What Starkey and those he claims to despise have in common

Starkey believes that young black people must choose between doing the right thing and their own identity and culture. That is wicked.

 “Children can’t achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the television sets and eradicate the slander that says a black youth with a book is acting white.” – Barack Obama, 2004 Democratic National Convention

“That a substantial section of the chavs…have become black, the whites have become black, a particular sort of violent destructive nihilistic gangster culture has become the fashion… this language which is wholly false which is a Jamacian patois which has been intruded in England… it’s not skin colour its cultural… listen to David Lammy, an achetypical successful black man, if you turned the screen off so you were listening to him on radio you’d think he was white.” – David Starkey, 12 August 2011 Newsnight

At the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama alluded to a destructive phenonemon among America’s black communities: A small minority among those communities excusing lack of educational dedication and aspiration by terming such behavior as ‘acting white’.

I am no expert on American black culture, and Obama may have been attacking a straw man. But a brief glimpse of black culture on both sides of the Atlantic shows how the idea that the then congressman from Illinios was tackling, is pure rubbish.

In every generation, the black community in this country have produced figures, from across the political and cultural spectrum, whose words and deeds declare a clear message of  bettering yourself through education and living up to your responsibilities, from  Learie Constantine and C.L.R. James, to David Lammy, Diane Abbott and Shaun Bailey today. 

What Starkey and those that Obama looked to take on do have in common, is that, according to their worldview, young black people must choose between doing the right thing and their own identity and culture.  That doing something they may have pride in is ‘acting white’.

Such an outlook is historically and cultural ignorant. It may be not too far to suggest that it is wicked and has the capacity to be incredibly destructive. And anyone who espouses it should be ashamed of themselves. Starkey would do well to listen to the petitioners and apologise.

22 Responses to “What Starkey and those he claims to despise have in common”

  1. Phillip Brightmore

    What Starkey and those he claims to despise have in common: http://t.co/IOIKV5z : writes @danielelton #Starkey

  2. John Lever

    What Starkey and those he claims to despise have in common http://t.co/Yl2yrKS

  3. Hens4Freedom

    RT @leftfootfwd: What Starkey and those he claims to despise have in common: http://t.co/pwCzGGj : writes @danielelton #Starkey #NewsClub

  4. Anon E Mouse

    When did David Starkey say he despised these individuals?

    I watched the interview and reviewed it on Sky Plus and at no time did he ever say he despised anyone.

    More childish bias from Left Foot Forward that has once again completely failed to understand his points.

    Still with the frankly crazy way in which Harriet Harman made herself look totally irrelevant and stupid by stating that people stealing plasma TV’s and training shoes were worried about tuition fees when the majority of them can’t even read or write. Nuts…

  5. Ed's Talking Balls

    I don’t think the BBC owes anyone an apology for inviting a controversial figure onto one of their programmes who subsequently, surprise surprise, said something controversial. Had he blatently crossed a line then yes, we could expect an interruption or apology after the programme for the content (e.g. had Nick Griffin been invited to foam, or had Anjem Choudary done the same).

    As it happens, I think that Starkey did as he usually does: sailed close to the wind, making some uncomfortable, perceptive points amid some waffle. Much of what he said has been mischaracterised, both by Owen Jones in the heat of the moment and, less excusably, by those who have viewed and reviewed the comments in the cold light of day.

    I don’t agree with Starkey’s notion that ‘Lammy speaks like a white man’. I think that was an objectionable thing to say, given what he was implying. But I think that his view that there is a ‘nihilistic’ section of black culture, glorified in gangster rap, is damaging to society and, regrettably, has been enthusiastically adopted by many young people of all races in this country.

    The panellists on Newsnight challenged Starkey to point to examples of rapstars spewing violent sentiment or glorifying crime, knowing full well that he couldn’t. However, I could point to such examples, and I could point to people who don’t simply enjoy the music but live by the lyrics. That is unhealthy, as is the ubiquitous incomprehensible patois.

    Like Anon E Mouse, I’m much more concerned by Harriet Harman’s offensive, laughable misunderstanding of the situation (or, more cynically, naked, hypocritical point-scoring) than I am by what Starkey said. She actually had power and may well still wield some. That’s a frightening thought.

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