‘Racist’ tweets take aim at Harry and Meghan’s baby
A ‘racist’ tweet about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s baby has seen a UK lawyer suspended from her job.
Joanna Toch of Family Law Cafe had responded to a tweet from UK columnist Julie Burchill, who wrote, “What a missed opportunity. They could have called it Georgina Floydina!”
This was seen as a callout of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, who had both spoken out about racism and the Black Lives Matter movement in the past.
In response, Toch commented, “No Doria? Don’t black names matter?” in a reference to Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland.
#JulieBurchill and #JoannaToch's Twitter accounts have now been deactivated. Well done Twitter 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾❤️ pic.twitter.com/hbf18KLQgo
— Cromwell (@Cromwell606) June 7, 2021
After deleting and apologising for the tweet, Toch was suspended from her role.
“I am very sorry for the comment and what I saw as a joke. I’ve fought during my professional life against racism which is abhorrent. I’m not a judge and I have children of colour and I apologise unreservedly,” she wrote.
In a statement, the directors of the law firm said, “FLC considers her comments as offensive, unacceptable and highly contradictory to the inclusive manner in which FLC has always and will continue to work with members of all communities in managing the challenges of matrimonial and family disputes.”
Burchill also lost her job at The Telegraph due to the offending tweet, with many followers taking issue with her referring to the baby as “it”.
In an initial attempt to defend the tweet, she responded with: “I called the baby IT as a nod to non-binary bollocks … Have a good time with your pearl-clutching life-wasting woo-woo, ya clowns!”
Burchill’s social media activity has caused her trouble in the past, having been found to have defamed journalist and activist Ash Sarkar in a series of tweets and Facebook posts in December 2020.
Burchill and Toch have since deleted their Twitter accounts.
Image: 9honey