The scoundrel's last refuge is to cry "racist"

Hawkeye

"... according to British law now, if someone makes an allegation of racism then it is de facto true ..."

Another piece of loony legislation that the tories will have to expunge from the statute book.

The cry of "Racist" gets bandied around so freely that I no longer pay any attention to it. Particularly on leftie forums, when someone is losing an argument, out comes the chant "racist". Play the man, not the ball...

Like all such epithets, it is now used so frequently that it is losing its effect, which means that when it really is needed it will no longer work.

David Ossitt

"and remember, according to British law now, if someone makes an allegation of racism then it is de facto true"

And people wonder at the rise of the BNP!

Bill Flack

A gentlemen would have apologised and left it at that - I leave you to draw your own conclusions on Mr Amankwaah

Lupus Lungfish

I'm sure the poets on the Millwall terraces won't have too much trouble coming up with a suitable chant when 'Amankwaah' comes to play in East London.

MNC

Playing the race card is outrageous when not true. It takes away from real cases. It's almost like crying rape: There is a massive public outcry at the alleged perpetrator when totally unjustified.

Cheerfulboss

Iam a wanker is just digging himself a bigger hole. Why did he not mention it at the time? Because it didn't happen. He came close to redeeming himself then snatched it back. Look forward to seeing him at The Den unless he is "injured".

Hugh

Rod, a couple of posts back on this blog your immediate response to the Goldstone report was to accuse newspapers that reported his findings of being 'racist'.

I don't see any difference in your use of the racism tag than either this Swindon Town footballer's or Mary Seacole's PC advocates. It's the useful way of silencing opponents when you don't want to hear what they have to say.

Tiberius

The heading of this thread is probably correct, but let us be in no doubt that if it is, the penultimate refuge of the scoundrel is to cry "Disability Discrimination Act" when his employer finally tires of his uselessness at his job.

Jez

This is old b*llocks Rod.

That 'Froggy, Frog, Frog' Cantona (my opinion only) expelled any rational approach to this back when he 'Katate chopped' a fan he'd taken a dislike to. In broad daylight. In front off 35,000 people. On prime time TV.

And then blamed it on racism?

The liberal media sniggered and let it go- in fact they actually promoted this, as they saw yet another chance to demonise the ones they really don't like- the general public.

The whole mantra of 'racism' (or any liberal left designated '-ism') is a one way street designed to render the host population defencless in regard to our planned / eventual sell-out.

It sucks pal.

Hugh Flange

Is this man related to Carlton Cole or Dioff?, these false accusations of racism are becomming very tiresome nowadays, i'd deport the lot of 'em!!

Austin Barry

The truth, rarely admitted, is that we are all empirical racists. For example: a South London street late at night. Ahead of you on one side of the street are some four or five young Chinese blokes, on the other a similar number of young Afro-Caribbeans. On which side will you choose to continue your walk? I suspect that merely positing this issue makes me a racist pedestrian who should be greeted with howls of execration and a suitable term of imprisonment.

rod seacole liddle

Hugh: what a bizarre comment. My point re Goldstone was that the newspaper reports scarcely mentioned Hamas atrocities because they were biased against Israel.

rod seacole liddle

are the Chinese people carrying machetes, Austin?

toby fu manchu forward

Austin Barry, you should walk on the side of the Afro-Carribeans, the heirs of Martin Luther King Junior and Maya Angelou. Stay away from my side of the street or you will learn to fear the terror of the tongs.

Dixon

I think sir, tis all in Kevins name. For tis it not true he is A mankwer?

Dixon

Hawkeye and David Osset appear to think Rods every word is the literal truth.

When he said "according to British law now, if someone makes an allegation of racism then it is de facto true" these chaps seem to have taken that as literally a statement of legislative fact, one of them even saying: "thats one more law to be repealed".

West Upper

I would have to say that it is similar to Carlton Cole's claim that he was racially abused during the West Ham v Millwall game and Diouf claims recently. It seems that if you are ethnic you can behave badly and then pull out the race card. What can white poeple do?

michael

Some nair do well has written 'PAKIS RULE' on my next door neighbours warehouse wall.
Being the local 'GORRAH'(white boy)
begets me six months for such defamatory vocab.

Dixon

"Austin Barry
October 14th, 2009 12:58pm
The truth, rarely admitted, is that we are all empirical racists. For example: a South London street late at night. Ahead of you on one side of the street are some four or five young Chinese blokes, on the other a similar number of young Afro-Caribbeans. On which side will you choose to continue your walk? I suspect that merely positing this issue makes me a racist pedestrian who should be greeted with howls of execration and a suitable term of imprisonment."

Actually this is scientifically true. Its called "default assumption" and is the brains way of categorising things according to probability based on prior information. Although it applies to vastly more than race and is almost always unconscious. Experiments show how people tend to quite literally "see" what they expect to see as determined by enculturation. So in a way its nonsense to single out any one person for doing this and calling it "racism".

Real "racism" is a conscious, deliberate choice to treat everyone of one category the same and unfaiurly irrespective of the individual.

And in heated moments, we are all inclined to refer to those who offend us in terms of some obvious feature: "Speccie sod", "Beardie bastard", "Shirt lifter" Etc. Most occasions of people using "racist" language are, I suspect, of that type. The phrase used may often bear no reflection of the person using the phrase.

Anyone else here had the amusing experience of being dubbed a "gringo"?

Immanuel Seacole Kant

The racial equality industry is the recognition of all our duties as divine commands.

Lupus Lungfish

Austin- take a taxi if I were you, you don't stand a chance!

Donald F Arting

I expect Amankwaah contacted The Voice to seek their responce to such alligations from Harris, maybe it took two days to come back with the answer used by Amankwaah.

Carl Gordon-Brown

I'm surprised that nobody has commented on the comic value of Mr Amawankaah's name.

Jez

Austin barry;

"The truth, rarely admitted, is that we are all empirical racists. For example: a South London street late at night. Ahead of you on one side of the street are some four or five young Chinese blokes, on the other a similar number of young Afro-Caribbeans."

Good question Austin. Good Question.

Which side of the South London road would i head for?

Personally it'd depend whether i was feeling like scoring some Crack or purchasing some pirate DVD porn.

That's what you mean't isn't it?

;)

hiro

How about if Harris was whispering in his ear all match - "you dirty n word"? Would you snap? More facts I think are needed without stirring up more screaming, hysterical race "debates".

R Mitchum

A 70 year old neighbour in West London was accused of racism by a young woman who "had it in for him". He was immediately charged and then dragged through the magistrates courts for over a year before it was decided he should go "without a stain on his character". The experience nearly killed him and this former servicemen left for Spain. Like him I now feel no allegiance to this country.

Wilhelm

Rod Liddle

The '' racist'' word is now meaningless, its like the 17 century when if you didnt go along with the puritan way of life you were denouced as a '' witch ''.

Today if you arent fussy with the multiculty way of life and prefer a monoculture, you are denouced as a racist, ho hum.

John Lea

Similar thing happened with that idiot Al-Hadji Diouf. I remember that he spat at some opposition fans once for patting him on the head. Afterwards he claimed that patting a black person on the head was racist! He subsequently went on to spit at other people - on and off the pitch (it sort of became his trademark - and I can only assume that they, too, were racists.

Wilhelm

Remember when Jamican Darcus Howe and Joan Rivers was on a Radio 4 programme.

Old Darcus had done a tedious Channel 4 programme about how he doesnt get along with
his son. Joan Rivers chipped in and said '' well you've got 7 kids from 4 different woman, its chaos.''

Darcus knew he was in the wrong but played the racist card and squeeeeeeled RACIST at Joan Rivers but Joan was having none of it and screeeeeeemed back at him and put Darcus in his place.

It was all over the papers.

David Ossitt

Dixon

"Hawkeye and David Osset appear to think Rods every word is the literal truth"

Who is this David Osset? never heard of him.

Rod only ever tells the truth; unless of course he is lying and even then I would still prefer to believe him.

N

Ah, what a great role model for the kids who look up to him. "Hey kids, being responsible for your own actions is stupid. Be an a-hole! If someone calls you on it, simply twist the situation so THEY are the bad guys! Yeah!"

This is sad on so many levels.

Noa Zrk

Rod. I see what is now happening as an opportunity for forward thinking teams, rather than an expose of a weakness in the definition of an criminal officence; although one generally expects the criminal to have the intention to commit a crime and not the 'victim'. But football, or any other sports teams, now have the ability to never loose a game on the basis of discrimination. You racist ref, that was never a goal! Is it coz I is black? All in all teams should now ensure they contain a heathy majority of feign and ethnic players. Oh, I forgot. The successful ones do already.

Luddite

Sticks and stones? but this is not about name calling is it, this is about political addventage and addvensment. The Labour's party has opened a pandora box race and racism will be big in election year and Labour will be the loser.

Stephanie Tohill

Austin Barry,

It would depend on how they were dressed and how they were acting. If the black guys were dressed in the 'nerd' fashion or suits I wouldn't care. Baggy jeans and hoods and maybe I'd be more nervous. Same for the East Asian. It's not as simple as black/white/asian etc as far as I'm concerned.

Although that said I've been in South London many a time and have yet to feel threatened by seeing a group of black guys. I'm always around such a diverse set of people it's hard for me to form set impressions.

Nicholas

N "Be an a-hole! If someone calls you on it, simply twist the situation so THEY are the bad guys!"

That seems to me a perfect description of the creed of the Left. They manipulate the language of the debate rather than address the substance of it in order to prevail, resorting to the dog-whistle and the tried and tested diversion when it looks like the plain truth might be exposed.

I have been witness to it for more than 50 years but the ever-more inventive dishonesty and hypocrisy of the Left still astounds me.

Hugh

Rod, thanks for your reply. The only thing that’s bizarre is your failure to recognise the similarities between your use of the racist tag and the rest of the examples mentioned in the thread. In your post on Goldstone you acknowledged that you hadn’t read it but you immediately cried “racist” at the newspapers reporting on it. Neither your claims of racism nor I suspect any of the others mentioned here are supported by any evidence – so what’s the difference between you and them? One of degree maybe but the underlying knee-jerk approach is pretty similar.

Also, I can’t help but notice that in your reply to me you’re not repeating your racist allegation re these newspapers and instead describing these papers as merely “biased”. I can sympathise given the title of this post, but as the scoundrel's last refuge is to cry “racist” how about going all the way and retracting that post you did accusing the newspapers of being racist?

rod seacole liddle

Hugh - I repeat. You clearly do not understand the point. I am not, in the above, attempting to say that racism does not exist.

hiro

Racist maybe an over used word, but racism is still a massive part of our society. You just have to look at the structures of power in this country to understand that.

rod seacole liddle

Oh, Hiro, get a grip, mate.

The REAL Mary Seacole

I used to work for the London Probation Service. Playing the 'race card' was a routine last refuge for black 'scoundrels'. I remember one black Trainee PO who was 'discontinued' (a Probation term) because she failed to complete the requirements of the programme (e.g. not submitting essays, failing to be available to be observed in practice (in other words, not coming to work), etc). This was, I understand, because she was unable to organise her work commitments around her family responsibilities as a single mother. Fair enough.

Inevitably (regrettably) she put in a grievance on the basis of racial discrimination (with absolutely no supporting evidence). Her case (equally inevitably) failed. However, the thoroughness of the investigation (and, frankly, the fact that it was even considered in the first place) was a reminder (if one were needed) that, in this particular sector of the, erm, public sector, paler-faced staff members are presumed to be guilty of racism unless proved otherwise.

Broucek Minibean

If you believe that prejudices of whatever form (racial, class, status etc) can ever be eradicated from any society you may as well join the Flat Earth Appreciation Society.