Society
Jade Goody learned her trade in London
Published 29 January 2007
How Jade's behaviour happens every day in every part of Britain - so there's no point in blaming Channel 4 says Darcus Howe
And now to Jade Goody, the suicide bomber, who flicked the switch triggering an explosion of racial abuse at a newly arrived immigrant from the subcontinent with whom she was sharing a house in Elstree. Jade led the charge with her backing group of two other Celebrity Big Brother residents, whom I have now rechristened the Fuckawallahs.
This behaviour happens every day in every corner of the UK and has been going on from time immemorial. So much so that political parties have been formed to accommodate this social type, while laws have been wrung out of the establishment making such abuse illegal.
But it is not all gloom and doom. Hundreds of thousands of us are determined to stamp it out, in the face of our detractors who hurl allegations of "political correctness" at every attempt to educate the recalcitrants.
All these elements surfaced when Goody spat her venom at Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother. I am slightly amused, as I have always been, by the ducking and diving of those who refuse to admit, in the face of the most overwhelming evidence, that racism exists here in large doses. In the case of Goody, her behaviour was designated as "bullying" and not racist - as if racism against the individual is not a fundamental weapon of the bully.
I was again astonished by the reaction of the chattering classes. Almost all of the comments aimed at Jade reeked of Victorian snobbery and were delivered with unbelievable vitriol. To them I say: "Not in my name." I want no part of these Snobawallahs.
Jade Goody did not fall from the sky. She is no visitor from another planet. She was born and bred in this briar patch, just along the river in Bermondsey. She attended the local nursery, I guess. Primary school, I am sure. Comprehensive school, she tells us. She sat in front of the television, listened to the radio, socialised with friends in close proximity to people of the same skin colour as Shilpa. And she is not alone in emerging out of this with such bitter hostility against Asians. She learnt her trade right here in this capital city, in spite of attempts by many of us, blacks and whites, to eradicate this poison.
She and the rest of them are products of colonial and post-colonial society and no amount of abuse from the snobs will change her. Even so, racism has been struck some deadly blows in the past few days. But I will not participate in any public crucifixion of Jade and the Fuckawallahs. She appears genuinely mortified by the reaction of the viewers and other sections of society.
And I refuse to go along with those who have turned their guns on Channel 4. I have worked for Channel 4 since its inception - and continue to do so. The company has pioneered black and Asian programming in this country and continues to do it brilliantly. Such behaviour as Jade displayed is so prominent in this country that it was bound to end up on the screen some day. Fortunately, the programme had an in-built right of reply, as viewers could vote off those whom they despised.
Empty vessels make the most noise is my reply to the demand that Channel 4 be punished and its licence taken away. Andy Duncan, the chief executive, and Luke Johnson, the chairman of the channel, have nothing to apologise for.
Fancy hearing demands for an apology from Trevor Phillips, the head of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights. He has been in the vanguard of attacks on our minority communities for not having white friends, for attempting to change Brixton into Little Jamaica, and for being responsible for the creation of ghettos à la New Orleans.
His anti-Channel 4 stance is pure humbug.
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