Tensions were high in Great Britain as rioters took to the streets in North London and other English cities following the shooting death of a black man by police officers (1). However, since many of us have been spared the idiotic statements from ill-informed personalities such as Glenn Beck, comes along the so-called historian David Starkey from Great Britain. According to Starkey, black culture is linked to gangster culture. Appearing on BBC’s Newsnight, he claimed that: “The Whites have become black” (2). Starkey clearly showed no intention of taking both feet out of his mouth, as he clearly blamed black culture as having influenced bad behaviour among the majority of white youths who have propagated the riots. It was no surprise that he would not elaborate on the definition black and white culture, Starkey was flagrantly taking an offensive against blacks.
What made Starkey’s comments so insipid is the fact that as a historian, one would expect him to know about the Swing Riots in the summer of 1830 that occurred in southern England—his home country. These riots originated as a result of disputes between poor farmers and the wealthier counterparts that had more control over the land that they worked on (3). Although there weren’t any high-definition TVs and sneakers to loot, there was still widespread destruction of threshing machines, workhouses and tithebarns. I’ve yet to read up on how black culture would’ve influenced those riots, taking into consideration that the only blacks that would’ve been in England would have been purchased during the slave trade.While on the topic of the slave trade, Britain, at the time, was a leader in the Atlantic Slave Trade that saw the transportation of Africans to the Americas. The only ones that made it to the British Isles were used as house servants. Those Africans would’ve been so few in numbers to have had an impact on British society. For several years, slavery has been and still is considered to be one of the most heinous and despicable atrocities ever commited in history. This was a case of human beings being treated as property, a property which was viewed with lesser value than the buildings that were destroyed a few days ago during the North London Riots.
Less we forget the News of The World Scandal that had most of the western world glued to their televisions and laptops, as media mogul Rupert Murdoch defended himself against British MPs—while amazingly dodging a cream pie—for his role in the cell phone hacking scandal that ultimately pissed off a lot of people (4). But of course, I’m sure Starkey will find a way to link black culture as being the root of that problem. Clearly, all News Of The World Execs and other staff must spend their free time listening to Gangsta Rap while sporting the latest bling.
During the interview, Starkey mentioned that black British MP, the Honourable David Lammy, does not sound black if one were to listen to him speak. Lammy, although born in Tottenham, England, was raised by his Guyanese mother. I fail to understand the importance of Starkey bringing up the sound of Lammy’s voice and how this relates to the topic at hand. According to Lammy, he attributed himself being raised by a single mother as to his reasons for advocating responsible parenting and for fathers to be more active in the lives of their children. It was neither a so-called black nor a white cultural thing (5). Out of curiosity, I tried the experiment. But instead of listening to Lammy with my eyes closed, I listened to Starkey. However, I’m proud to report that I wasn’t listening to the words of a Caucasian, but those of an idiot.Russell Brooks is the author of the action/thriller, Pandora's Succession and Unsavory Delicacies.
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