Changing your name to Seacole will eradicate your inner racist

Lupus Mandela Lungfish

OK

startled-seacole-cod

I now realise that the fact that I had never heard of Mary Seacole (until you mentioned her) is the clearest sign that I am harbouring an inner racist.

As you will see from this post I have changed my name.

Thank you, thank you Rod for shining a light inside me so I too could see the hidden error of my ways.

terence patrick hewett

The houses of my old school were:

Drake
Frobisher
Grenville
Nelson

Nothing queer about Carruthers!

Hawkeye

It is an interesting idea Rod, but changing the name does not change the thing itself. As Abraham Lincoln used to say "If I call a tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have?". The answer is, of course 4. Calling a tail a leg does not make it one.

Now, I have no intention of being rude, but if you feel that there is an inner racist inside "Rod Liddle", changing your name is unlikely to be the solution. The previous step of recognising that a problem existed - that is the start of the solution.

There is no need to expunge your "white identity". You should be no more ashamed of being white than Mary Seacole would have been of being black. Be yourself, be nice to people and respect them. Colour is not (or should not) ever be an issue.

Ivan D

If it stops you playing to the gallery so, I'll pay whatever fee or stamp is required.

workie ticket

Mr Liddle, I fear your laudable aim to take a lead in eradicating your inner racist may, indeed, backfire. The name may prompt questions from those educated before Ms S became an indispensable part of our modern thrusting curriculum. They may wonder why you are giving undue prominence to someone who helped out at a hospital abroad 150 years ago. May I suggest that you reconsider and adopt a name from our own times which both the 'youth of today' and their benighted (probably) racist elders can recognise as being of unquestioned stature such as Mr Mandela.

Rod nelson liddle would do the trick.

Maggie

Good idea. There might even be money in it. I believe the Seacoles had unclaimed titles and land is Gloucestershire.

Obama Seacole

My life has improved enormously since my name change. People who used to stop me in the street to shout 'racist' now carry me to the dole office on their shoulders.

Jez

C'mon Rod!

Mine wasn't even that bad!

I really love Nelson Mandela.

What's wrong with that?!

Bob.India

Rod: Re: "As some of you may have noticed I have been using the appellation for some time on these very pages".

In fact I think that you are merely taking over the persona of your erstwhile doppelganger who last posted on your thread: "Of all Brown's potential successors, only Cruddas fills me with enthusiasm".

Is this an independent action or are you in cahoots. I think we should be told!

Pop-Seacole

Did you choose your own skin colour or (possibly inherently racist if you went to a public school in C20)learnt opinions? We all have to try to overcome the received ideas (brainwashing?) of what was quite acceptable to an earlier age. Get a life!

Tiberius Uhura

It will not work, Rod.

As Bernard Manning said, if a dog is borne in a stable, does it make it a f**king horse? An erudite line of thinking no doubt and one has to ask, what's in a name?

David Ossitt

Rod; I realise that you have written this ‘tongue-in-cheek’ and it is part of your charm that you are able to self mock with the best of them.

But let me help you; all around people are using the word racist as a term of abuse, to be classed as a racist is becoming the ultimate censure.

But these politically correct bullies are wrong; it is ok to be a little bit racist, it is quite normal, it is intrinsic to our human nature, it is not a perversion.

Let me give you one or two examples, if one were to ask a full-blooded Lancastrian if there were anything good that came out of Yorkshire he would probably reply the M62 back into Lancashire.

Any Yorkshire man will think himself immensely privileged to have been born a Yorkshire man and sees himself as superior to all who were not born within the three Ridings; in fact a West Riding man looks upon those from the North or East Ridings as lesser men.

Please do not change your name; Rod Liddle does you very well.

What middle names did your parents give you?

Lupus Mandela Lungfish

I'v nothing against Mandela, he created the military wing of the ANC and blew up a few soft targets to try and dislodge an unfair and oppressive regime. Thats all fair enough and good on 'im, he was caught and banged up for it. What I don't understand is why we all have to lionize the man- there are plenty of other people who have done similar things but don't have statues in Parliament Square and inspire Brown to tell us that he is 'the greatest and most courageous leader of our generation' etc etc.
Oh dear- I must be a rabid rascist.

journeyman

The time is not all that far off when the "Left" will finally be backed into a corner and will be forced to choose between their fanatically religious ideology "Anti-Racism"---or human rights and Democracy.
I have a dear,vegetarian,nature conservationist friend who believes the Holocaust was the result of Nationalist sentiment,as in Nationalist sentiment=Nazi.How absolutely ridiculous.
As a former 68 Lefty,I can testify that Leftist ideology and the erradication of the instinct for tribal and civilizational survival are one and the same thing.The society that fought against Nazi-Germany is infatuated with atoning for Hitlers sins.He was white.We are white.That reminds me.I must remember to send off that letter to Riyadh,requesting that Islam begin atoning for its civilizational crimes.It seems they haven't made a start at it yet.Thats the problem you see.Our culture is so preoccupied with self-reflection and uncertainty but our enemies have no such qualms.
The entire existence of the "Left"is dependant upon that which is perceived to not belong to Leftist orthodoxy.Anything not off the left being naturally,of the right. Making a critical discriminatory judgement requires untainted moral purity and the reflex desperately gropping around for the nearest moral equivalent white civilization is guilty off.This being followed of course by decisive moral paralysis.it is "love thine enemy"--"the mote in your own eye"---"turn the other cheek"--Christianity without the God head,demanding the suspension of common sense,reason,logic and human nature.It saws on the same branch that prevents it falling to its doom.It cultural and moral relativism is pathological.The price to pay for this will be measured in dead bodies,as our society expiriences the unaviodable balcanization that awaits our present and unaltering tradjectory twenty years down the road.First in one place and then another.Thé left will lay the blame for this everywhere but at the feet of the guilty.The Left themselves.And there will be the usual "Left deniers"of course.Much like not being able to find a Nazi sympathizer anywhere in Germany,when the war was over.
Together with the same trials of course and endless introspection,asking questions like "How did we ever allow ourselves to be conned by all those poly-tech, student union,adolescent moralists,down the road of good intentions,that leads to hell.

Yes I'm well aware your article was tongue in cheek.But will the fly paper catch any flies.

Jask

Did I miss the memo when Florence Nightingale was erased from our history? Did this Seacole person (never heard of her) do all the stuff that Nightingale was supposed to have done but Nightingale erroneously got the credit?

rod seacole-liddle

Diana Mosley

Nicholas Seacole

OK, I have to admit I don't get this. It is just too subtle for me.

Nevertheless, I've always thought that painting was a bit dodgy. I don't think it is a contemporary Victorian portrait of the lady but instead a cleverly contrived modern fake to pander to left-wing sentimental patronising of race, gender and class.

Bunnykins MadikizelaZuma

Comrade Rod Seacole Liddle. We in the ANCYL salute you. Comrade Mary, G0d Bless her, was a fine upstanding..um..nurse. It ill behoves any of us to forget this. VIVA SEACOLE VIVA.

rod seacole-liddle

I didn't just say "Diana Mosley" out of the blue, like a form of soft-fascist tourettes. It was in response to a question from David Ossitt. Sorry.

Fergus Fats Ella Pickering

The greatest black person of the twentieth century was Fats Waller and the runner-up was Ella Fitzgerald. I commune with them daily in my car. The Love Bug will bite you if you don't watch out, Rod. And you will note I strike a double blow for all those of traditional build.

toby cynthia forward

I shouldn't lose any sleep about it, Rod. The whirligig of time sorts it all out. A hundred years from now there will be statues to Shirley Williams or Barbara Castle. No one will remember Helen Mirren or Amy Johnson. But there will be statues of Cynthia Payne (Madame Cyn of Streatham) in the Inns of Court, outside the Palace of Westminster, perhaps even in Saint Paul's. Boarding houses at Benenden and Cheltenham Ladies' College will be called Payne. All things find their level.

David 'Mahatma Gandhi' Ossitt

Rod Diana Mosley Liddle.

What an inspired choice of Christian names to have been blessed with.

But the ‘Rod’ would that be Roderick? Rodney? Rodolfo? Or Rodrigo?

I do hope that it is Roderick; such a noble name.

By the bye; some would have it that Seacole was more into providing a service for the soldier’s basic needs and urges rather than nursing.

daniel maris

You'll have to try harder. Your first name is a monumental example of sexist chauvinism. Can't you change it to Wilt or Flaccid?

More seriously...the Seacole seems to be a complete overaction against her having been written out of history for most of the 20th century.

And let's not forget there was a lot of writing out of black and brown people in the 20th century. For instance, Pathe News and the BBC didn't exactly focus on the fact that most of the "British" forces in North Africa were Indian, Arab and African.

logdon

In the name of low cost supermarket equality I'm changing my name to Aldi-Lidl.

Mick 'Muzungu' Paki-nham

Changing my name certaiinly sorted out my inner racist

Marc O'Seal

'Da Vinci'? No self-respecting teacher would refer to the artist simply as 'Da Vinci'! But I guess if they used 'Leonardo' most of the kids would assume it was in honour of some brazilian footballer and most of the parents a ninja turtle.

Marc O'Seal

'Da Vinci'? No self-respecting teacher would refer to the artist simply as 'Da Vinci'! But I guess if they used 'Leonardo' most of the kids would assume it was in honour of some brazilian footballer and most of the parents a ninja turtle.

Bob.India

Rod: Your charming non sequitur, "Diana Mosley", posted under the guise of your alter ego, "rod seacole-liddle", is so amusing. We look forward to reading many more such witty surrealisms from you both.

Snowman

When, as a teenager, I discovered that it was possible by some trickery to change one’s skin colour I contacted the Ministry of Health asking what I should do to have the treatment. Not out of any sentiment to expunge harboured inner anti-racist feelings, though. I did admire greatly, and still feel envious of those with the dark skin. For reasons I cannot even try to articulate I’ve always associated the pink of my skin with degeneracy. Mind you, I was born in a society that didn’t carry the baggage of colonialism, slavery etc.

If you think that a name change will do it for you, go for it.

Jez

What about Shaft?

Noa See Cole Mugabe Nelson and Winnie Mandela Zrk

We are all sea-coal now, washed up on a bright multi-racist beach.

Dirty Euro

What did Edwina Currie do that put her on the list of houses? All she did was bang John Major.

Bob.India

Dirty Euro. More than a becquerel of adroit and luminous wit! Perhaps a measure of Marie's radium generated X ray will penetrate your feigned ignorance?

redcliffe62

as an amateur genealogist who has done the genealogy on some famous people as well as my family and those of my friends' i find the reasoning to change your name strange.
by all means be impressed with nurse seacole, but take pride in your own name and what it means, go back as far as you can, and those of the rest of your family if you have details.
i found some heroes and some villains in mine, and with friends i found the life story in war records of the last man off the beach ot gallipolli and his own family did not even know what he had done, and whilst i have not changed my name nor do i have the propensity to do so i relate to their names when i see them now held by other people, wondering, am i related?
what am i saying rod is that your name is more than a name, it is a part of your persona, your mien, your raison d'etre, and by choosing to chnage it i think you may lose a little of that. feel free to disagree.
if you want a wee bit of help gratis on your family shoudl you not have it i would be happy to help.

Lupus Mandela Lungfish

Found my perfect 'black role model' on This Week last night-Constance Briscoe.

Harry Secombe

Sorry, nearly there.

Barry D

Well, someone's got a problem with black people ...

Carl Gordon-Brown

Rod, a fine stance. I too have decided to embrace a persecuted and maligned minority and so am changing my name to reflect this.

Nele

I suggest Rod Luther-Liddle.

It expresses warm thoughts towards black Southern Baptists and former German Protestant Nazis alike.

rod seacole liddle

um...........thank you Redcliffe, that's a very generous offer.

My father once did his family tree and it was the most boring family tree in history. They were all called John. Before 1880 they were all miners, after 1880 they were all train drivers.

Paul

BarryD- you big divvy wit

Legion

Rod,

To assuage the special interest groups on the Melanie Phillips Blog, and elsewhere, you should go for something like Rod Khaled Meir Liddle.

Now that the BBC have relaxed their product placement rules how about earning some extra cash with Rod Pernod Gauloises Liddle?

Gutless

Like all left wing attempts at irony - whatever else this blog is, it's not funny.
What was it's purpose then? to prepare us for the defection of Rod 'Toynbee' Liddle to Maggie's way of thinking? Surely not. With the red flag sinking, Popular Rod is changing sides.
Good blokes everywhere must be relieved that Rod's stern championing of the politics of Gordon Brown and Tony and Mandy was all 'ironic' and we just didn't get the joke!!!!!
There's a great article by Hitchens in the Atlantic about left wing humour (is satire possible on the left?) - please read it!

Alfred T Mahan

One of the more stupid things about the Seacole cult is that she was more than half white anyway - her father was British and her mother was Creole, i.e. mixed race. Calling her "black" creates a binary divide when -if we have to make an issue out of it at all - it could so easily demonstrate how interbred so many of us are and how race is a pretty pointless concept.

Lupus Danny Glover Lungfish

Barry- who's that then?

Ian C

Ian FrankBruno C will do for me.....!

But lets just pretend, as it will change the 'autofill' name in my browser and I don't know how to change it!

Anna

At my junior school we had four houses viz:
Romans, Greeks, Saxons and Celts.
So obviously we all grew up racists.

Facetious Git

So during 1880 they must have been 're-training'- geddit?

Maggie

I think you should give serious consideration to changing it to Rod Mary Seacole-Liddle to make yourself gender inclusive.

daniel maris

Talking of deed polls, did anyone see this in the story about a young man/idiot who has changed his name to Motherwell Football Club. What I didn't expect from this story was the following:

****

A spokesman for UK Deed Poll service said: "We think it's a good idea and we are always happy to help people change their names to a football club or celebrity.

"We are reaching 50,000 name changes this year and some are weird and wonderful."

*****

Since when has it become the duty of government agencies to encourage general underclass behaviour? Will we next have a an Arts Ministry spokeperson waxing lyrical on the Government's encouragement of facial tattoos or the minister for animal welfare describing how Devil Dogs make perfect pets.

noticketnolaundry (formerly biggestaspidistra)

Nicholas you are so smart. This is not a Victorian portrait. It seems as if the artist himself may also be invented.

noticketnolaundry

@Maris1:34:"Since when has it become the duty of government agencies to encourage general underclass behaviour?"

I'm not sure if you can pin this on an underclass. If anything they are only taking a lead in silliness from the overclass - Baroness Scotland, Baron Malloch-Brown, Baron of Hartlepool and Foy and not to forget the Earl and Countess of Wessex.

Matthew Wilson

Speaking of name changes, Rod's in Private Eye this week as 'Rod Lidl' - a joke sourced from the comments posted under his various Spectator articles.

Maybe if it becomes a running gag we can look forward to the Eye running a 'Lidl Britain' spoof for the next 94 years...

workie ndabininge ticket

Anna
October 2nd, 2009 11:29am
At my junior school we had four houses viz:
Romans, Greeks, Saxons and Celts.
So obviously we all grew up racists.

I bet the Romans & Greeks turned out homosexual, the Saxons all now wear sheepskin jackets and sport big 'taches and the Celts are all alcoholics - and its all the schools fault.

Chumping at the bits-Spoalinkj

Good move Rod-Seacole,

I have followed suit to commemorate the German High Consonant Shift sometime between the 3rd and 5th centuries of the Received Common Era (RCE).

Lupus

Gutless- After reading Viv Groskops article in todays Standard I think its unfair to label Liddle 'popular Rod'. He certainly is'nt popular down at the Guardian and amongst others Janet Street Porter is especially rude about him.
Whats wrong with having a pop at ludicrous educationalists, junta councills and various other interfering goons forcing their 'inclusive' version of history upon us. They are all guillty of tokenism and get on my tits. He can write what he wants, nits an' all.

rod seacole-liddle

Thanks Lupus, especially for the nits reference. That was meant to be off the record.

A. MacAulay

"Lidl" is pronounced, lee-dul.

Seacole, an ancient name with a long pedigree, like so many British names, a la Cholmondeley and Featherstonehaugh is pronounced, Sequel.

Cecil Oswald Hitler

Why not name yourself after truly historic great black figures, like Cleopatra, Rameses II and Jesus? On the other hand, follow my example and liberate the proud white supremacist in you. As for Nelson Mandela, what has he actually DONE to warrant being worshipped, besides languishing in jail for plotting to blow people up?

Lupus Lungfish

A. MacAuley.
I'm sure Mary was proud of her slave trading ancestors! ( I don't think anybody here is actually having a go at Mary Seacole- I'm sure she was a jolly spendid chap)

Lupus Lungfish

Liddle- well keep 'em under your hat then (boom boom)

porkbelly

I can't make out who the portrait is of - Deng Xiaoping or Gertrude Stein?

rod seacole-liddle

She doesn't look great in the pic, does she? Though I suppose I shouldn't go down this route, really. Janet Street Porter will squeeze another column out of it. Stupid cow.

Delves

Yep- stupid goofy women

Delves

Moderator- I feel decidedly let down, its plainly obvious I meant to write 'woman' not 'women'- in future will you moderate me properly. 51% of readers now assume I am a male chauvinist pig. I would like to make it clear that, with the exception of Janet Street Porter, all women are not necessarily goofy.

Delves

Thats woman not women you understand

Lupus Lungfish

Nicholas- The National Portrait Gallery paid 130 grand for that newly discovered 'masterpiece'. LOL- discovered in a car boot sale in Burford LOL- it nicely sums up what Liddle is all about ie. The lunatics have taken over the asylum.

Lupus Mandela Lungfish

Sorry for being so Goddamn corny but this wraps this blog up.
http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zje1nyoF_js

Lupus

Is climbing the wooden mountain to Bedfordshire

Lupus Theeving Lungfish

I would like my £130 grand in tax back please you stupid Labour party tossers!- failing that come down to my shop and I will show you why that painting is a knock up!

Lupus

Bon Soir

Lupus

do not moderate me out of everything though moderator!

Lungfish

Toby- Ballocks

toby seacole forward

Lungfish, I've made a note of that on my shopping list. Anything else you've lost that you'd like me to get for you?

J Pesach

Yeah, cos like racism doesn't exist anymore, it's only stupid lefties who harp on about it!!!"!!??! LOL!!!!

rhory fraser

I don't think anybody really believes that Mary Seacole was important. The poor old thing is just a cog in the grinder that is wearing every indigenous Brit into total submission to the Multi-Cult.

Repeat after me: "Guinevere was mixed race; Friar Tuck was black and London has always been a multi-ethnic slum"?

Steph

At my school the houses were 'Bhutto, Ghandi, Curie, Seacole and Angelou'.

I can honestly say I was never sad enough to get worked up about whether or not Seacole should have been listed alongside Curie etc. I just preferred it to the colour scheme of my primary school and wanted to be in the top sets. Which were Seacole and Angelou. Something else to get yourself worked up about...