In the last week there have been two public outcries over words used in public by BBC personalities.
In short, Carol Thatcher, daughter of Baroness Thatcher (Milk Snatcher) and sister of Sir Mark Thatcher, upper-class twit and possible African-coup-financier, said in the Green Room of a BBC show on which she was a journalist that a certain French tennis player was “the one who was defeated by the gollywog in the previous tour”. The tennis player was defeated by a man of colour
For the non-UKans among us, a “golliwog” is a children’s doll with a black face which was popular up to the 1970’s or so here in the UK and other places in the former British Empire. The popular condiment Robertson’s Jam had a picture of a golliwog on its label up until relatively recently. People of colour do not appreciate being referred to as “golliwogs” or “like a golliwog”–it is almost, but not quite, as bad as being called a “nigger”.
Someone else in the Green Room, said to be the comedian Jo Brand, overheard Miss Thatcher making this remark and complained about it. The BBC asked Miss Thatcher whether she was prepared to apologise for her remark. She said that it was a joke, and she declined to apologise. So the BBC sacked her from that show.
The second incident was committed by the popular host of Top Gear, a car show on the BBC, Jeremy Clarkson. You may remember that he was the man who thought that it was so difficult to crack the security around his bank account that he published his account number online. A few days later he discovered that someone had set up a direct debit from his account to the charity Diabetes UK. He was not amused and changed his account number. Twit material, indeed.
He is in Australia publicising his show over there, and at a conference of some sort he referred to the Rt. Hon. Gordon Brown, MP, PC, First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, residence 10 Downing Street, as “a one-eyed Scottish idiot”.
Mr. Brown lost one eye in a rugby accident when he was a teenager and has a glass eye. I don’t know which one it is because I can’t tell from looking at him on the TV. He is indeed Scottish, and represents a Scottish constituency in Westminster. I won’t commit myself as to whether I believe he’s an “idiot”. Many people do have that opinion of him, similar to the opinion many have of former President George W. Bush. (I just like writing “former President George W. Bush”–it has such a ring to it.)
Clarkson has apologised for his outburst. Many people had complained to the BBC about the “one-eyed” remark, others complained about the “Scottish” remark. No one seems to have complained about the “idiot” remark. Clarkson’s apology was accepted by the BBC and he has kept his job.
What to do? There has been much complaint about Thatcher’s sacking from this BBC program. She must have said it in jest, they say; she couldn’t have meant it. Why sack her for a jokey remark not made on air?
I think that the difference between each of these incidents, and between these two incidents and the Jonathan Ross/Russell Brand affair of three months ago, was the fact that Thatcher refused to apologise, while the other three did apologise. Wossy and Clarkson are still employed; Brand (although he apologised too) is not yet employed by the BBC again. An additional difference is that Clarkson and Wossy are on “entertainment” shows, while Thatcher was on a journalistic show of some sort (I’ve never seen it and I can’t remember which one it is).
I have little time for Clarkson, who is a rather loud, homophobic, “man’s man”, and I think that Wossy’s entertainment value is far outclassed by that of his backup band “Four Poofs and a Piano” and, in fact, by the entertainment value gained by watching a kitten play with a ball of yarn. I resent the fact that
What a fantastic post. Thank you for writing it. I’ve found myself on a similar journey of self-discovery in the areas of racism, sexism and homophobia. It is never an easy admission but very freeing when it happens, perhaps Thatcher will discover that one day.
I’ve never understood the “it was a joke” rationale. A hurtful comment is hurtful, what matters if it is a joke? If it was satire, irony, allegory – something to prove a point, teach a lesson; that would be different.
Each time this story gets retold, something changes. The version I heard was that Carol Thatcher did apologise – but not “unreservedly” as (IMO) fascistic BBC execs demanded. Also the version I heard was “gollywog” in the context that Tsonga reminded her of the gollywog doll on a jam bottle. All ado about nothing, as I have implied in my post.
I guess even black and white minstrels are a no-go area nowadays.
My own view is that old adage – “sticks and stones etc. – but names can never hurt me”
Quite frankly, it’s a gross over-reaction. If Carol Thatcher had said “nigger” – by all means sack her. Even lynch her, I suppose would be one consequence of where all this is going.
An off-tangent comment:
Seeing racism happen hurts me more than being a target of a racist remark. I can shake it off easily. But I can’t shake the sadness I feel when I see people being so casually or righteously racist to others.
It is a horrible thing to witness. Even worse is hearing people who should know better saying “It was just a joke–what’s the big deal?”