In this climate, anti-racists are always one mistake away from disgrace, while rightwingers who cause division get away scot-free
Rupa Huq is neither a comedian nor, it turns out, is she particularly good at telling political jokes. The Labour MP should certainly not have debuted her latest material at an event this week at Labour party conference, where she said that the chancellor of the exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng, was “superficially black”, adding that “if you hear him on the Today programme, you wouldn’t know he’s black”. It was a clumsy and unwise attempt at humour and, perhaps most importantly, the underlying idea that formed the sting of her would-be joke is false.
The (presumably unintended) implication must be that erudite, successful, well-spoken (even if financially cack-handed) people don’t come in black. This is, of course, obviously false but it is a perception that remains widely held. I was once informed by a senior manager at a media organisation that I was too “successful, intelligent and middle-class to relate to or understand black audiences”. I wish this was a wildly outrageous humblebrag but it was as painful and racist as it sounds. It is also untrue.
Nels Abbey is a writer, broadcaster and former banker. He is the author of the satirical book Think Like A White Man
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a letter of up to 300 words to be considered for publication, email it to us at [email protected]
