Boris and racism
So is Boris a racist?
New Nation carried a report on Boris Johnson being a racist; you can read it for free by clicking on the ‘demo’ section of its website.
Racism is a word, much like ‘nationalism’, ‘left’ or ‘right’ that has so many meanings attached to it that it has no generally accepted meaning at all. It variously covers (and I don’t agree with its use for all of these) the naked violence of the National Front or Combat Eighteen, the slight PR nouse of the BNP the xenophobia of Enoch Powell and Nigel Hastilow, the nationalism of UKIP, the fringes of the Tory Party, anyone who thinks there is too much immigration, the mainstream of the Tory Party, anyone who thinks there could be too much immigration in the future, the Lib Dems, Labour, the Alliance for Workers’ Liberty and Respect. I submit that, if for no other reason than its lack of predictive ability, the utility of the word ‘racism’ is pretty low.
In the popular imagination, racism ia the BNP and NF, while anypne who says anything that might be considered, shall we say, unfortunate because of its connection to race might well argue their way out of it by claiming that it is ‘political corectness gone mad’. Their friends (who aren’t racist, they’re far too middle class) don’t think them racist and, after all, there’s that chappie in the convenience shop down the road1. The point of political correctness is more than not causing offence; it is about avoiding a febrile atmosphere where ideas or words can be misconstrued, deliberately or otherwise.
Rather than the blanket term ‘racism’, a series of terms are needed, from out-and-out racism through various shades of Little Englander feelings against immigration, change and diversity, that also vary for the damage done.
If a frontline politician can be so stupid as to think that gratuitous offence is a good idea, I question whether they might not take say something offensive to a visiting trade delegation. Equally, you’d have hoped that he would have realised that his choicer comments have made life more difficult for Londoners by unnecessarily raising the issue and in a particularly clumsy way. I would add that if London is to continue as an international hub (which I desire for political, economic and social reasons), it should not look to Boris. The headline of Mr Johnson saying something stupid could damage London.
xD.
1 – this isn’t a throwaway point. People in London (and, I think, other metropoles) forget that there are parts of the country that are close to all white (check with ONS data) and there is very little opportunity for interaction with people of different ethnicities.
