As you probably know, a senior Tory MP, Ann Winterton, was sacked after making a joke which branded Asians in the UK as “ten a penny.”
Was Duncan-Smith right to sack her? Or is this political correctness gone mad?
Does a public figure (especially a politician) have a responsibility to be extra-sensitive about such issues when under media scrutiny? Is it Winterton’s duty to set an example to the nation?
Also, is the extreme censure that is political correctness more constructive or destructive to the harmony it intends to promote? If you keep your mouth shut about race, is it likely to promote race relations better than if you discuss it openly in the public domain? I think political correctness has gone a little too far and has begun to breed resentment (hence the begnnings of a BNP rennaissance in Burnley), but where do you draw the line between openness and offensiveness?
I think it was right to sack her - she is a potential UK power, and we can’t have people like that ruling the country. If it was a wrong choice of words (such as David Blunketts little mistake) then yes, political correctness has gone too far, but what she said was a) unmistakeable and b) not even remotely funny.
Macca, what’s your point? Firstly, though their share of the vote was only up 0.1%, we do not operate a proportional representation electoral system and therefore this figure is irrelevant. The fact is, three BNP councillors were ‘first past the post’ in three wards in Burnley. This is what matters.
Secondly, are you just being picky, or are you challenging my assertion that racial antipathy is on the rise? If so, do you want to substantiate this point? I certainly believe that to be the case, but I’m open to a good counterargument.
From a publicity point of view, they couldn’t really do anything else. They gave Labour a hard time for keeping on that woman (i can’t remember her name for the life of me) after her comments about September 11th, so they couldn’t really keep on ann winterton after her comments. i think…
I’m in a bit of a bind. As a “paki” myself, I would be offended at that kind of racism. HOWEVER, I laughed at that joke when I first heard it a while back. Also, I am a huge supporter of complete freedom of speech, I believe strongly that we should be able to say whatever we like, racist, sexist or whatever, especially in private.
Ultimately, it is the responsibility of employees to help the company, and the aim of the tory party is to win votes, this joke would have caused loss of votes, therefore bad for the party, therefore yes, she should have been sacked, but not just because she made a racist joke, but because it’s bad publicity.
i am questioning the rise of racism, surely if there was such a huge surge in racism the BNP would have won a much larger percentage of the vote. and where is all the racist activity? where are the constant race riots? where is the BNP candidate in every constituency? where is all of this? by whipping up a media frenzy you meerly play into the BNP’s hands.
Macca. Perhaps my phrase ‘racial antipathy’ was a little severe. What I am really talking about is the dissatisfaction and resentment that some of the incumbent population are beginning to feel as a result of issues such as the recent flood of asylum seekers. You cannot deny that there are pockets (usually in the poorer areas of the North) such as Burnley and Bradford where we have seen violent ‘race riots’ emerge from deep-seated ill-feeling. However, I do not believe these to be the product of genuine racial hatred (which is why, as you observe, the BNP remains generally unpopular), but more out of a broader economic issue. And in such circumstances it is human nature to look for someone to blame (see my post on the “blame” topic) - and it just happens that the easiest targets are the ‘foreigners’ living blissfully under the watchful eye of our politically correct government. Indeed, many people who voted for the BNP in Burnley said that they were not racists, but that they did felt it was unfair that a local Asian-dominated community had received a council-sponsored facelift whilst their area’s bid had been turned down - and they voted BNP in protest.
You are right, Britain has not lapsed into a state of dystopian racial hatred, but there is a sense of resentment about - the flames of which are fanned by government and society in general pandering to political correctness and -the key - overcompensation for ethnic minority groups. Government needs to strike a better balance, though this is of course far easier said than done.
People are certainly entitled to their views in private, racist or otherwise.
However, if her intention was to be derogatory towards the subject of the ‘joke’, then she deserves what she got and more.
I know this is an old thread, but I want to address the quote below:
Yes, public figures, those in office to serve the public, have the responsibility to mind what they say in public. Words/statements do have meaning, and do have degrees of relevance and importance depending on who is saying them. It is always confused with freedom of speech that anyone can just say what he/she wants just because there is such a thing a freedom of speech. But FoS has a little relevance here, in the case of a public leader, public figure whose actions and words affect how they govern. (FoS is never absolute, but this will be for another discussion since it is such a big issue). Also, it is less a matter of political correctness (perhaps, it even has nothing to do with PC) than a matter of the meaning of the public office he/she occupies.
Of course, if the same racial slur has been uttered by, say, a sports figure or a showbiz personality, that would be another matter. First, their position in society is that of a private citizen, so if anyone is offended by the words they say, then it would be a matter between him/her and the party that’s been offended.
No, she not have been sacked for a HATE slur. It is NOT a race slur but a HATE slur. We have to get the problem by the right name. I can’t change my race nor the race of the other i hate, but I can change my hate for any race to LOVE of myself as that race so i can love that race as myself.
She shd have been corrected to love 10 a penny asians,
and only sacked if she refused to love herself as tenapenny asians.
BUT in our hate-addicted society, we in hate prefer to be be pc and not say a word, even as we THINK it, rather than love it and then say it in Love in the open, or in Love say it not!
Being open without Love is NOT the solution.
But neither is being closedmouthed without Love.
LOVE …is a strange brooch in this all-HATING world.
KING RICHARD II Act 5, Scene 5
Speaking in the name of man, of peace, or of God–
these words remain ambiguous unless they are accompanied
by the word with which to begin and to end: “In the name of Love!”
Erich Fromm
I love myself as all types of asians so i can love any asian as myself.