Saturday 2 November 2019

Humbug from a Guardian Columnist

by Les May

TWO days ago The Guardian columnist Yomi Adegoke wrote:

The silence surrounding the Duchess of Sussex’s treatment by the press has become a roar. This treatment can be described as only one thing: racist.  Not saying so explicitly is part of a growing trend – the word “racist” is now dodged with more fervour than racial slurs themselves.’

You can find the full article at:


Now this was published in a newspaper which did not even bother to mention that a Rochdale man who felt he had been ‘disrespected’ in his ‘country’ by workmen, first called them ‘white bastards’ then got together a gang of about twenty, who first tracked the men to where they were working, then attacked them resulting in one of them having his hand chopped off with an axe. But it raises the question about whether the Rochdale Observer and all the people who are remaining studiously silent, so dodging having to mention the words ‘racist’ and ‘hate crime’, are themselves behaving in a racist manner. Or do four workmen count for less than a Duchess?

When someone who might reasonably be seen as something of a ‘community leader’ was approached with a view to obtaining some background information on the gang, the response was in effect ‘are you blaming all Pakistanis?’ To which the answer is ‘No! But it might be nice if you were to give some sort of lead in condemning this sort of behaviour.’ And while he’s about it he might like to use his influence to get this attack debated and condemned at the next full meeting of Rochdale Council.

I’m not going to ‘call out’ the individual involved as I have no wish to pillory him for what is in my opinion an error of judgement, but he might like to reflect on the fact that at the next election he will be soliciting the votes from everyone in his ward irrespective of the colour of their skin and religious affiliation. Now might be a good time to show he serves them all.

**************************

No comments: