Has David Starkey gone mad?
Discussion
Dont Panic said:
Gopal, brown, woman. Racist comments made. Promoted.
Starkey. White. Male. Racist comments made. Fired.
I see Cambridge University have asked for and accepted his resignation. The use of one word (that is open to several interpretations) is a sackable offence, whereas an entire tweet from Ms Gopal(and many others besides it has since emerged) openly promoting racism is worthy of defending, apparently. Dr Starkey's (ex) publishers Harper Collins have jumped on the passing woke bandwagon of outrage, saying they will refuse to publish any of his future works. Welcome to Britain in 2020, where merely expressing an opinion in defiance of the prevailing orthodoxy singles one out for castigation and banishment. Starkey. White. Male. Racist comments made. Fired.
He’s partly funded by a right wing organisation with links to white supremacists, so yeah I’d say the racism part is accurate. Homophobes? Unproven but not a leap when you look at who’s backing him. And his own promo video sailed very very close to that. When the BBC was usable for launching his media ‘career’ it was all good. So they’re ‘activists’. Hilarious.
They called him out for not meeting racism head-on. And rightly so.
If you want to defend him fill your boots. You’re wasting your time on that with me though. I have zero time for racism, those who entertain it and apologists for it. Nor do I feel particularly like giving them the luxuries that they’re so keen to deny others.
They called him out for not meeting racism head-on. And rightly so.
If you want to defend him fill your boots. You’re wasting your time on that with me though. I have zero time for racism, those who entertain it and apologists for it. Nor do I feel particularly like giving them the luxuries that they’re so keen to deny others.
s2art said:
Alternatively its just an old (and common) way of emphasising something. 'There is too many damn cars on the road today', Unwise usage in these Woke days but hey ho.
Yes I do it all the time.Let's pretend someone like Corbyn was quoted as saying "whilst it's true that we've had our issues with antisemitism we've not done too badly else more damn Jews would have received abuse" and ask yourself honestly what you think your reaction would be.
Or the reaction on here.
I'm gonna guess "woke" wouldn't figure too highly.
Roderick Spode said:
I see Cambridge University have asked for and accepted his resignation. The use of one word (that is open to several interpretations) is a sackable offence, whereas an entire tweet from Ms Gopal(and many others besides it has since emerged) openly promoting racism is worthy of defending, apparently. Dr Starkey's (ex) publishers Harper Collins have jumped on the passing woke bandwagon of outrage, saying they will refuse to publish any of his future works. Welcome to Britain in 2020, where merely expressing an opinion in defiance of the prevailing orthodoxy singles one out for castigation and banishment.
Good.I wouldn't want to live in a Britain where a relic like Starkey could get away with referring to an entire race as a "damned" people like something he'd scrape off his shoe.
Gweeds said:
He’s partly funded by a right wing organisation with links to white supremacists, so yeah I’d say the racism part is accurate. Homophobes? Unproven but not a leap when you look at who’s backing him. And his own promo video sailed very very close to that. When the BBC was usable for launching his media ‘career’ it was all good. So they’re ‘activists’. Hilarious.
They called him out for not meeting racism head-on. And rightly so.
If you want to defend him fill your boots. You’re wasting your time on that with me though. I have zero time for racism, those who entertain it and apologists for it. Nor do I feel particularly like giving them the luxuries that they’re so keen to deny others.
A hell of a leap when you consider he's gay. More importantly the BBC didn't just say he supports racists and homophobes, they said specifically that he described his website as giving space to racists and homophobes. Should be easy enough to find the reference if he did.They called him out for not meeting racism head-on. And rightly so.
If you want to defend him fill your boots. You’re wasting your time on that with me though. I have zero time for racism, those who entertain it and apologists for it. Nor do I feel particularly like giving them the luxuries that they’re so keen to deny others.
I'm not defending him, he should have called Starkey out on his comments. But the BBC allegations against him (as opposed to against Starkey) seem dubious.
I see he's planning on suing the BBC - https://twitter.com/darrengrimes_/status/127904430...
Although this video of his seems to be pretty clear - https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/05/29/darren-grime... .
Although this video of his seems to be pretty clear - https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/05/29/darren-grime... .
Dr Jekyll said:
A hell of a leap when you consider he's gay. More importantly the BBC didn't just say he supports racists and homophobes, they said specifically that he described his website as giving space to racists and homophobes. Should be easy enough to find the reference if he did.
I'm not defending him, he should have called Starkey out on his comments. But the BBC allegations against him (as opposed to against Starkey) seem dubious.
Good luck with his legal action:I'm not defending him, he should have called Starkey out on his comments. But the BBC allegations against him (as opposed to against Starkey) seem dubious.
https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/05/29/darren-grime...
SnowStar said:
Derek Smith said:
Saying Germans is, I think, a warning. It could be any country, and indeed has been many.
Rubbish. Opting to say Germans is much less correct or accurate than saying Nazis. 
rscott said:
I see he's planning on suing the BBC - https://twitter.com/darrengrimes_/status/127904430...
Although this video of his seems to be pretty clear - https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/05/29/darren-grime... .
Clear enough for the BBC anywayAlthough this video of his seems to be pretty clear - https://www.pinknews.co.uk/2020/05/29/darren-grime... .
https://www.bbc.co.uk/helpandfeedback/corrections_...
b
hstewie said:
hstewie said: ...
Let's pretend someone like Corbyn was quoted as saying "whilst it's true that we've had our issues with antisemitism we've not done too badly else more damn Jews would have received abuse" and ask yourself honestly what you think your reaction would be.....
Honestly? It depends what provoked the use of the language.Let's pretend someone like Corbyn was quoted as saying "whilst it's true that we've had our issues with antisemitism we've not done too badly else more damn Jews would have received abuse" and ask yourself honestly what you think your reaction would be.....
Regardless of that context it was still hugely unwise use of language. And I doubt him not gracing the airwaves for a bit will be a bother to most.
The equality of censure angle is now far more of interest though. I have no issue with him being castigated for careless use of language. As long as that is handled consistently. And that is quite evidently not happening at the moment. I find this a worry, not least of which because it will generate and foster further division.
Starkey speaks like many other people of his age, my dad says things in a similar way, the word damned is used for emphasis and not in a derogatory manner.
My dad uses it all the time:
"I can't get to the bar as half the damned social club is trying to get served at the moment"
"the park was filled up with damned school kids so I will walk the dog later"
Most of the time it is used in a jokey, affectionate way - personally, I don't see the problem. I think we should give the older generation a little bit of license with the way they speak.
My dad uses it all the time:
"I can't get to the bar as half the damned social club is trying to get served at the moment"
"the park was filled up with damned school kids so I will walk the dog later"
Most of the time it is used in a jokey, affectionate way - personally, I don't see the problem. I think we should give the older generation a little bit of license with the way they speak.
272BHP said:
Starkey speaks like many other people of his age, my dad says things in a similar way, the word damned is used for emphasis and not in a derogatory manner.
My dad uses it all the time:
"I can't get to the bar as half the damned social club is trying to get served at the moment"
"the park was filled up with damned school kids so I will walk the dog later"
Most of the time it is used in a jokey, affectionate way - personally, I don't see the problem. I think we should give the older generation a little bit of license with the way they speak.
I think it was a mixture of using 'damn' as an intensifier and an academics frustration at what he saw as sloppy use of language. A stupid thing to say, but not being derogatory about an entire ethnic group.My dad uses it all the time:
"I can't get to the bar as half the damned social club is trying to get served at the moment"
"the park was filled up with damned school kids so I will walk the dog later"
Most of the time it is used in a jokey, affectionate way - personally, I don't see the problem. I think we should give the older generation a little bit of license with the way they speak.
Rather like an Italian immigrant shopkeeper i used to know who talked about London being overcrowded with 'all these damn foreigners'. Partly an expression of frustration, partly a joke, and he knew that we knew exactly what he meant.
Not something to say in front of strangers, and certainly not now that context is deemed to be irrelevant. But not necessarily racist in itself.
zygalski said:
Good.
I wouldn't want to live in a Britain where a relic like Starkey could get away with referring to an entire race as a "damned" people like something he'd scrape off his shoe.
Where do you stand on the comments of the sublimely racist Gopal woman? I wouldn't want to live in a Britain where a relic like Starkey could get away with referring to an entire race as a "damned" people like something he'd scrape off his shoe.
After all she deemed an entire race of peoples lives to not matter.
Do you mind living in a Britain where views like hers are deemed acceptable but not the other way around?
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