A warm hearted family who wanted to become foster parents have been rejected for using the “inappropriate” words “white foreigner”.
Dave Mott and his wife Sue Sarah, who have three children, including a disabled son, are naturally stunned and disappointed. Although they could appeal, they feel it would be pointless as their local social services have no confidence in them.
Dave and Sue Sarah had been attending a four day fostering workshop in Peterborough and were late one day due to a road accident. They told their tutor that the accident involved “white foreigners”, Dave could see they were of Eastern European origin.
No reference was made about this was made during the workshop, his comment were never discussed further, so he naturally thought no more
about it. He was later told it was felt that he could use other similar “inappropriate” comments which an ethnic child might find upsetting.
Peterborough is extremely multi-national and Dave has a good Asian friend known as Mick the Hat because of the turban he wears. Mick doesn’t mind this name and has a good laugh about it. Dave could have provided dozens of references, including some from ethnic backgrounds. He is plainly not racist.
I would have thought the most important requirements for fostering were providing a loving and stable home to a young person who comes from a very unsettled background. Dave and his wife would have welcomed them with open arms, their secure base would also have helped plug the gap in the shortage of foster families.
Being politically correct – and insanely so in this case – has lost countless children the chance to enjoy and benefit from being part of the Mott household, who are entitled to feel offended too. Has any consideration been given to their feelings about this?
I naturally feel it was Peterborough Social Services whose actions were inappropriate here, what do you think?
As I read this I could feel the bile rising. One of my two pet hates [the other being ID cards]. How do such people get into these positions of power and influence in the first place?
I cannot see the offence that is caused by a factual description. Surely the basis of racism (or any other “ism” come to that) is discrimination. I fail to see how a factual comment (presumably the person in question was (or was perceived to be) a “white foreigner”.
I welcome David Cameron’s attempt to intiate debate on these issues.
It’s true Jim, I can’t even see the ‘offence’. Where?
If anything, it’s Peterborough Social Services that is causing the ‘offence’ by wrongly recast this seemingly loving married couple as racists, which they obviously are not.
To me, it’s not even about PC running amok, it’s about being too thin-skinned for their good, and denying a child a loving home for no good reason, ends up being a burden we all have to shoulder.
Heads deserve to roll for this – and I hope they do.
Poor old Dave. To be honest, he was “jumping through PC hoops” mentioning that the foreigners were white. He’d have probably been escorted from the building if he had said foreigner or black foreigner.
Living in a world where your every word is subject to scrutiny/evaluation isn’t much fun. I can understand people’s desire to go back to a time when this dimension wasn’t an issue. That feeling is precipitated by this sort of commonplace madness.
I agree Jim. we live in a very right wing country ( some say a bit like South Africa) , we have to be SO politically correct, that even a ‘factual’ description must be almost “vague”.
Frankly I am fed up with it…
Ps..At school I had a friend who wore a turban and we called him “Goog”…. He loved it.
I was called ‘irish” because of my hair colour… none of which was upsetting..
Simon, I’d always thought that political correctness was actually a product of the left during the 90s – a rather reactionary left.
I have known Dave for a number of years and have always found him to be an honest and caring individual. I believe that Dave and Sarah would make excellent foster parents and it is unfair of the social services to deny a child the right to a loving home when he said nothing wrong and is clearly not a racist, Steve S.
This is bethany davids daughter,( aged 14 ) my dad is the most caring and the best dad any girl could ask for (could have been the best carer) i have never seen him get angry or lose his temper , he never shouts or raises his voice, he just sits down and solves any problems i may have by talking to me. My dad would have been the best foster carer any child could have asked for. My dad is treats every person the same what ever there race.
Beth
This is ridiculous. The only thing that matters is that this couple could have brought a needy child into a loving family. And why didn’t the tutor discuss it with him? The fact that this was not done leaves a very nasty taste in my mouth.
Bethany, your father has done nothing wrong – I’m black, and can tell by this story that your father is nothing but an asset to our society – if anything, our society should be doing all it can to help your family – your testimony is proof of that.
It’s Peterborough Social Services who seem to be the ones that are prejudice, not your father.
I think we all agree that a miscarriage of justice has been done here, thanks particularly to Courtney and Bethany for your comments. I’m sure it’s never too late to say sorry, a little word that goes a long way if truly meant.
Sooner or later, people are going to get very tired of all this power that is weilded by unelected people who look for trouble where it doesn’t exist.
Would this be Tory-controlled Peterborough council, Ellee???
I met this guy on a fishing holiday in Canada a few years back. I have to say that P.C. have got this Politically so INCORRECT. I have met his Family too, and they OOZE love and affection, and some poor child is going to miss out on that.
I have to ask “What should he have called them” They were White Forgeiners, they were Eastern European Immigrants !!
Inamicus, Party politics don’t come into this, and it is not a line the Conservative Party endorses.
Derek, Thank you for your comment, and I agree that if you are white and foreign, how else can you be described?
Maybe we don’t need the colour word? maybe just johnny foreigner would do?
This is the way the system works. Its so tightly controlled and deliberately so because the child is at risk here if the decision isnt right. They just wont risk it. While I sympathise with the family, Im not particularly suprized at this.
How difficult is it though?
I read about 4 muslims in GB who took a 15 year old Scottish school boy.. tortured him, stabbed him 13 times and poured fuel on him before setting him alight.
Disgusting.
What is a worry is the reaction to this here. Everyone said.. “Yep typical….. etc etc (if you know what I mean).
So, it is no longer ‘race’ here but religion….
i fear it is gpoing to get worse…
Even in PC-speak, I just don’t know what is concievably wrong with saying “white foreigner.”
The power of officialdom needs to be curbed. Who is going to do it?
It will take nothing short of a complete purge of the incubus of Cultural Marxist ideas and ideology, starting with our academic institutions, teacher training and social work colleges, and working through our Public Institutions and the mass media until everyone who practices this perverted creed is removed from any position of power or authority.
As to who will do it, in my opinion it will take either bloody revolution or a Christian revival of the magnitude that occurred under John Wesley and George Whitfield. Cultural Marxism is now so entrenched that the current political system is, I believe, beyond redemption without either violent overthrow or Divine intervention.
Being politically correct – and insanely so in this case – has lost countless children the chance to enjoy and benefit from being part of the Mott household, who are entitled to feel offended too. Has any consideration been given to their feelings about this?
To which the Cultural Marxist idelology underlying Peterborough Social Services’ weasel words will be: “Of course Mr Mott is not entitled to be offended. He is a MAN. Therefore, as an ‘oppressor’ by virtue of his gender, he is personally responsible for all the injustices committed by all men against every woman who ever lived since the beginning of time. But most unforgivable of all, he is a WHITE MAN. That makes him personally responsible for all the crimes committed by ‘oppressor’ groups against ‘victim’ groups since time began.”
I am absolutely appalled by this story & I cannot imagine that the social worker in question is acting within her authority or in line with the councils policy. I hope your exposure of the story will help in resolving the situation. good luck!
Thanks for all your efforts Ellee, all down to you this story will run in the daily express tommorow,i never relised the power of the Blogger,also thankyou everyone for all your positive comments.
David Mott and family.
David, I have just had the Peterborough Evening Telegraph on the phone too and they want to follow this story as well. I hope it ends in a positive result for you.
I hope they get the chance- the social worker involved should not be allowed around children if he/she wants correct thinking to take precedence over a loving family.
Our experience as prospective foster parents with Peterborough City Council was uncannily similar – innocent remark – then bang! hit you with it taken totally out of context weeks later. So we feel for Dave and Sarah. Unlike them, we complained bitterly. Council’s investigation was a joke. So we took the matter to the Local Government Ombudsman and won a formal apology and compensation (which we gave to a charity). Our big mistake was to let our hearts lead our heads, and deal with people who we knew weren’t up to the job. Why did they reject us? Because we asked questions and queried some of the (nonsensical) information we were given. Ask the course leader what something on an OHP means – “I don’t know; I copied it out of a book”; that kind of thing.
This did have a happy ending. After picking ourselves up, we went to another fostering agency who have been everything that anyone could want for, and have been fostering successfully since then.
So, if Dave and Sarah read this and want to try again – check out other fostering agencies as rigorously as they will (quite rightly) check you. And to complain forcibly to PCC – it’s the only thing that can possibly improve matters. As local council tax payers, we find their conduct outrageous – every child not placed with “their” own foster carers will cost them far, far more to place elsewhere.
Good luck!
If P and M B would like to contact me i would love to speek to them,they may be able to help me push this a bit more and stop others suffering the same outcome,and how many more people are there out there?TELEPHONE 01354692564 just ask for David.
Dave – tried to call you several times, but answerphone. Since we have to be v careful not tp publicly reveal anything that could identify at which a particular looked child is living with us, we’re afraid we have to be a bit cloak-and-dagger about this. We hope you understand.
To answer your point – we don’t know if this has happened to other people in Peterborough (but nor have we looked). If you do decide to complain to PCC, please feel free to refer to “P and M B of Peterborough” who, following a preparatory fostering training course in 2001 made a formal complaint which bears similarities to your own reported situation and which was resolved by the Local Government Ombudsman in 2002. They’ll know who we are! You could mention that we received formal assurances that practice would be changed such that if somebody said something in training or assessment, it would be both be recorded in writing and discussed with the person quickly.
Good luck again!
[…] Foster family make national press By Ellee The Mott family have today made national headline news after being rejected as foster parents for saying the words “white foreigner”, which was highlighted on my blog last week. It is a page lead story in The Daily Express today, with two photos of the family. […]
QUOTE “As I read this I could feel the bile rising. One of my two pet hates [the other being ID cards]. How do such people get into these positions of power and influence in the first place?” ENDQUOTE
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