Blah Blah Flowers

It is race.

Labels: Barack Obama, Democrats, racism, Republicans, United States

Bloomsbury Press put a white girl on the cover of a book about a black girl because 'black covers don't sell'. Is anyone else flashing back to the NME and Melody Maker explaining that they never put black artists and groups on the front cover because that would supposedly automatically drop their sales by tens of thousands each time they did it?

Labels: books, racism

Apparently the BBC are currently running a Celeb Strictly Come Dancing, which just shows you how little attention I pay to Saturday Night Telly if there's no Doctor Who on. Apparently most of the black contestants have been voted off week after week despite performing better (what this judgement is based on isn't explained, so is possibly just an imaginary score in the journo's head used to justify the story) than white contestants who have continued on.

So, it's the public votes that decide who gets kicked off the show. So why does the News of the World act as though it's the BBC's fault and encourage it's readers to contact the BBC to complain that the show is racist? They point out that the black contestants have often done well with the show judges, so surely it's the Great British Public that are at fault here, not Aunty?

Oh wait, News of the World... The Sun... News International... Rupert Murdoch... hates the BBC... silly me, now it all makes perfect sense. Next up, how the BBC caused our rubbish summer.

Labels: BBC, News International, racism, Rupert Murdoch

Because supposedly liberals have been so nasty about that lovely Sarah Palin (NSFW). My entire arse. [via Washington Scandal, via Pandagon.] But then, are some Republicans okay with their casual racism, or is this some sort of humour that doesn't translate over the Atlantic?

Labels: American Presidency, Barack Obama, racism, United States

It was just the other day I was wondering if Asian Dub Foundation were still going. I never bought any of their albums in the 90s, they were a bit too fierce and brown for a Britpop kid like myself, not that I was racist you understand, I did like Echobelly after all.

Anyway, the new album, 'Punkara' is out and sounds great. Some tracks have been put on other blogs, but my favourite track has got to be the incredibly funny and dancetastic Asian Dub Foundation Versus Dame Iggy of Pop- "No Fun".

Labels: music, racism

Pharyngula has this story that some racist little fucknugget is selling these anti-Obama t-shirts in the country that gave us Citizens United Not Timid. Anyone involved in either of these needs prompt ejecting from the human race before they foul it any further.

Labels: racism, United States

Crude historical depictions of African Americans as ape-like may have disappeared from mainstream U.S. culture, but research presented in a new paper... reveals that many Americans subconsciously associate blacks with apes. Interesting, depressing and as yet inconclusive when it comes to people of other ethnic backgrounds.

Christians wrong about heaven, says Bishop. Yet again it's the people who are supposed to know The Good Book best who know the least about what it says inside.

Labels: Christianity, racism

Dermot O'Leary likes racism.

Labels: racism, stupidity, Television

Following up on this, here's a case of a man who actually sent letter bombs to addresses. Again, he's white. And again, the words 'terror' and 'terrorist' do not appear in the report. People of a darker hue of skin gets labelled as terrorists even when they are guilty of no crime. White people can be convicted of crimes relating to a desire to cause terror in a section of the community and don't get called what they are.

"I was hoping to achieve a bomb scare, to shut down a building, but cause no real harm to any individual," he said.

Of course, you didn't intend to harm anyone by sending fully functional letter bombs did you? You terrorist arse.

Labels: racism, terrorism, United Kingdom

Following up on this story, the second trial of Robert Cottage has finished and he's got two and a half years for stockpiling chemicals in his house because he thought a race war was coming and he wanted to be ready.

The news of this has been as annoyingly low-key as the reports around the time that he was originally charged, so far I've seen it on the BBC and the Guardian, and even there it's already slipped off the front page. Men with skins of darker hue have been treated far worse for far less, and only last week the wife of one of the 7/7 bombers talked about how she's been treated by British society despite the fact her husband deliberately concealed from her what he was up to, only for some papers to turn around and practically call her a lying bitch.

Even the judge sounded almost as though she was apologetic for having to sentence Cottage to prison as he was obviously such a great guy: "I am satisfied it was Cottage's views on how he put it 'the evils of uncontrolled immigration' would lead to civil war which would be imminent and inevitable." Those wacky racists huh? I can only assume that this time, the court wasn't told about his desire to kill Tony Blair. As it is, he's already served half his sentence, he's lucky that terrorism would appear to be considered a brown man's game, then the Government would have preferred to lock him up without trial.

God this is depressing.

Labels: 07/07/05, BNP, British National Party, courts, Islam, media, newspapers, racism, terrorism, United Kingdom

Tremble puny humans, your God/dess is angry. Oh yes in fuck she is.

So I awoke, as is the fashion, and had spent a while rereading my Phonogram issues (I was surprised to realise there was a scene about halfway through that I'd forgotten, thus rendering half of the climax unintelligible, so it was nice to read that as though new, and get a whole new appreciation for the last chapter). In a pleasant frame of mind I turned on my computer and connected to the Webternets to see if there were any developments in the cretins trying to detonate parts of London story.

But then there's this, the latest salvo in the Daily Mail War Against Muslims (Well, Anyone Whose Family Hasn't Been Living in the UK for About Five Hundred Years Really). The article, magistrate walks out in the middle of a court case because the defendant was wearing a niqab. In the case of the teaching assistant last year I personally felt that wearing a niqab when you're supposed to be helping kids to learn to read wasn't particularly helpful but that's not the case here. It's the comments on this article that really got my goat, full of unhidden racism and blatant stupidity, such as Mike from Cyprus who asks how can [The Magistrate] be sure it is the defendant under the veil. Or Fred James who, I can reveal, is mistaken when he says No-one wearing a mask would be allowed in court so what's the difference? I thought we lived in a Christian country but perhaps I was mistaken?

I hope all these shits had really big plans for today which have been ruined by the heavy rain.

Labels: Daily Mail, Islam, racism

Minister says ID Cards will become 'a great British institution'. Yeah, just like (insert your own three large long-term failures here).

Sorry, I know you're expecting incisive political comment but I'm choking up over the news that Bernard Manning has died. No, wait, not 'choked up', what's the word what's the word? Oh, that's right, 'celebrating'. Marcus Brigstocke sums it up nicely. Farewell you evil, bigoted, racist fuck.

Labels: Government, ID cards, racism

Oh fuck off, fuck off, fuck off! What fucked-up focus group was it that has encouraged New Labour to so blatantly play to the racists in the audience? And this latest idiotic idea from Ruth Kelly? Where is the proof that sharing a common language affects integration? Where would be the safeguards to make sure that this doesn't just ghettoise vulnerable people in our country even more? Where is the proof that immigrants were going around saying "Hurrah! This country's ridiculously helpful translation services mean I never have to bother learning the language!"*? Never mind that English speakers have historically tended not to make as much of an effort learning foreign languages as they have learning ours.

*And if you are a lazy immigrant intended to use translation services rather than learn English I'd suggest that you don't come to Barnet, as the council closed the service entirely a few years back to save money.

Labels: immigration, Labour, racism

No one will be charged in Celebrity Big Brother racism case.

Labels: racism, Television

So I read this story about a woman who went into a 'Jamba Juice' (which I presume is some American purveyor of liquid refreshment that hasn't yet made it over the ocean, unlike Starbucks) and got a receipt which describes her as a dyke. This made me angry. Then I read the comments, which included pearls of wisdom that the clerk wasn't at fault for being offensive (and hey, how is 'dyke' offensive when it's something the gay community uses itself?!) but the woman for being offended, and hey, it's not like she was called something 'really' offensive like 'ni@@er'. That made me angrier. Then I went over to Feministing and read this. Angry is no longer the emotion, I think I've invented a whole new feeling and am naming it 'Clamboxsis', and am clamboxsing like crazy. This, combined with the news that any vote for the Conservatives in the Newark and Sherwood area is a vote for racism, and I'm about ready to start hoping that Iran does have nuclear weapons and is about to destroy us all because at the moment it's about all we deserve.

Labels: Conservatives, feminism, lesbian, news, queer, racism

The Met- Not 'institutionally racist' at all.

Labels: police, racism

Terror! Terror! Terrified yet?

The news media are finally reporting on a BNP man who stockpiled explosives in his house and fantasised about killing Tony Blair and John Prescott. Hey, we can relate... However, this has been 'news' for several months, as this man was arrested last autumn but, other than a regional newspaper's report which then got distributed liberally amongst British bloggers, there has been something of a self-imposed media blackout over this story. When the BBC were asked why they weren't reporting on what was a bona case of British men who were apparently prepared to take part in acts of terrorism they replied they didn't want to prejudice any future court case.

I'm sure Mohammed Abdulkahar and Abul Koyair could relate. They were, after all, two Muslim men arrested in a highly publicised raid by the police on a house in Forest Gate that they thought was the nerve centre of possible terrorist activity. The media devoted considerable time to this over the next few days, until the police quietly admitted that it was all a mistake and let the two men go. By this time their names and photos had been liberally printed and shown on screen, while Robert Cottage and David Jackson, the BNP men, were ignored.



Anyway, the two men complained to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, the people that decided the police were justified in shooting Jean Charles de Menezes in the head. Luckily the IPCC had stocked up on whitewash in preparation and announced that the police were fully justified in doing whatever they want because they're the police. They threw the two men two small bones, upholding piddling complaints about their food and pain killers (due to the fact the police shot one of them in the arm) and suggesting the police should consider apologising. Apparently the police training manual doesn't cover being magnanimous in victory, as according to the Daily Mail, the police are refusing to apologise to the two men. The police are claiming they've apologised three times already but none of their apologies are to the two men for arresting them as terrorism suspects and allowing their pictures to be circulated to the media.

Robert who? David what?

The Sun are reporting on the BNP plotters story but notably describes neither of these men as terrorists or would-be terrorists. Unlike some of their other news stories they aren't offering readers the chance to discuss the story either. The t-word does get used, though only once, in their report on the IPCC story, which shows how half-hearted their momentary concern about racism actually was.

Labels: BNP, British National Party, Independent Police Complaints Commission, IPCC, media, news, News International, newspapers, police, racism, terrorism, The Sun

People more awake than me also noticed The Sun's front cover yesterday and have provided more context. [via Bloggerheads]

Labels: News International, newspapers, racism, The Sun

It's not often that I find anything positive or admirable coming out of the intellectual slum of News International. A bunch of morally bankrupt toads determined to drag down intellectual discussion to the gutter and influence Government policy not to even the betterment of conservatism but to that of the Extremely Rich Conservative Right.

But today, taking a break from accusing the Home Secretary of letting paedophiles out of prison and pointing them towards the nearest school, The Sun decides to present an article about how racism is bad.


What do we all have in common?

THEY are some of the most offensive and ugly words in the English language. Words like nigger, spic and raghead. But today The Sun makes no apology for printing them — or the pictures showing children who are the innocent victims of such repugnant insults. The youngsters, whether Muslim, Jewish, Sikh or Christian, have two things in common. Like Celebrity Big Brother winner Shilpa Shetty, they have encountered racism in this country. But they are also all BRITISH.


To be fair The Sun is more openly xenophobic rather than racist, on an average day the paper will complain more about white Europeans than British Asians. But the paper takes almost pride in being the paper of the racist element of the working class and certainly since 2001 when non-white faces have appeared outside the sports pages they have overwhelmingly been in articles about terrorism. The Sun has demanded that terrorist subjects be sent back to their countries of ethnic origin, even when they are British citizens, and has run it's campaign against immigration on the grounds that terrorists could come into the country unmonitored, even though the only terrorists to attack this country in the last decade were born and bred British, and the only terrorist suspect to be killed by someone other than themselves was an innocent Brazilian killed by incompetent policing.

But it's still significant that The Sun have produced a positive story about multiculturalism. I suspect that the mention of Big Brother is key. Though The Sun were pretty quick to jump on the racist behaviour of Jade Goody and the other women in the House this sort of behaviour is not natural to them and they may judge that there's a surge in awareness of racism amongst their core constituency. Hopefully this is a strand they will continue as long as their campaign to have paedophiles addresses available to local mobs for tarring and feathering purposes.

Labels: News International, newspapers, racism, The Sun

At the risk of turning this into a blog where I just whine about stupid columnists, Goddamn Lowri Turner. You remember Lowri Turner right? Remember? Well, this week Mrs 'I don't have anything against gays but' turns her keen insight on immigration.

To the middle classes, immigration from countries that used to be part of the Soviet Union is a win-win situation. After years of being held to ransom by surly builders and overpaid nannies, they are back in the driving seat. Hand Vladimir a meagre bundle of cash and those gutters are fixed in a jiffy with no mention of a cup of tea or going home at 3. Vonya will be just as willing to come and live in your house and look after your kids for a pittance.

It's not often that you get someone who isn't living in the nineteenth century being so open about taking such advantage of other people.

For company bosses too, this new pool of highly motivated, skilled workers is a godsend. Well, if you were a boss would you rather employ some spotty British youth or Vicky Pollard type, or a young man from Estonia with a mother and four sisters to support back home? The latter obviously.

Everyone under 23 is a chav, obviously.

Plus, we're told, these people bring a taste of a different culture with them. This translates, if you are one of the chattering classes, into a fabulous little ethnic bistro round the corner. I have a Polish deli not far from me and a Russian restaurant and Bulgarian and Hungarian eateries can't be far behind.

"And dahling, they all talk in that funny noise that almost sounds like talking and if you throw them a quid they'll do one of their funny little dances for you! They really are a hoot! Not like the girl we had to let go last week, we gave her her monthly wages and she didn't have the common decency to prostrate herself at our feet in thankfulness! Honestly, the ingratitude!"

The result is a middle-class consensus that immigration is good for the country. I am part of this consensus. I think immigration is a good thing. Still, I hosted a radio phone-in this week and I heard a rather different story from a section of the population who are being hushed-up because their views and experiences do not fit the official response. They are what we used to call the working classes, but now we're too embarrassed to call them anything really.

Now, see that bit up there where Lowri says: immigration is good for the country and I am part of this consensus? I believe that this is a lie. I am led to this conclusion because Lowri spends the rest of the article repeating the usual claptrap racists spout through a variety of third persons without any attempt to counter it.

I talked to builders who told me of some Eastern European counterparts driving untaxed vans, living 10 to a house and doing work for cash at prices that they, as men with families to support and mortgages to pay, couldn't hope to match. Some of this is sour grapes, of course. Our builders have long preferred cash and are not known for being eager beavers.

Oh, you didn't accidentally refer to them as 'the so-called working classes' in their hearing did you?

However, it is not just building jobs that those from the former Soviet Union are mopping up. Factory and agricultural work, as well as care jobs are all popular. The obvious argument is that these are all jobs that we don't want to do. They are poorly paid and low status. But, rather than accept these facts and just hire in a more desperate lot of foreign workers, shouldn't we be thinking perhaps about improving the pay and conditions so they are fit for our own people? As one caller said to me this week, 'The British working classes are being sold down the river.'

Another caller had an astute prediction. He said, 'Just you wait until it's middle-class jobs that are being taken, see how you like it.'

And it's already starting. I spoke to a dentist who was incandescent that the Government has just hired in Eastern European dentists to solve the NHS dental shortage. We already have lots of foreign doctors and nurses, but it will be interesting to see how the middle classes react when they are followed by accountants, lawyers and management consultants. They'll be choking on their borscht and blinis then.

Accusations of racism are easy to sling at those who have concerns about the influx of foreign workers. However, I also heard worrying stories this week of a brand of old-fashioned racism that is being imported with some of those who are arriving here.

If you were shut behind the Iron Curtain for a lifetime, it is unlikely that your views on race are enlightened. Some of those travelling here from tiny villages have never seen a black person. I was told of one university lecturer from Khazakhstan who came home to her UK landlady every night and wept because she was so horrified by the brown skins she encountered.

That's not actually racism Lowri. I would hazard a guess it's 'culture shock'. My Concise Oxford defines racism as 'a belief in the superiority of a particular race; prejudice based on this'. Now maybe your Kazakhstani was weeping because the inhabitants of those brown skins weren't all strung up at the nearest lamp-post but so far it's only you and your phone-in friends who are the closest to expressing a belief that they're in the master-race.

As one black caller told me,

"Ooh, ooh, look! 'Black person', 'black person'! I must be right, I've got a black person backing me up!"

As one black caller told me, 'I grew up with racism and things had got better. Now it's like going back 20 years.' One cabbie recounted how he hears the N-word used in the back of his cab now and another woman reported a squat opposite her house populated by Russians, some of whom paraded about wearing Nazi insignia. It sounds unbelievable, but she was adamant.

So she must be right.

Now, none of this is an argument against immigration. We are a nation whose wealth is founded on foreign labour. Our continued prosperity depends upon it. Besides, with so many of us opting these days to retire to Spain, we can hardly moan when others want to come here. However, not listening to certain opinions and experiences because they are uncomfortable and unfashionable is simply wrong.

However, listening to people when they're full of shit isn't exactly a prescription for mental health either.

Labels: immigration, journalists, Lowri Turner, racism