News

THE APPOINTMENT OF TREVOR PHILLIPS

Back home in Africa (Zambia), there is a proverb among the Bembas that says: ‘Where there are no able-bodied people, a blind person can be made king’.

I cannot think of any better way of looking at the appointment of Trevor Phillips as the chair of the new Commission on Equality and Human Rights.

Never in the history of civil rights for the minorities in this country has Britain had an Uncle Tom, house slave, typical Sambo, yes-massa leader like Phillips who has provoked the ire of every rightthinking and progressive Briton, including the progressive London mayor, Ken Lingstone.

Phillips' disposition, as a seemingly respectable leader, can fool many uncritical people, just like Colin Powell's did.

Phillips, like Powell in America, is just playing the role of a perfect Uncle Tom, the kind that Malcolm X talked about in his speech about the difference between a house slave and a field slave.

His only qualification is failure to steer the Commission for Racial Equality to an acceptable level to attract support from the people he purported to represent.

Instead of condemning the appointment of such a directionless leader, I would suggest that people rally against the appointment, through any means necessary.

If Phillips has any dignity, he should decline to take up the appointment following its condemnation from leaders of various groups representing black, gay, gender, and disability communities who all have rightly said that his appointment would spell the end of race equality and condemn other equality strands.

Organisations like Ligali should issue a vote of ‘no confidence’ in the man, or we will be taken back to the days when blacks were called Sambo, the ever-smiling, water-melon eating slave, content with whatever massa said.

Austin Kaluba, Luton

RACING AGAINST TERRORISM

There have been a few rather harsh replies to the article ‘Racing against terrorism’ (The Voice, August 21– 27, 2006) by ‘Messageman’ and ‘Guil’, who, apart from relaying Jewish history, have also criticised Islamic groups of overt and covert militarism and being heinous regiments of brainwashed radical Muslims.

While they may feel that way, the Jews are not without blame. So let me tell you some Jewish history: 500 years is long enough.

Fact - not all Jews are Europeans. Not all Jews went through the holocaust.

Fact - Jews were involved in the slave trade - they were slave traders, sugar plantation owners, shipbuilders and merchants.

Fact - crypto-Jews (secret Jews), liaised and networked with other crypto-Jews throughout the trans- Atlantic trade routes - they called themselves the ‘Portugals’ and they never revealed their Jewish identities.

Fact - Christopher Colombus was called Cristobel Colon, his ships carried Spanish and Portuguese Jews fleeing the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisition (1492 and 1497 respectively) to the Caribbean and Latin Americas, where many African descendants still live in poverty today.

Fact - Britain's Oliver Cromwell collaborated with Jewish spies to claim Jamaica from the Spanish (1655) and rewarded them 350 years of religious freedom both in Britain and Jamaica.

Fact - Extreme Zionists (fanatical Jews), still use divide-and-rule tactics to subdue other nations (eg Palestine).

Fact - Jews saw Africans as Canaanites, and saw slavery as a fulfilment of the prophecy against Canna in the Bible.

Fact - Some Jews suffered in the holocaust and claimed compensation and said ‘never forget’ – Africans and their descendants never got any compensation and shall never forget.

“10 Lost Tribes” by email

INACCURACIES ABOUT SLAVERY

I would like to respond to Cristina Aceituno's letter of September 4-10 who compares poor whites with slaves, claiming slaves were commodities and had to be looked after, whereas whites could be worked to death.

The first white labourers to the Americas were indentured labourers who were contracted to work for free for a set period, usually five years after arrival, then they were then free to work for someone else.

Blacks had no rights and were considered property with the same status as horses or cows, so they could not change their employers.

Slaves were worked to death and brutalised to discouraged revolts.

The owners were not bothered, because they had a steady supply coming in weekly on slave ships.

The slave trade was the biggest industry in the West at the time and the profits made the City of London the centre of world finance, shipping and insurance.

The trade benefited the economy of Britain, the empire and indirectly the working class.

When it was abolished by the British, apologies and generous compensation were given to the slave owners.

The British were then forced to recruit indentured labour from India to the Caribbean.

In America slaves had to wait another 100 years to be given full equal rights under law.

Poor whites were in no way treated the same as blacks, and could make it to president, like Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton, who came from humble beginnings.

The Irish may be despised by the English, but became ‘American' once they set foot there. The blacks, who were there before them, did not have that privilege.

Paulette Palmer by email

THE REALITY OF SLAVERY

Europeans did not catch slaves during the slave trade in Africa.

They encouraged it by demanding payment for the manufactured goods, (especially much-needed guns) from Britain, not in gold, other goods or cash, but in humans.

If an African king refused, they would find another nearby one happy to get hold of guns to overthrow the stubborn neighbour to continue the trade.

How do you think corrupt, bloodthirsty dictatorships began in Africa? Africans and Europeans were both to be blamed.

The slave trade, and later segregation, were used to keep blacks and poor whites divided with all the advantages to whites. They had ‘affirmative action’ allowing them to work and live where they wished and vote, while blacks could not.

Liverpool, Cardiff and Bristol grew from small ports to major cities as a result of the slave trade.

The wealthy slave merchants campaigned hard to keep their lucrative trade, falsely claiming the trade helped the ‘primitive negroes’ and treated them humanely.

Even Karl Marx himself wrote that slavery was necessary to advance Africa from being rural into the industrial capitalist system.

Wilberforce began a mass public campaign against the trade across the UK, which eventually led to the trade’s abolition.

C Robinson by email

TRUTHS AND SHOOT THE MESSENGER

While some black folks may have seen ‘Shoot the Messenger’ as uncomfortable TV viewing, and others were totally vexed at the way black people were portrayed, I must say it was alarmingly refreshing and truthful, and very much close to home.

The writer Sharon Foster deserves some props for being so open and honest with this film by addressing issues affecting the black community.

Not every black film, drama, or sitcom is going to sit pretty with everyone. Those who dubbed the film ‘racist’ are living a lie.

What was so racist about the film anyway? The writer had the guts to showcase how black people really behave, and our attitudes towards each other, and most importantly ourselves.

Black people have a lot of internal scars and are constantly being overtaken by every other minority that enters Britain, and a lack of trust and pride has degraded us.

This film certainly unmasked the truth and I think the writer showcased this extremely well. I was neither offended or vexed when I viewed it, in fact, it was like a breath of fresh air that finally someone has spoken the truth.

We can look at this film and call it racist even though it was written by a black person, but we can then suddenly laugh at comedy shows portraying the exact thing.

But because Shoot The Messenger was a drama and we saw it in all its glory dealing with serious issues affecting the black community, then suddenly we were up in arms.

Its time to re-examine ourselves and our attitudes towards each other because we are slowing fading away.

Celise Mclean by email

BLACK STUDENTS VS. BLACK TEACHERS

I appreciate your comments on black students vs. black teachers and the BBC documentary ‘History Lessons’ (The Voice, September 4- 10, 2006).

I agree the documentary was precise and aired the truth, to the annoyance of the Bristol black community who bothered to watch the show.

I could identify with a lot of the programme, either re–writing to include friends, acquaintances or family members. I saw it as a positive portrayal and the negativity mirrored the truth.

As a soon-to-be trainee teacher, I started off in social services and education and I quickly came to the conclusion the system is too damaged and corrupt for a few black teachers to make a dent.

I’ve moved towards the parents and communities to stop playing lip service and take responsibility. I am flying the flag of reality so I don’t have to be singing from the same hymn sheet to my grand-children and fighting the same educational battles.

Loraine Lindsay by email

LEAVE DIDDY ALONE

I read with interest, a letter from a sister castigating Diddy for using white chicks in his ‘Unforgivable' advert. Come on. Cut Diddy some slack, sisters.

Why deflate a man's rhythm when he is just flowing with the status quo? Why do you sisters squeal with hypocrisy at the speck in Diddy's eye, when you can't see the logs (hell, the Amazon forest) in your own eyes?

How many times do you turn to the personals column to find these so-called proud black sisters stating that they looking to date exclusively white men.

I have noticed that each time many of you so-called ‘proud-to-be-black' sisters have a non-black black boyfriend and get asked about it - you always place so much more proud emphasis on his whiteness, than the fact that he is just your man.

“Oh my boyfriend's white... ooooh, he is from Spain.... oooh, he is British..." yammering on about his race like it has some redemptive power from our blackness.

It's humiliating, and now you want to pick on Diddy? Get over your jealousy and let the man spend his money how he pleases. You would probably do the same if you where that successful.

Terrence Latrelle by email

BNP SYMPATHISER

Does Christina Aceituno (The Voice, September 4-10, 2006) not realise that anti-fascist campaigning and BNP sympathising cancel each other out?

She is just another example of how we are always being threatened and controlled - physically, financially and now if we continue to speak our minds and she disagrees, she could vote BNP.

I think we should let her have the last word as we should be directing our energies to a more positive place than into her red herring letters.

“Black Voter” by email

SISTER STORM

We are all too aware of the damage done to our young people by the stereotyping and caricaturing of our young black men as disruptive, aggressive, ignorant beings.

We are also all too aware of the one dimensional portrayal of black men by the mass media.

Tony Sewell's ‘Sister storm' article (The Voice, September 11 – 17, 2006) has highlighted a long-standing cancerous campaign that has been directed at black men by too many of our women.

The image of the black man as a feckless, irresponsible, lazy good-fornothing unfortunately is one one which is hawked out to the wider community with little assistance from ‘the man’.

The ‘worthless, sorry-arse black man' is one I recognise as being in a small minority of the black men I know.

There is a silent majority of black men who continue to uphold wholesome family values, providing love and support to their women as well as a positive model for their children.

As we know all too well however, this kind of reality does not sell books by the shedload, generate huge TV viewing figures, or provoke controversy and debate in lifestyle magazines.

In keeping with the mores of the wider society, there is unfortunately too many instances of family breakups.

However, each aborted relationship has its own story and none of us are in a position to cast any judgement without being in full possession of the facts.

With there being three sides to every story: my side, your side and the truth. Few of us will ever be privy to more than one side of our friend's story.

We can only really comment with authority on our own individual relationship.

Contrary to the ‘spin,' the breakdown of black relationships is not always due to the fecklessness of the black man. Each relationship is unique and each set of circumstances is different and we must acknowledge this to avoid falling into the trap of stereotyping.

Come on sisters, we have enough to contend with, without having to deal with an enemy within.

The Terry McMillans and the Alice Walkers of this world have created a multi-million pound industry out of ‘black man bashing'. But who benefits? Certainly not our children.

Think carefully, how can you be bigging up your sons while destroying the black man by caricature and slander?

It is now time for some balance and temperance to be brought to the discussion on the situation regarding black relationships. We do not all walk out on our children, we do not all eschew the notion of marriage, we do not all run off with white women, and we are not always responsible for ending relationships and marriages.

Remember, we are all unique individuals, not caricatures.

“A Black Man” Luton

ALL THESE BLOOMING AFRICANS’

I apologise for the headline, but I am merely trying to illustrate the look on many peoples’ faces when I walk by in certain parts of Manchester, as I’m sure it would be the same countrywide.

It is highly visual when you see a concentration of many immigrants in one particular area, as unlike the Polish and other Eastern Europeans, Africans or other peoples of colour, stand out like a sore thumb.

The thing that grates me, is if asked, very few, given the choice would reside here. The reason they are here is because many of the countries they have left have deteriorated into chaos. They have little infrastructure ie hospitals, schools, jobs – all legacies of wars, dictatorships and bad management.

Many of the above is down to Western governments allying with other forces to remove legitimate leaders, only to be replace them with tin-pot dictators, who loot the country dry.

Britain had a big hand in this. I’m not saying all Africa’s ills are down to Europeans, but many things are, and for this they have a lot to answer for.

What I would like to do is documents all the bad things from the past, get it printed, and hand it out to each individual who gives me the look of ‘all these blooming Africans’.

Tousant by email

ABUSE HOLIDAYS FOR SEX OFFENDERS

There is a loophole in British law that allows sex offenders to travel outside of the UK to child-abuse hotspots without the authorities being altered.

Although paedophiles and sex offenders have to register with a local police station whenever they travel within the UK, if they go abroad, authorities do not need to be alerted.

In 2003 the law stated that registered sex offenders could travel overseas for eight days without alerting the authorities.

World Vision worked to reduce that to three days, but the charity is still concerned about the opportunity that allows sex offenders to commit crimes abroad and think this loophole should be closed.

The traditional hotspots for English men offending abroad could change from Asia to Eastern Europe with the trend toward cheap air flights and the ability to travel without telling anyone.

People can quite easily get there, abuse a child and get back to the UK in three days without anyone knowing.

Layo Brown by email

GUN CRIME AND TERRORISM

Firstly, I would like to express my sincere condolences to the family of Jesse James, cut down before even knowing about life itself.

Moss Side and the surrounding areas where most gun crime is committed is no more than 10 square miles.

The people committing these crimes are aged between 16 and 25.

Most have left school early without any qualifications.

However, most have not been schooled in any way which would provide knowledge of strict planning and covert operations, and I would imagine, in their spare time, it would not be spent trying to gain even more knowledge about how to evade counter covert methods to stop them being caught.

The UK is faced with one the biggest threats since World War II.

We currently have in our midst, a terrorist network, highly trained, highly skilled in methods of covert activity, proficient in planning techniques and surveillance, and with access to huge financial resources.

This network spans the length and breadth of the UK, in all major cities.

If the police cannot find out who is committing the crimes in the small area of Moss Side, then how are we to believe they have a chance of arresting even one terrorist?

The police know who the gunmen are. They know where they live, and much more. It will be left to us (community) to sort this mess out, and when we do set up black boys only groups, let’s be sure to tell the politically correct posse the reasons why.

Contributed by email

TRIBUTE TO A MUCHLOVED CAMALITA

I grew up with Camalita Tulloch in Bristol. Her family was very close friends with mine, and she and my sister Deloris were very close.

It's just hard to know that someone took her life in this way (The Voice, September 11 – 17, 2006).

She would not hurt anyone and she always had something funny to say.

I remember a few years ago I brought the head dress for her wedding from the US.

My heart is broken and I am still in great shock that something like this has happened to such a sweet person.

I will miss seeing her when I come home to England for holidays.

London and Kennington has lost a great person. Her smiles would light up a room.

Rest in peace my friend.

Pastor Joan Williams by email

Published: 19 September 2006
Issue: 1236