The new race row involving Ms Abbott comes two weeks after she was forced to apologise for saying ‘white people love to divide and rule’ following the trial of the killers of black teenager Stephen Lawrence.
Politics graduate Jade Knight, 25, told yesterday how she approached Ms Abbott about the chances of work after recognising her at a branch of Boots in London’s Piccadilly.
"I went downstairs and found Ms Abbott and said I hoped she didn’t mind me asking her, but if there was any kind of work I could do for her, I would love the opportunity.‘She said, “You’d be better off working for a white Conservative. You’re a black conservative, you don’t do the black thing.” I couldn’t believe she had said it.
‘She was basically accusing me of selling out, which is not true. I told her being a conservative wasn’t going against my heritage. Anyone who understands black culture knows black culture can be very conservative.
I thought she would understand that as she is educated.’
British-born Ms Knight, whose father is a Nigerian immigrant, went to school at a London comprehensive before gaining her degree. She is not a member of the Conservative Party but regards herself as a ‘social conservative’."...
She explained to Ms Abbott that she was a committed Christian and had become a conservative with a small ‘c’ after working with disadvantaged black and Hispanic children in America.
‘Many were badly behaved and came from broken homes with no male figure and surrounded by crack addicts,’ she said. ‘I had lived for a while with an aunt and uncle in Georgia in America where most black parents were married and the kids were much better behaved.
‘It convinced me that social conservatism, with its emphasis on family values, is right.
‘I listed for Ms Abbott well-known black American conservatives like Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell. She just said “America is different” and “Goodbye”. I wished her a nice day and was left totally bewildered.’
Ms Knight inherited her love of politics from her father, a lecturer in politics. ‘He made me watch Channel 4 News every day,’ she recalls. However, it did not lead her to embrace his support for Labour. She voted Lib Dem in the 2005 General Election and backed David Cameron in 2010.
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Thanks for editing so nicely! :)
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