A friend once told me that a comment cannot be deemed sexist if it is the truth, and this is the same argument that the UKIP Treasurer, Stuart Wheeler, is using to back his assertions that women are not competitive enough to be handed the top jobs in the boardroom.
Wheeler is quoted as saying: “I would like to challenge the idea that it is necessary to have a lot of women or a particular number on a board,” before continuing, “Business is very, very competitive and you should take the performance of women in another competitive area, which is sport where {men} have no strength advantage. Chess, bridge, poker – women come absolutely nowhere. I think that just has to be borne in mind.”
These maelstrom-stirring words were delivered at a debate on “gender quotas” in London, and opponents immediately hit out at Wheeler by calling him sexist; an allegation he vehemently denies.
“Intellectually at least they are as good as men. I don’t accept the comment is sexist – it is simply true if you look at the statistics,” Said Wheeler who in 2003 finished 33rd at the World Series of Poker Main Event.
The news comes just weeks after Wheelers fellow UKIP constituent, Godfrey Bloom, suggested that Britain shouldn’t be giving aid to countries in bongo bongo land; a comment that Bloom denies is racist because it’s also true. The transgendered and handicapped had better be on their guard.
The founder of PokerPlayer magazine, David Woods, has returned fire in an article in the Telegraph that calls Wheelers view ‘nonsense’ and cites the success of female poker pros Victoria Coren, Vanessa Selbst, Jennifer Harman, Kathy Liebert, Annette Obrestad, Vanessa Rousso and Liv Boeree as evidence that women can compete with men in the higher circles of poker.
“It’s lazy to suggest that the lack of women is down to a lack of competitiveness – and completely leftfield to go on and argue that this ‘explains’ why so few women have joined British boardrooms at the executive level.” Said Woods.
I recently conducted a series of interviews with females involved in the world of poker, and sexism was the topic of discussion. You should check out the first two published featuring Xuan Liu and Michelle Orpe.
Rivers Casino Pittsburgh Facing Claims of Racism
The Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh has delivered a four-page letter to Allegheny County Councilwoman Amanda Green Hawkins defending their organization against allegations of racism.
The allegations surfaced after a black motorcycle gang, known as the Ruff Ryders, held an event at the casinos Drum Bar that was closed down prematurely. The casino advised the gang that the event was shut down because the crowds exceeded the capacity of the club, but the gang’s president has a diferent theory.
“I think it was race because any other Friday night they never done that, and I’ve been down there a few times where the numbers were the same,” The Club President Kenneth Wright told KDKA.
To add further fuel to the fire, a resident DJ has since come forward to allege that he has been told not to play ‘black music’ at the casino.
“It was an ‘80’s night that I was DJing and I played Whodini’s Friends, which is an ‘80’s song, and this supervisor — I’m not sure what his job title was — ran up to me and specifically said, “Don’t play this ‘explicit word’ rap music,” DJ Bill Bara told KDKA’s Jon Delano.
The discussion moved forward and Bara told Delano that he was told not to play ‘black music.’
The casino will be meeting Councilwomen Green Hawkins for a face to face sometime in the next seven days.
