My thanks for all the responses and the good wishes. My apologies for not responding individually, but I appreciate them. And I’m OK, and getting better.
“To discriminate against trans people in the workplace, to refuse to serve them in a shop, to deliberately misgender as a way of humiliating someone – that is bigotry. To argue for sex-based categories in sport – that is not”: My
@ObserverUK
column:
Guess it may have to be an annual reminder, too, that the majority of Christians are not white, that the majority of sub-Saharan Africans are Christian (and make up nearly a quarter of the world’s Christians), 1/
Supporting the rights of Palestinian people is not the same as supporting Hamas but requires condemnation of Hamas, its actions and policies. Condemning Hamas is not the same as supporting Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, its occupation, bombings and collective punishment.
Hoping that Salman Rushdie is not seriously injured. A reminder yet again of the costs that writers face for refusing to be bound by taboos, for challenging the demands of blasphemy.
I would have thought that the beheading of a teacher is a bit more of a “provocation”. This is effectively an argument that says “Keep murdering people in the most barbaric ways because then you will get what you want.”
#CharlieHebdo
must be shut down immediately by French authorities. This racist, Islamophobic rag is causing community relations to completely break down with its repeated provocations. They are literally crying fire in a crowded theatre. Freedom of speech isn't worth civil war.
A few thoughts on the Batley school Muhammed image controversy. Since the facts are unclear, these are as much about the general issues as the case itself.
1. There is no right not to be offended. This is as true in a classroom as anywhere else. Context matters.
No. We should not impose on people of particular identities, backgrounds or experiences the responsibility for having the “right” views and judge those views more harshly than if they were held by someone, say, white, male or privileged. That’s a dangerous road to go down. 1/
It’s even more frustrating to read comments from lawyers with huge platforms who apparently haven’t read the point I make in the article that it’s those without power and platforms within minority communities who most suffer from the failure of liberals to defend free speech…
So frustrating to read, even well intentioned like this, pieces on free speech that don't engage with relative power. Who actually has a platform to speak - and for what purpose do they use it, to challenge or to embed power?
She was born in Germany because her father was serving there with the RAF. So, she is not deemed “British” and threatened with deportation. Another extraordinary Home Office story:
Given the continuing debate about Suella Braverman, and why she could have such odious views on immigration given that she (like Priti Patel before her) is Asian and a child of immigrants, a few points to think about: 1/
So, I find myself in Stewart Lee’s “Pedal Bin” alongside Donald Trump, Nadine Dorries, Eric Clapton and the Taliban. Don’t what I’ve done to upset that nice Mr Lee, but at least he could have spelt my name right.
(Not that difficult given we’ve got columns in the same newspaper)
@JolyonMaugham
Jolyon, your view seems to be that you criticising my article is “conspicuously polite” but me challenging your criticism can only be the product of “hostility or personal animus”. Let’s just say that I conspicuously politely disagree.
@openinnovteam
@StevenEdginton
All I can say is that I look forward to the article. And I await the response from the government’s free speech tsar. And from free speech advocates
@Telegraph
. 6/
2. The views of black or Asian Tories are shaped not simply by their skin colour or immigration status. They are shaped also by class, privilege, education, etc. The focus simply on their ethnicity or immigration status shows how reductive identity thinking can be. 3/
Paris, Nice, Kabul, Vienna. These are not responses to particular political policies, or to the giving of “offence”. Let’s not dignify them so. They are expressions of nihilist Islamist terror, terror for purpose of sowing fear, of provoking a response.
The fact that many people care about religion does not mean I should not criticise, insult or mock it any more than the fact that many people care about the Conservative Party or Critical Race Theory or Manchester United means I should not criticise, insult or mock any of those.
Free speech does not authorize you to insult, condescend & mock other religious figures & religions. Some people don’t care about their religion but some do. Play a stupid game - you will win a stupid prize. Your call. Some people only want fame no matter the cost/sacrifice.
@Telegraph
And I’m quite happy to talk to
@Telegraph
journalists/executives either about immigration or about the history of race and identity politics. (So long as they pay me enough.)
My views on the Rwanda deportation scheme, and on the government’s immigration policies, are hardly a secret. But, just in case, here are some articles to read:
1. Braverman, Patel, etc do not have odious views simply on immigration. They have equally odious views on welfare, workers’ rights, etc. They are rightwing Tories and their views, like those of white rightwing Tories, on all these issues are shaped by their broader ideology. 2/
Kettlethorpe High School headteacher, Tudor Griffiths, described the Quran desecration on Wednesday as "a sad day," and pledged "more consequences" will be implemented if necessary. Inspector Andy Thornton said the incident wasn't a criminal matter, but a learning opportunity.
“Gaza is one of the most intense civilian punishment campaigns in history. It now sits comfortably in the top quartile of the most devastating bombing campaigns ever”:
Will probably write about Race Commission Report properly for Sunday, but a few thoughts. Having spent much of the last few years questioning arguments about racial disparities, insisting that we need to think about the complex interplay of race and class… 1/
‘Neither the French nor the British were the first to abolish slavery. Haiti [was] the first nation to permanently ban slavery and the slave trade from the first day of its existence’:
@JuliaGaffield
on the historical importance of the Haitian Revolution:
“What prevents British workers from having British homes are not queue-jumping immigrants but the failure of the authorities to build sufficient housing. Yet, the myth persists… nurtured by politicians, pundits and academics”: My
@ObserverUK
column:
I have no idea how porters generally treat non-white Cambridge academics but if the one example given in this thread is anything to go by, it’s not the porter who is being rude or demonstrating entitlement or revealing ‘unconscious bias’.
What is “unacceptable” are the actions of the school, especially given that “there was no malicious intent by those involved”. I’m all for “respecting” books – all books – but not what is effectively a backdoor imposition of blasphemy regulations.
Covering up a painting deemed blasphemous is not a ‘compromise’ between freedom of expression and the censorship of blasphemy. It is giving in to those who insist that blasphemous images or texts should be forbidden or unseen:
Pakistan’s supreme court judges had the spine to set Asia Bibi free. The British prime minister apparently has neither the courage nor the compassion to grant her asylum:
What nurtures reactionaries, both within Muslim communities and outside it, is the unwillingness of too many liberals to stand up for basic liberal principles, to defend the right to give offence, and not retreat every time something like this happens.
I should add, btw, given this seems to be what has irked
@Telegraph
, I am not going to be talking about immigration in this talk, just about the themes of my book, esp the history of the idea of race, of antiracism and of identity politics.
Now we come to the nub of the matter. For me, the bar isn’t at a different place for a “brown child of immigrants” than it is for a white politician with similar views. It’s at exactly the same place. I judge the views not the identity. One of the fundamental divides of our time.
“Human beings, Rushdie observed in his 1990 essay In Good Faith, ‘shape their futures by arguing and challenging and questioning and saying the unsayable; not by bowing the knee whether to gods or to men’” My
@ObserverUK
column:
...that 5 of the top 10 countries with largest Christian populations are Nigeria, DRC, Ethiopia, Philippines, China, Brazil & Mexico. And that many critics of white supremacy can be profoundly Euro- and Anglocentric, too. 2/
As Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly rarely backed down. And he seems still not to do so, refusing the BJP demand to remove Imran Khan’s portrait from Eden Gardens:
3. There are no blasphemy laws in Britain and – despite media reports – no prohibition in Islam against depicting Muhammed. It’s a modern taboo in many Sunni strands. In Iran, there are depictions of Muhammed even in a mosque. There are many manuscripts with such depictions.
“The very question 'was Cleopatra black or white?' tells us much more about ourselves, and our world, and the confusions that beset our understanding of race and identity, than they do about Cleopatra and her world”: My
@ObserverUK
column:
A few thoughts on the Trevor Phillips controversy. I’m in two minds as to whether to post this on Twitter as the very nature of Twitter discussions serves only to exacerbate the polarised character of the debate, and erase nuance. But here goes (and it may be a long thread). 1/
You couldn’t make it up
#9657
. Home Office denies Windrush victim Trevor Donald the right to return home to Britain for 9 years, admits it was in the wrong, but denies him British citizenship - because he was out of Britain for more than five years.
So, I’m a racist? Thanks for letting me know. (Wonder if James Baldwin was also a racist for debating William F Buckley? Or the many figures (from Trevor Huddlestone to Dennis Skinner) who publicly debated Enoch Powell?)
“Kureishi wrote his novels and screenplays for the same reason that I read them and watched them: to tear up the old cultural map and to discover where we stood in the new landscape we were creating” My
@ObserverUK
column on Hanif Kureishi:
Exclusive: I'm going to be talking about my book (not on immigration). And if you got out of your office a bit more you might discover that there are plenty of people who would describe Suella Braverman’s views on immigration as “odious”.
Exclusive: Border officials are set to be addressed by a pro-migration academic
@kenanmalik
who has described Suella Braverman’s views on immigration as “odious”.
The govt event is to be held in work hours and will discuss "whiteness and privilege".
Is it really so difficult to say that not all reactionaries are white? That many blacks or Asians or Latinos are conservative, even reactionary, just as it’s the case in every group?
“When we say… that Cleopatra was Black, we claim [her] as part of a culture and history that has known oppression and triumph, exploitation and survival.”
Leaving aside that Cleopatra was an absolute monarch… 1/
“Many who most worry about “white decline” are also among the most strident critics of identity politics… Rightwing critics have never been hostile to identity politics. They just want to push *their* form of identity politics”: My
@ObserverUK
column:
We should also remember how much more restrictive those boundaries have become since 1988 when The Satanic Verses was published. As
@Hanifkureishi
has observed, it is not a novel that would be written today, let alone published.
It's one thing to argue that perceptions of the “intellectual” often constrained by race and class. Quite another to suggest that, before now, nobody thought of WEB Du Bois or Pauli Murray or Ralph Ellison or James Baldwin or Toni Morrison as intellectuals
I see that the Uighurs, the Tibetans, the people of Hong Kong, those shackled in cheap labour factories, any critic of the Chinese government, have all been cancelled.
China will soon be the world's largest economy. It'll be the first nation to reach that status whose rise isn't built on colonialism, slavery & genocide, but rather on hard work, good economics & effective governance. This should earn China love, but it earns it hate in the West.
And according to Priti Patel, to have invited me is “extraordinary betrayal of the voters who elected us to take back control of our borders in 2019”. So much for “free speech” and “diversity viewpoint” and “don’t live in echo chamber” etc, etc.
It’s 50 years ago today that Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood on the Olympic podium at the Mexico City Olympic Games with fists clenched in a protest about racism and the treatment of African Americans. A protest that still has such meaning today.
4. The Rwandan deportation scheme did not simply fall out of the sky. It’s merely the latest development in the ratcheting up of anti-immigrant policy, from offshoring, the creation of Fortress Europe, the outsourcing of controls for third countries, etc. 5/
Ralph Leonard (
@buffsoldier_96
) on the 'assumption that white people have the liberty to break out of their “roots” and become universal, cosmopolitan and protean. But “people of colour” are particular, rooted in their cultural and spiritual traditions’:
I’ve had an enforced absence from both social media and writing (for medical reasons). But I’m back with an
@ObserverUK
column this week on the riots, working class grievance, immigration, racism and the politics of identity:
British-Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta, banned in Germany because of its mad policy on pro-Palestinian speech, is apparently now banned throughout the Schengen area and can’t speak at a conference at the French senate.
“The reduction of racism to whiteness makes it more difficult to build solidarity. It has also made many blind to the realities of racism”: My
@ObserverUK
column: My
@ObserverUK
column:
9. The real question we should be asking is not “why are children of immigrants, or ethnic minority politicians, have such odious views on immigration?” but rather “Why are so many on the left enabling odious policies?” 10/
So, “students of color” is a label for students from groups that, as an aggregate, perform worse? And if, as an aggregate, a group shows better performance, its members are no longer deemed to be “people of color”? I’m not sure someone has quite thought this through…
@openinnovteam
@StevenEdginton
And they will “publish an accusation that your invitation is in breach of government rules on vetting outside speakers to Whitehall for "potentially problematic or controversial material that may contravene civil service values". 5/
People with the same experiences or family backgrounds can interpret those experiences and that background in significantly different ways depending on their broader ideologies. It's the interpretation & ideologies we should judge, not the identity of the person holding them. 2/
“We are the inheritors of centuries of struggle against restrictions on what we are able to say. If we forget the lessons of those struggles, we are in danger also of letting the gains of those struggles slip away.” My
@ObserverUK
column:
So you never judge anyone’s hypocrisy? Or track record? You only, in some imaginary highbrow pure manner, judge the views, in isolation? In a vacuum? Come on. Lol.
@openinnovteam
It’s a zoom meeting due to taken place next month. The email from
@StevenEdginton
(the Telegraph’s “Video Comment Editor”) tells me that “We will be publishing details of your previous comments describing Priti Patel and Sulla Braverman's views on immigration as ‘odious’… 3/
"I treat the Palestinians in Gaza in the same way I would treat any other group that produced a horror like that. They're responsible for their actions."
The fearless
@DouglasKMurray
sat with
@EylonALevy
on his podcast
@stateofapod
and clearly laid out the facts of how the
7. David Blunkett explored the possibilities of offshoring back in the early Noughties. Theresa May introduced the “hostile environment” policies. Why should we be so startled that Patel, Braverman, etc, are continuing this process, ratcheting it even further? 8/
4. Some claim pupils were shown one of the Danish cartoons depicting Muhammed with a bomb his turban. The problem, such critics say, is racism not blasphemy. Given what happened after the Samuel Patty murder in Paris, we should be wary of taking stories as true.
Frederick Douglass on his first visit to Ireland, at the beginning of the Famine:
“I have never heard songs like those anywhere since I left slavery, except when in Ireland. There I heard the same wailing notes, and was much affected by them.”
Here’s Nigel Biggar from his new book *Colonialism: A Moral Reckoning*, providing a moral assessment of British brutality in the aftermath of the “Indian Mutiny”, including the practice of tying victims to the mouths of cannons to be blown apart:
2. The boundaries of speech are, of course, different in a classroom than in the world outside. One is dealing with minors, building a relationship with them, encouraging them to think, and to think about issues that they may not have, or may not have wanted to.
Some months ago, I received an invitation from
@openinnovteam
, which is a cross-government unit that "works with academics to generate analysis and ideas for policy” to talk about the themes of my book *Not So Black and White*. 2/
5. But even if true, it’s not an argument not to have used it in class. Should one play a clip of a Bernard Manning joke, show an anti-Semitic cartoon, discuss a Charlie Hebdo cover? It depends on context.
Once more to quote Eric Williams: “British historians write almost as if Britain had introduced Negro slavery solely for the satisfaction of abolishing it.”