Featured Image Credit: LBC
Topics: UK News, Entertainment
Poppy Bilderbeck
Nick Ferrari has faced fierce backlash for claiming to be a person of colour.
This morning, Tuesday, 10 May, Ferrari hosted his breakfast show on British phone-in and talk radio station LBC.
However, while interviewing Michael Bankole, the 63-year-old tried to convince the Black doctoral researcher – whose work focuses on race, racism, and political representation – that he himself is 'of course' a person of colour.
The pair were in discussion about overt racism compared to acts of micro-aggression when Ferrari claimed that he is 'of colour of course because [he is] white'.
He said: "What am I, if I'm not a person of colour? What is white then?"
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Bankole responded: "You are a white man Nick, you are not a person of colour."
According to the Oxford Language dictionary, a 'person of colour' is 'a person who is not white'.
The term is mostly used to describe racial minorities.
Bankole swiftly took to social media to reflect on the interview.
He tweeted: "Nick Ferrari just tried to convince me that, as a white man, he is person of colour. How’s your morning going?"
Listeners have similarly flooded to the platform to express their outrage at Ferrari's comments.
"'Let's not get too hung up on that'.....he says after deciding to start a ridiculous argument for no reason??" one said.
Another wrote: "Extraordinary. Nice that he felt that he was in a position where he could police the language you use to describe the group to which you belong and he doesn’t. The irony of doing that while discussing micro aggressions was completely lost on him. Ignorance, is that an excuse?"
A third agreed: "Love the fact that you’re a phd candidate researching racism (among other things), yet Ferrari has the urge to whitesplain to you what a person of colour is. Wow. Amazing stuff."
"I might never be able to unclench my toes," a final commented.
Another Twitter user re-shared a past tweet that showed footage from an interview between British writer and broadcaster Afua Hirsch and Ferrari.
The user who retweeted the original post wrote: "As Nick Ferrari claims to be a person of colour in order to sidetrack a discussion about racism on his show, it's time to share this again."
The caption to the original tweet reads: "Nick Ferrari to Afua Hirsch: 'Why don’t you leave this country?'
"Plain, in-your-face racism spoken by a plain & in-your-face racist."
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact Stop Hate UK by visiting their website www.stophateuk.org