
If it was a vote to evict and consistently a black decent dancer was voted out it would be then a considerable more reason to see racism

Same here. I watch it with the wife. Shout rude words at Ed Balls. But I have never voted in any of these shows. Doubt I ever will.

What is the theory? That the voters were racist enough to leave one black contestant in the bottom two each week, but not to leave two there? How's that work?

Also, while the 1st eviction was decided by the phone vote, the 2nd one was decided in its last step by the judges.

What even makes you strongly suspect race is the key out of all the different factors that can affect how viewers vote?

Now this is something the perpetually offended should actually pick up on instead of the lack,of votes for two mediocre contestants on Strictly.

Alesha Dixon calls herself a woman of colour , black, mixed race and talks of black women on TV

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...over-star.html

https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/1198...her-own-rules/
“I was thinking about myself, I was thinking about my daughter, I was thinking about other black women and I felt kind of overwhelmed by all these thoughts and feelings.

Ricky Whittle calls himself black

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/articl...ed-to-be-white
http://www.bullyville.com/?page=story&id=6951

Maybe people use the word black in general as so many mixed race people themselves identify as black and that is what we are used to so we use it to . Maybe they should be told to stop using that description ? or maybe they should be allowed to do as they please.


Or is it just possible they are rightfully angry and have every right to post so when they are told they may have a bias they are unaware of it it annoys them as they have no such bias . You know it is just possible people vote for who they like and do not even consider colour, some people assume the middle of the board people are safe and either don't vote or vote for someone else , it can be as simple as that many people are colour blind , jn fact when it comes to celebs if we go back in time black celebrities were popular even when racism was at its worst , odd but that's how it was. So I think now in 2016 whilst we know all sorts of isms exist people do have a right to deny they have bias if they feel they do not.

I haven't voted for anyone so I may possibly have a hidden bias against humans that I am unaware of then ?

I have just finished watching that documentary. I am black too.

At no point have I said that the Strictly voters are racist. I just pointed out that black people don't tend to win TV competitions. I don't know why that is but it's something that I think is 100% true.

Mixed people can refered to themselves as black if they want to. That's up to them. I'm allowed to say that I don't get why they or other people refer to them as black. I like to think that if I was mixed race, I would just identify as mixed race.

I have pretty much the same view here that I have in discussions about Big Brother voting: I haven't seen anything in the arguments and evidence people bring to the discussion that shows we should abandon a 'common sense' position that goes more or less like this:

* There is racism in the UK, and race can also have more subtle effects such as making it a bit harder for some to identify with a contestant. (See discussions of the "mirror effect" or "mirror hypothesis".)

* So race most likely does have an effect on voting.

* No one knows how big that impact is, but it's probably enough to be able to make a difference to very close results.

With that I would 100% agree I have never got it personally but then on the other hand maybe it is similar to someone leaning more towards one national identity than another when you have a mix of two, I don't know, it is their choice and I respect that choice.

Because they self-identify as black and we respect their choice?

I think you have a point about unconscious biases, but I don't think unconscious race biases are what explains the different reactions to Ed and Tameka. Even your own explanation says "culturally we are at ease with the idea of men are being noisy and humorous" -- a male / female difference, not a black / white one.

To deep...it is a dancing show.

You have a point about the person leaning more to one national identity.

Maybe you could compare it to someone being born in the UK but identifies more with the country that their parents were born in, even if they haven't lived there.

Nor have I....all I see is a guy really enjoying himself.

Because that is their choice . I would always respect a persons choice . I am sure you would appreciate people respecting your choice to identify as what you are comfortable with .
If Alesha or Louis identity as black then the right thing to do is to allow them that freedom of choice without questioning it or putting your preference on them

Exactly right.

I have said that its their choice. It's fine for me to questioned their choice, as long as I'm not rude about it. People questioned other people's choices all the time. Maybe you don't, but others do.

You specifically said on a previous post that. Louis . Alesha and someone else ( can't remember who ) were not black that they were mixed race . Our point is that they are who they chose to be not who you chose them to be

By all means question them if you ever meet them but no point in asking us why that is their choice !
Just respect it as is

I think it's good to see someone from a "serious" career background showing another side to their character and personality. I like the way that it seems natural on him and that he's not having to pretend to be enjoying it.

Whilst I cannot share the same political views as Ed Balls, it's good to see his human side and his sense of humour. He's working hard and whilst I can't see him going all the way to the final, I am very impressed by his excellent sens of timing. He's maybe not particularly light on his feet yet, but he is way better than I had anticipated and I'm looking forward to seeing how he does with his next ballroom dance.

In keeping with the topic of the thread, I'm so glad he wasn't in the dance off at the weekend - I hate to think of the backlash if someone green had been eliminated.

Because they are mixed race. I'm not saying that they have to be anything. I'm just saying my point of view.

You have your opinion, I have mine. Let's leave it at that.

Its a tricky issue and Strictly being a talent show with a public vote, it means a black/mixed race dancer as to be exceptional and even then they might not win see Ricky Whittle and Natalie Gumede. Also the less able dancers from that background can find themselves into dances off early (Tameka) or multiple times (Jamelia)

But people vote for different reasons, I can say I never have voted on race, its about ability and likeability for me

When considering it in the context of the topic under discussion and bearing in mind the show has a public voting element, the important point is less how they self-identify and more how they are perceived by the voting public.

Generally I completely agree with Ann_Dancer, gorlagon and Mrs Moose. We all have unconscious biases and it's silly to argue otherwise. Equally, suggesting that some people vote according to the influence those biases are exercising over them is not the same as accusing DS posters of being racist. We're a tiny sample of the Strictly audience.

Regarding the earlier point of the number of black/mixed race winners as representative (or overly so) of the proportion of the population who are BME...wouldn't a more meaningful statistic be how the winners reflect the breakdown of total contestants? I don't have the stats to hand but if, for argument's and simplicity's sake, there have been 120 white and 30 BME contestants, you could expect 1 BME winner to every 4 white winners.

I made my earlier post in response to this comment in another person's post


I responded that way simply because there was some suggestion that a person cannot describe themselves as "black" if they are not PURELY black.

Raising questions around racial purity is always likely to raise eyebrows. On that basis, I scarcely think the perception of a TV viewing audience as a medium for assessing "racial purity" is appropriate... or is there perhaps some suggestion that the viewing audience can, by simply looking at someone on TV whose skin is not Caucasian, assess the degree of "racial mixing" in their heritage and label them black or "mixed" according to an arbitrary shade chart?

I explained the calculations as best I could without going into great detail. I could go into detail describing how each of the calculations is obtained, but it would turn into an essay on basic probability theory, which would be a long post and I do not think it would be particularly relevant to the discussion.

The calculation of the combined probability for both weeks is the probability of at least one non-white contestant in the first week multiplied by the conditional probability of one in the second week (ie assuming there is one in the first week). This is 48% x 40% (ie 0.48 x 0.4) which is 19%.

As far as assuming they are all of equal abilty is concerned, well, obviously they are not. I was only trying to answer the question posted by Mrs Moose which specified "dancing ability set aside". I provide the probabilities based on that assumption.

As I said in my first post,I take no view on the debate. I only provided the numbers to a question which was asked.

My friend is mixed race (white mum, black father) and she never calls herself black or white, she just says she's mixed race if people for whatever reason seem curious and ask her (otherwise she'll never elaborate for the hell of it). She's got lighter skin than her father, but is darker than her mother, so she tends to feel not enough of either and is gets weird confusion from people at times, but she just deals with it and lives with the ignorance.

Mixed race (black and white) is not the same as mixed nationality.
Some may go by one nationality more, like my ex colleague who is half Italian and English but onlysays he's Italian because he was/still is embarassed by his English side (he felt he thought being Italian was more interesting and he prefers the Italian culture over the English one despite being born and bred in England and pretty much being English aside from his Italian surname).
My friend is mixed race and never calls herself black or white, as she's both, but yes, some mixed race people say one over the other depending on reasons like, they might look more like mum/dad, and also in some cases mixed race children get bullied for being black despite being mixed race and so as they get older they can feel the harsh side of prejudice because half of them is black and so feel this feirce loyalty to really represent that side of them more. I know it might seem strange logic to some, but that has been a reason I've understood when I used to be a part of a bullying discussion group when at Uni.