The BBC were quick to fill the airwaves with critical comment about C4’s ‘Benefits Street’….not so quick to mention this dangerous programme from C4:

Channel 4 News removes video report from their website after it emerges four of the five ‘normal’ people questioned were from the same marketing agency

Channel 4 News has removed a video from its website after it emerged that four of the five people it interviewed about police relations in Brixton were employed by the same marketing company.

It was deleted from the Channel 4 News website on Sunday after questions were raised over how representative the video could be when the majority of those interviewed were employed by youth marketing company Livity.

The report featured five interviews with apparently random members of the local community, all of whom were critical of relations between the public and the police.

Only one of the four interviewees, youth development mentor Naomi Brown, was credited with having a connection with Livity, with the fifth person interviewed being Lee Jasper – the former chief race advisor to London Mayor Ken Livingstone.

The video was presented by Channel 4 News reporter Jordan Jarrett-Bryan, a former professional wheelchair basketball player who was previously youth editor of the Livity-run publication Live Magazine.

 

Why is such programming dangerous?  Because it encourages the view that Black people are always the victims of racism whether it comes to not getting something they want or policing or being England captain.

Conservative MP Rob Wilson condemned the broadcaster, saying: ‘This is very disappointing from Channel 4 News. A distorted report could have been very unhelpful, indeed inflammatory, and I hope the people concerned have learnt an important lesson.’

 

Perhaps the BBC does not report this telling story because they don’t want to give the impression that much of the ‘discontent’ is activist driven and hyped.

 

But C4 isn’t alone in promoting that grievance driven thinking…Macpherson of course is the most significant purveyor of that excuse…but the BBC isn’t above claiming or allowing the thought to develop that Black people are victims of racism, and, if not obvious racism, then it must be unintentional, unwitting or unconscious racism.  Sol Campbell claims the FA is unconsciously racist…as he has no evidence of actual racism….a Kafkaesque accusation that is impossible to disprove and is used solely to abuse white people….ironically stereotyping them in a racist fashion.

 

Victoria Derbyshire had Sol Campbell on today to explain his recent comments…she wasn’t exactly hard hitting in her questions allowing him to get away with comments that clearly contradict what he claims.

Campbell originally said this, as reported by the BBC:

“I believe if I was white, I would have been England captain for more than 10 years – it’s as simple as that.”

 

He’s now saying this….

“People took the 10-year thing too literally, read too much into it and were too quick to comment on it.”

…and that he only meant that he should have captained England more than 3 times.

But that’s not what he said…and he has been roundly condemned, even by other black players, hence his rapid retreat.

But Derbyshire let that slide and didn’t press him on it…until much later when a caller had to do her job for her….and the later news bulletins started reporting his new line without reference to he old as if it had never been said.

Campbell says he was so brilliant that he deserved to be captain….and yet Bobby Charlton (106 appearances) only captained 3 games, Wayne Rooney (89 appearances) has only captained 2 games, Alf Ramsey 3 times (32 appearances), Frank Lampard 3 times (109 appearances)….Campbell made 73 appearances and captained 3 times.

Campbell is talking out of his backside when he claims racism is the reason he only captained England 3 times.

 

Oh…maybe Sol’s right…look, Sir Bobby Charlton kept appearing in photographs with black people…maybe that’s why he was only given the captaincy 3 times…just like Sol.

    

 

Derrbyshire asked Campbell about claims he was gay….Campbell replied that he wasn’t the normal lad about town footballer…he ‘didn’t fit’ which is why such claims arose.

Perhaps Derbyshire might have asked…is that maybe why you weren’t asked to be captain so often…not colour but personality…you didn’t fit in with the team?  But she didn’t.

Campbell claimed a sponsor asked him if he was gay (10:42 ish), and who was disappointed to hear he wasn’t as it would have been a good ‘selling point’ for their media campaign…Campbell said he hoped that sort of attitude has changed.  Would have thought that was an attitude to encourage if you wanted to promote gay friendly attitudes.

 

When Derbyshire did ask him about his attitude and his claims of racism he said he had every right to make them because this is what he felt.  Well that’s OK then…no need for proof.

She didn’t challenge him on that though you might have thought she would….is it right that Campbell can make unfounded allegations of racism, accusing people running the FA of being racist, and somehow that isn’t slander or libel?

That in a nutshell sums up the problem….claims of racism are allowed to be made, whether against the police or the FA or society in general, purely on the basis of what someone believes or wants to believe.

Channel Four’s little charade adds fuel to the fire, encouraging the belief that Blacks are suffering racism everywhere, especially at the hands of the police…..all of which is highly dangerous adding to the paranoia and giving a spur to those who seek to inflame any situation.