STACEY ROW
Stacey Dooley’s ‘white saviour’ post made me ‘uncomfortable’, claims Ugandan High Commissioner
Julian Peter Moto said that they wanted to keep pictures of kids off social media but said that the country needed aid from the UK
THE Ugandan High Commissioner was drafted in to give his say on the race row between MP David Lammy and Strictly star Stacey Dooley.
Julian Peter Moto said that the documentary-makers snap with the black baby was "uncomfortable" - but said that Comic Relief had done "nothing wrong."
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Husband and wife duo Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes had invited him onto This Morning's sofa to share his thoughts on the controversial subject that has been at the centre of many talking points across the country this week.
Eamonn opened the interview with the stark question: do you need our charity or not?
Mr Moto replied: "First of all the relationship that exists between Uganda and the United Kingdom is very strong, it is very warm.
"Uganda needs UK aid in terms of for the provision of education, support to health sector, good governance, and supporting the refugees in northern Uganda.
"Stacey did a great job. Comic Relief is also doing a good job in Uganda but we are not comfortable with pictures of children in the social media."
Uganda needs UK aid and Stacey did a great job.
Julian Peter Moto, the Ugandan High Commissioner
Ruth asked him: "Is that just because it is a young child?"
He agreed: "Yes, because it is a young child.
"There's nothing wrong with what Comic Relief is doing but we are not comfortable with pictures of children in the social media.
"We want to protect the interest of Ugandan children on the social media."
"We need the donation to come through, we need to corporate with charities like Comic Relief and we need projects to be portrayed in social media rather than children.
This comes after Philip Schofield blasted Mr Lammy on yesterday's show, probing the politician on why he had snubbed the charity's offer of collaboration.
There's nothing wrong with what Comic Relief is doing but we are not comfortable with pictures of children in the social media.
Mr Moto
He also said that that stopping "well-meaning" white people from helping others was "racist in itself."
Just days ago, Stacey, 31, was accused of "promoting unhelpful stereotypes" by Mr Lammy who claimed "many black Brits feel deeply uncomfortable with Comic Relief's poverty porn".
He said Stacey had failed to "educate herself", adding: "Her Instagram conveys the age-old trope that is her as the heroine and the black child as the victim and we have to stop it".
The Strictly champ hit back at the North London MP and asked if the issue was that she was white and that he "should go over there and try to raise awareness".
Comic Relief then waded in on the Red Nose race row and accused Mr Lammy, 46, of ignoring requests to help them in Africa and the offer's "still open".
The world does not need any more white saviours. As I've said before, this just perpetuates tired and unhelpful stereotypes.
MP David Lammy
The charity said in a statement this morning: "We are really grateful that Stacey Dooley, an award-winning and internationally acclaimed documentary maker, agreed to go to Uganda to discover more about projects the British people have funded there and make no apologies for this.
"She has filmed and reported on challenging issues all over the world, helping to put a much-needed spotlight on issues that affect people’s lives daily.
"In her film, people working with or supported by Comic Relief projects tell their own stories in their own words. We have previously asked David Lammy if he would like to work with us to make a film in Africa and he has not responded.
"The offer is still open.”
Mr Lammy, who has been the MP for the north London borough since 2010, said on Twitter: "The world does not need any more white saviours. As I've said before, this just perpetuates tired and unhelpful stereotypes.
"Let's instead promote voices from across the continent of Africa and have serious debate."
Hitting back at the MP, Stacey wrote: "David, is the issue with me being white? (Genuine question) ...because if that's the case, you could always go over there and try raise awareness?
"Comic relief have raised over 1 billion pounds since they started. I saw projects that were saving lives with the money. Kids lives."
A child should never be used as an accessory for likes.
One of Stacey's Instagram followers
Lammy, who is of Guyanese descent, replied: "Comic Relief has a huge platform and privilege and it is the first and major way children learn about Africa.
"If they only show Africans as helpless victims to be pitied, children miss the broader picture of huge progress in Africa.
"Comic Relief should be helping to establish an image of African people as equals to be respected rather than helpless victims to be pitied.
"It would therefore be better for people who actually live there to speak about the continent they know.
"Many black Brits feel deeply uncomfortable with Comic Relief's poverty porn. It's my job to represent their views however uncomfortable.
"They want their children to have rounded views about Africa and these types of campaign woefully fail to do that."
In an interview today with BBC's Victoria Derbyshire he said: "The phrase "white saviour" I did not coin it.
"It's been around for over 100 years.
"It's this idea that somehow we are privileged, those of us who are Westerners and that Africans are victims that we can save them.
He added: "It's a kind of missionary idea and it's deeply problematic because what it does is it keeps the continent of Africa poor, it keeps people in their place.
WHITE SAVIOUR
"It doesn't empower them, it doesn't empower the audience."
Stacey was also blasted for "using African children as accessories" after she wrote she was "obsessed" with the youngsters on Instagram.
Images of Stacey cuddling one of the children prompted fans to urge the star to meet up with activist group No White Saviors, who criticise the white saviour complex, during her time in the country.
One blasted: "Come on Stace I love your journalism but please check out @nowhitesaviors You have a responsibility to not perpetuate this narrative on your feed."
Another of her followers wrote: "You should be using your platform to challenge the narrative not confirm it.
POVERTY PORN
"Please do the right thing and take this image down.";
A third posted: "This is not ok. I hope you take this down, and if you do not understand why this is wrong please visit @nowhitesaviors. Educate yourself! Learn from this mistake and do better."
And the negative stream of comments continued to flood her Instagram thick and fast, with a further writing: "Name that child.....oh wait, you probably can’t.
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"African children aren’t here for your photo ops."
"Please take the time to visit @nowhitesaviors and learn why we must do better when working of volunteering abroad with communities that differ from our own. A child should never be used as an accessory for likes."
The activist group also got in touch with Stacey, offering to meet with the star to discuss what was wrong with her approach.
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