THE BBC’s intention to resurrect Enoch Powell’s 50-year-old incitement to racial hatred left me appalled and upset almost to the point of tears. Well done to them for finding London-based Hanif Kureishi to defend the decision to get an actor to voice the race hatred, because there cannot have been many who have experienced racism and who – like me – were alive at the time who would have.
The defence seems to be that not broadcasting the entire speech through an actor would amount to censorship. Clearly the BBC doesn’t understand the difference between not censoring and actively promoting.
I understand now why the BBC is often referred to as “Auntie”. Like a relative who is polite to black people (but certainly wouldn’t employ them in top jobs) trying to draw attention away from the whiff of death and mothball, she makes misplaced, embarrassing judgments and often downright racist eruptions. What I still do not understand is why anyone who is not a privileged white male and/or resident in London keeps paying their licence fee.
Amanda Baker
Edinburgh
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