"Everyone ultimately prefers their own race" - another example of Morrissey expressing himself badly?

Okay, so what did Morrissey mean with this remark? The way it reads could easily lend itself to painting a picture of him as prejudiced. But I have read others state that he was talking about how things generally are - how the general populace prefers their 'own kind'.

Regardless, it has to be said that Morrissey phrased this really badly. I have often thought that whilst his writing talents in songs are often very good indeed, he has some problems in expressing himself well. Perhaps another example of this is in his biography and List of the Lost, both of which have been criticised for some awkward or just plain bad writing.

My overall conclusion on this is that Morrissey is not himself prejudiced but that he likes to play around with controversial topics - which he has always done. In his later career I think his judgement has diminished. Things like claiming his last three albums are his best too, that stands out for me as a flippant and silly thing to say - I don't for one moment think he believes it either. The same is true of his political or racial comments - I think he is just apathetic to how it makes him appear.
 
people are tribal, this is not exactly a novel or controversial concept. it's in our nature and instinct to be tribal, that is what is meant by that statement.

interestingly the people who are exhibiting the most tribal instincts these days are also the ones claiming that racism is everywhere and must be rooted out.
 
i remember in a vogue article years ago jada pinkett smith (blech) said she would never confide in a white woman, or something like that. why was that okay??
 
Most races, most people, most people who have moved to another country, Will prefer their own kind .

It’s human nature and to to difficult to work out...
This is without doubt the most pathetic pound of mud ever thrown in Mozzers direction..
 
I haven't been listening to Morrissey's music for that long, but when watching concert footage I noticed that he sometimes phrases things oddly and mispronounces words when talking to the audience. For some reason, he reminds me of some of my friends in academia who are all brilliant in one way or another and often write well but sometimes have trouble expressing themselves in speech, especially about topics outside their field of expertise. I know that when I get nervous, I sometimes say things that I don't actually mean or that sound harsher than I intended, because I feel I have to say something but have trouble finding the right words quickly.

I do think that some of the issues that he raises should perhaps rather be seen as discussion topics or observations. For instance, I personally do not think that people should stick to their own race/culture/ethnicity but looking around me in this multicultural city that I live in, I can see that many people seem to prefer the company of people who are in one way or another similar to them. Neither do I think that raising questions about why a young actor attends a showbiz party by himself should be interpreted as Morrissey supporting Kevin Spacey.

Then again, you would think that after so many years in the public eye, Morrissey should know better. If he really does not want to be misunderstood, he should either think before he speaks or have someone with better judgment sit in with his interviews and interrupt him when he goes of the rails (I mean, listen to the Der Spiegel interview). And why even speak out about race or the Me Too movement; I much rather hear him talk about his life, his creative process, literature or his clothing choices!
 
Morrissey doesn't prefer his own race though. He clearly has a fetish for Mexicans.
 
What he meant was, "I ultimately prefer my own race."

No, he didn't.

The idea that we all have an unconscious bias towards the group we identify with is part of critical race theory & taught on diversity training courses.
 
Okay, so what did Morrissey mean with this remark? The way it reads could easily lend itself to painting a picture of him as prejudiced. But I have read others state that he was talking about how things generally are - how the general populace prefers their 'own kind'.

Regardless, it has to be said that Morrissey phrased this really badly. I have often thought that whilst his writing talents in songs are often very good indeed, he has some problems in expressing himself well. Perhaps another example of this is in his biography and List of the Lost, both of which have been criticised for some awkward or just plain bad writing.

My overall conclusion on this is that Morrissey is not himself prejudiced but that he likes to play around with controversial topics - which he has always done. In his later career I think his judgement has diminished. Things like claiming his last three albums are his best too, that stands out for me as a flippant and silly thing to say - I don't for one moment think he believes it either. The same is true of his political or racial comments - I think he is just apathetic to how it makes him appear.
So many of his “gaffes” boil down to him phrasing things really, REALLY badly.
I think he has fallen into the trap of believing his own hype as some sort of witty intellectual, spouting insightful one-liners with ease. Smiths-era Morrissey could do that. Early-to-mid 90s Morrissey could, too. Beyond that? Much less so.
He tries so hard to “be Morrissey” that he ends up saying any old shit. His current ‘situation’ is entirely of his own making.
 
So many of his “gaffes” boil down to him phrasing things really, REALLY badly.
I think he has fallen into the trap of believing his own hype as some sort of witty intellectual, spouting insightful one-liners with ease. Smiths-era Morrissey could do that. Early-to-mid 90s Morrissey could, too. Beyond that? Much less so.
He tries so hard to “be Morrissey” that he ends up saying any old shit. His current ‘situation’ is entirely of his own making.

People can read - the first person to rip own race out of context & tweet it knew they were lying for likes & RTs & now it's been repeated so often people think it's true.
 
i do like white people, myself. they're grand. just look at freddie sayers, if you want proof.
I like lots of people...
I met a man for the first time on Wednesday night at work for the first time...He came all the way from Manchester, where he lived, he was the same age as me, he was African by birth, we hit it off straight away .
We only spent two hours in each other’s company.....
So , if people do make an effort to be respectful, it’s all we need to do ...

Who the 4uck is Fred Rifkie?
 
I think he’s referring to the biological animal instinct. It’s how humans survived for a long time and that instinct still effects people’s actions today
 
He's an idiot for saying that out loud. It's exactly what a racist would say. It's really a disastrous thing to say, sowing discord when he should be advocating harmony amongst all people.
 
He's an idiot for saying that out loud. It's exactly what a racist would say. It's really a disastrous thing to say, sowing discord when he should be advocating harmony amongst all people.

It was a silly thing to say at the time without making sure to add detail and clarity
 
He's an idiot for saying that out loud. It's exactly what a racist would say. It's really a disastrous thing to say, sowing discord when he should be advocating harmony amongst all people.

He was trying to say we need to try & get on with each other despite our differences, instead of just attacking each other. He'd been attacked for discussing open borders & Halal & he's obviously not used to the cut & thrust of debate, where you try to make your opponent look like a sh*t. He chats & reads books.

And before Reel gets excited, this is from April 2019. 2 years ago.

sam:
The obvious press assessment is that she is racist, but I haven’t heard her say anything racist.

M:
Neither have I. But if you call someone racist in modern Britain you are telling them that you have run out of words. You are shutting the debate down and running off. The word is meaningless now. Everyone ultimately prefers their own race … does this make everyone racist? The people who reduce every conversation down to a matter of race could be said to be the most traditionally ‘racist’ because everything in life is NOT exclusively a question of race, so why make it so? Diversity can’t possibly be a strength if everyone has ideas that will never correspond. If borders are such terrible things then why did they ever exist in the first place? Borders bring order. I can’t see how opposing Halal slaughter makes me racist when I’ve objected to ALL forms of animal slaughter all of my life.
 
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