Rant jan 2

seems like it's that time again. look away now

A young, well-dressed articulate black man was interviewed on BBC Newsnight after the riots in May. He opined that the culture of greed was the source of the trouble.

He was right, not just low-end greed but politicians, bankers. The rich saying 'fuck you' to everyone else. And everyone else saying 'Fuck you' back.

Yesterday we branded a black MP racist for her (perhaps silly) comments about colonialism. which were incidentally correct.

I'm not an apologist for Dianne Abbott, she can stand up for herself. But..

On 5-Live today they interviewed an indian shopkeeper. His English was not that favoured by the queen. But he made an interesting point.

'The only people who are upset by racism are racists themselves'. I can hear your howls of indignation from here.

But if one is confident in one's skin. one's culture, one's belief system. It's just name-calling. Why do you need to play the racist card?

Is it just to make a bigger impact? Calling someone a c*nt, whether that term is preceded by the word 'black' or indeed 'white' makes no difference.

All you are doing is insulting and disrespecting someone in as impactful a way as possible. It's not racist as such. It's anti human. It's shows what a hate-full person you are.

Essentially, it reveals what you are.

It's clear to me that Liverpool FC has a problem. They supported a player who made a racist comment, with tee shirts and naive statements. Not good.

But if an Arsenal player, in the heat of the moment, said something similar, how would we react? I think we'd be minded to support him.

All I'm saying is that it' not a simple issue. Not, dare I say it, a 'black and white' issue. Ultimately it's about disrespect. and we all do that.

Calling a Sp*rs fan or player a 'Yid' is racist. Yes it is. Yes it is. It's almost the definition of the term. It's not 'banter' it's racist.

It's all about respect in the end. You may hate in the heat of the moment, on behalf of your 'tribe' but then applaud 'him' off on a stretcher.

I know that the heat of the battle can do strange things to people. I know that without passion we don't have a spectacle. Without passion it doesn't really matter.

But sometimes I just think that we need to care for each other a little bit (!) more. And respect each other a great deal more.