Sincerely, Saskia

Of all the award shows to bring around this much controversy, I didn’t think it would be the BAFTA’s. Mainly because, I don’t know anyone who even watches the BAFTA’s. They seem to come and go quietly in between the Golden Globes and the Oscars and don’t warrant more attention than acknowledging a round up post of the winners at the end of the night and smiling if someone I care about won. Well done Wumi Mosaku and Ryan Coogler. 

Speaking of the cast of Sinners, co stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo, while up on stage introducing the next category, were racially abused by activist John Davidson who has Tourette’s Syndrome. Davidson tic’d and screamed out ‘n****r’ and has said he left the ceremony shortly afterwards because of it.

Now, one of the things we struggle with most as a society is knowing that two things can be true at once. With that said, can people with Tourette’s Syndrome control their tics?  No. Does that mean that Lindo and Jordan aren’t allowed to be mortified by what they experienced? Absolutely not. Watching the pair freeze in shock when that hard ‘r’ echoed through the ceremony made me physically sick on their behalf. Not because I haven’t heard it before, not because I haven’t used it before, but because the moment was so unassuming that – at least for people watching –  there was absolutely no warning, no indication that something like that was about to occur. And this is where we can place the blame firmly at the BBC and BAFTA’s door.

You see, shouting out ‘n****r’ was not the first time Davidson had tic’d that night, hurling homophobic language towards host Alan Cummings because of a joke he made about Paddington Bear, but it’s the only one the audience watching at home heard because the BBC decided saving the Black community pain and embarrassment wasn’t worth their time during editing. What was worth their time was editing out a speech that highlighted Congo, Sudan and Palestine – as was the homophobic insult. Of course, ‘Free Palestine’ is what they deem an abhorrent thing to mention on a platform as big as the BAFTA stage, but ‘n****r’, well, that’s just another Sunday.

The BBC has a duty of care that they failed to uphold that night, and it’s as simple as that. As a Black woman, I can attest to the fact that we’re often told to let it go in favour of the other person, and I think I can speak for a lot of us when I say we’re so tired of letting things go and accepting whatever half-hearted apology is thrown our way – and I’m not talking about Davidson here.

The BBC stopped making this about Davidson’s Tourette’s when they aired that part of the show unedited – doing him and the Tourette’s community just as much of a disservice, if you ask me. The sheer audacity to censor the genuine concern for nations crippled by genocide but leave in the use of a word that has been weaponised against the Black community for centuries at the hands of white people – it’s an insane take for an institution that claims to be objective and presents as the standard for our global press. 

The conversation surrounding Davidson, Jordan and Lindo has absolutely gone off course. Suddenly, Black people are ableist, Dr Shola is getting grilled by Piers Morgan in an interview where he really believes he has the upper hand and a shred of credibility. Black people are being forced to explain their pain, their anger, their uncomfortability, because Davidson has Tourette’s Syndrome. Why is no one noticing that the problem doesn’t necessarily lie with Davidson but it absolutely lies with the institution of the media and how that often neglects the safeguarding on Black people?

People are so quick to assess the mental health of Davidson, the struggle he must go through, so we know you’re capable of that empathy, but it never seems to make its way over to the Black community when we’re not being killed mercilessly. That’s not the extent of the Black struggle and it’s only relatable for a lot of us by proximity. Where as the micro aggressions and, in this case, blatant disregard for our wellbeing and safeguarding are issues we face daily. The first thing people want to tell us is to stop overreacting while we watch the empathy, the sympathy, the care, fly over to the perpetrator.

No one is condemning Davidson for having Tourette’s Syndrome. Most people understand tics are involuntary and if this had happened, wasn’t broadcast but somehow we all found out it took place later, the reaction would have been incredibly different.

We cannot forget, the BAFTA’s were not live, which means that they had ample time to edit out the offensive slur. Tourette’s Syndrome is a lot to deal with and as we know already, tics aren’t voluntary and aren’t always reminiscent of how that person truly feels – which Davidson has said is the case with him – but this fact does not diminish the impact that it has had. And with every Black person who has stood up this week and said something, this is the point they are trying to get across. As we know, this has been met with nothing but ignorance and hostility. It was bad enough the Black people in the audience had to witness it live, but that wasn’t good enough for the BBC who had to then traumatise us further by broadcasting across the country and giving it the life to live forever online. This institution just can’t seem to stop finding new ways to lose its credibility. 

When it comes to Black pain, people seem to think it’s born out of making a fuss over nothing. Black people advocate for everyone oppressed and we never receive the same support back. When it comes to racism especially, people are so quick to try and find alternative meanings, but for us, we know where it comes from, we know what they meant but it’s never fully accepted.

Racism is never a mistake and people need to stop treating it as if it just happens. Let’s say a kid goes online and comments ‘monkey’ under the photo of a Black person, the internet does what it does best and tracks them down and then suddenly there’s an outpouring of, ‘OMG, don’t ruin their lives over one mistake’. Between thinking about posting and then posting that ‘monkey’ comment, or between the incident with Davidson happening, editors hearing it and then deciding that it was fine to leave in, there were plenty of opportunities to decide to not make the racist choice. In those moments, racists hiding behind anonymity online or institutions known for having a diversity problem, will always choose the racist option. And we could go into the hierarchy of isms that most definitely exists, no matter how uncomfortable it is to talk about, but all I’ll say on the matter is we know that racism and the care it warrants is firmly placed towards the bottom.

I have so much empathy for Jordan and Lindo – who handled the situation with stunning grace – because I know first hand what it’s like to be a guest in a country and to be welcomed by racism – intentional or not – and I can only imagine how embarrassing that must have felt on a nation’s stage being broadcast. But the only embarrassment should be on the BBC and BAFTA’s shoulders to wear.