"Lurching into total frankness":Blair blames spate of murders on black culture
And a belated hat tip to Lew Waters Right in a Left World:
From the Guardian
by Patrick Wintour and Vikram Dodd
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2007/apr/12/ukcrime.race
Tony Blair yesterday claimed the spate of knife and gun murders in London was not being caused by poverty, but a distinctive black culture. His remarks angered community leaders, who accused him of ignorance and failing to provide support for black-led efforts to tackle the problem.
One accused him of misunderstanding the advice he had been given on the issue at a Downing Street summit.
Black community leaders reacted after Mr Blair said the recent violence should not be treated as part of a general crime wave, but as specific to black youth. He said people had to drop their political correctness and recognise that the violence would not be stopped "by pretending it is not young black kids doing it".
It needed to be addressed by a tailored counter-attack in the same way as football hooliganism was reined in by producing measures aimed at the specific problem, rather than general lawlessness.
Mr Blair's remarks are at odds with those of the Home Office minister Lady Scotland, who told the home affairs select committee last month that the disproportionate number of black youths in the criminal justice system was a function of their disproportionate poverty, and not to do with a distinctive black culture.
Giving the Callaghan lecture in Cardiff, the prime minister admitted he had been "lurching into total frankness" in the final weeks of his premiership. He called on black people to lead the fight against knife crime. He said that "the black community - the vast majority of whom in these communities are decent, law abiding people horrified at what is happening - need to be mobilised in denunciation of this gang culture that is killing innocent young black kids".
Mr Blair said he had been moved to make his controversial remarks after speaking to a black pastor of a London church at a Downing Street knife crime summit, who said: "When are we going to start saying this is a problem amongst a section of the black community and not, for reasons of political correctness, pretend that this is nothing to do with it?" Mr Blair said there needed to be an "intense police focus" on the minority of young black Britons behind the gun and knife attacks. The laws on knife and gun gangs needed to be toughened and the ringleaders "taken out of circulation".
Last night, British African-Caribbean figures leading the fight against gang culture condemned Mr Blair's speech. The Rev Nims Obunge, chief executive of the Peace Alliance, one of the main organisations working against gang crime, denounced the prime minister.
Mr Obunge, who attended the Downing Street summit chaired by Mr Blair in February, said he had been cited by the prime minister: "He makes it look like I said it's the black community doing it. What I said is it's making the black community more vulnerable and they need more support and funding for the work they're doing. ... He has taken what I said out of context. We came for support and he has failed and has come back with more police powers to use against our black children."
Keith Jarrett, chair of the National Black Police Association, whose members work with vulnerable youngsters, said: "Social deprivation and delinquency go hand in hand and we need to tackle both. It is curious that the prime minister does not mention deprivation in his speech."
Lee Jasper, adviser on policing to London's mayor, said: "For years we have said this is an issue the black community has to deal with. The PM is spectacularly ill-informed if he thinks otherwise.
"Every home secretary from [David] Blunkett onwards has been pressed on tackling the growing phenomenon of gun and gang crime in deprived black communities, and government has failed to respond to what has been a clear demand for additional resources to tackle youth alienation and disaffection".
The Home Office has already announced it is looking at the possibility of banning membership of gangs, tougher enforcement of the supposed mandatory five-year sentences for possession of illegal firearms, and lowering the age from 21 to 18 for this mandatory sentence.
Answering questions later Mr Blair said: "Economic inequality is a factor and we should deal with that, but I don't think it's the thing that is producing the most violent expression of this social alienation.
"I think that is to do with the fact that particular youngsters are being brought up in a setting that has no rules, no discipline, no proper framework around them."
Some people working with children knew at the age of five whether they were going to be in "real trouble" later, he said.
Mr Blair is known to believe the tendency for many black boys to be raised in families without a father leads to a lack of appropriate role models.
One accused him of misunderstanding the advice he had been given on the issue at a Downing Street summit.
Black community leaders reacted after Mr Blair said the recent violence should not be treated as part of a general crime wave, but as specific to black youth. He said people had to drop their political correctness and recognise that the violence would not be stopped "by pretending it is not young black kids doing it".
It needed to be addressed by a tailored counter-attack in the same way as football hooliganism was reined in by producing measures aimed at the specific problem, rather than general lawlessness.
Mr Blair's remarks are at odds with those of the Home Office minister Lady Scotland, who told the home affairs select committee last month that the disproportionate number of black youths in the criminal justice system was a function of their disproportionate poverty, and not to do with a distinctive black culture.
Giving the Callaghan lecture in Cardiff, the prime minister admitted he had been "lurching into total frankness" in the final weeks of his premiership. He called on black people to lead the fight against knife crime. He said that "the black community - the vast majority of whom in these communities are decent, law abiding people horrified at what is happening - need to be mobilised in denunciation of this gang culture that is killing innocent young black kids".
Mr Blair said he had been moved to make his controversial remarks after speaking to a black pastor of a London church at a Downing Street knife crime summit, who said: "When are we going to start saying this is a problem amongst a section of the black community and not, for reasons of political correctness, pretend that this is nothing to do with it?" Mr Blair said there needed to be an "intense police focus" on the minority of young black Britons behind the gun and knife attacks. The laws on knife and gun gangs needed to be toughened and the ringleaders "taken out of circulation".
Last night, British African-Caribbean figures leading the fight against gang culture condemned Mr Blair's speech. The Rev Nims Obunge, chief executive of the Peace Alliance, one of the main organisations working against gang crime, denounced the prime minister.
Mr Obunge, who attended the Downing Street summit chaired by Mr Blair in February, said he had been cited by the prime minister: "He makes it look like I said it's the black community doing it. What I said is it's making the black community more vulnerable and they need more support and funding for the work they're doing. ... He has taken what I said out of context. We came for support and he has failed and has come back with more police powers to use against our black children."
Keith Jarrett, chair of the National Black Police Association, whose members work with vulnerable youngsters, said: "Social deprivation and delinquency go hand in hand and we need to tackle both. It is curious that the prime minister does not mention deprivation in his speech."
Lee Jasper, adviser on policing to London's mayor, said: "For years we have said this is an issue the black community has to deal with. The PM is spectacularly ill-informed if he thinks otherwise.
"Every home secretary from [David] Blunkett onwards has been pressed on tackling the growing phenomenon of gun and gang crime in deprived black communities, and government has failed to respond to what has been a clear demand for additional resources to tackle youth alienation and disaffection".
The Home Office has already announced it is looking at the possibility of banning membership of gangs, tougher enforcement of the supposed mandatory five-year sentences for possession of illegal firearms, and lowering the age from 21 to 18 for this mandatory sentence.
Answering questions later Mr Blair said: "Economic inequality is a factor and we should deal with that, but I don't think it's the thing that is producing the most violent expression of this social alienation.
"I think that is to do with the fact that particular youngsters are being brought up in a setting that has no rules, no discipline, no proper framework around them."
Some people working with children knew at the age of five whether they were going to be in "real trouble" later, he said.
Mr Blair is known to believe the tendency for many black boys to be raised in families without a father leads to a lack of appropriate role models.
He said: "We need to stop thinking of this as a society that has gone wrong - it has not - but of specific groups that for specific reasons have gone outside of the proper lines of respect and good conduct towards others and need by specific measures to be brought back into the fold."
The Commission for Racial Equality broadly backed Mr Blair, saying people "shouldn't be afraid to talk about this issue for fear of sounding prejudiced".
Mr Blair spoke out as a second teenager was due to appear in court charged with the murder of 14-year-old Paul Erhahon, stabbed to death in east London on Friday. He was the seventh Londoner under 16 to be murdered since the end of January, and his 15-year-old friend, who was also stabbed, remains in hospital.
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A note from Radarsite: "...the prime minister admitted he had been 'lurching into total frankness'" This, my friends, is what it's all about. Whether we're talking about blacks, Muslims, Latinos or gays. After years of well-intentioned but disastrous PCisms, we have to relearn the art of being truthful. As the author pointed out so aptly -- How did the UK deal with the Soccer Hooligans? Did they blame the blacks? Of course not; it wasn't black men who were primarily responsible for these outrages. But by identifying the proper source of this particular evil, it could be addressed and ultimately dealt with. But -- God forbid -- if the problem is at all racial it is forbidden by Ms. Scotland and her PC police to even address it.Where was our good Lady Scotland when the Soccer Hooligans were identified and prosecuted? Where were the Home Office minister's heartfelt arguments in their defense, pointing to their "disproportionate poverty" as being the underlying cause of their criminal behavior?
Sorry, Lady Scotland, we are finally getting fed up with you and your fellow PC obstructionism. Because of your delusional refusal to face the most obvious facts, you have almost brought our liberal democracies to their knees. It is you and your minions who have caused more irreparable harm to the Western world than all of our enemies put together. And we are sick to death of you. (e.g., the recent election results in London and Rome)
Please leave the stage quietly before we rise out of our seats and physically eject you. - rg
For more on this volatile subject see:
http://radarsite.blogspot.com/2008/03/this-careful-generation.html
Update: Two interesting visitors:
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Oh My! Tony Blair is going to have to go through reeducation now. He's becoming another Enoch Powell. He's a racist for saying what Bill Cosby has said here in the US.
ReplyDeleteFunny how the Black community is Britain shouted gives us more money. That will solve the problem. I didn't know that Al Sharpton has moved to Britain.
Great Britain is finally waking up to what it has done to itself.
If Tony Blair has turned his back on Multiculturalism, then there is a little spark of hope for the nation.
So one pol. swerves toward the truth. He can and probably overcorrect in his next speech.
ReplyDeleteWhen will his colleagues speak the truth? When will his friend across the big pond follow suit???
Ben - You know I admire you and your good work, but sometimes you really are too cynical and dismissive. We need all the help we can get. And we should honor the sources from whence it comes. As much as you believe it to be necessary, I doubt that the Western world is going to have some sudden dramatic epiphany and change its ways overnight.
ReplyDeleteIf change does come, and I think it will, it will most likely be incremental -- like the recent elections in London and Rome; and, yes, like these bold statements from Tony Blair. I for one intend to make the most of these good omens.
Roger, Blair is an elder statesman crying in the wilderness, in direct contravention of the platform of his own party.
ReplyDeleteIf our British cousins revolt, tossing out all the Labor MPs and replacing them with Torys at the next election, any sensible measures they might pass would be filtered through the unelected House of Lords.
No doubt Blair has been aware of the situation for decades, but he only spoke out after leaving office. That omen does not speak well for your optimistic position.
Ben -- It's not so much optimism -- although I am a natural optimist. I think of it more this way -- If a person gives money to a deserving charity, but may have some ulterior motives for doing so, the charity still benefits.
ReplyDeleteI truly understand the reasons for your cynicism; but you must leave room for hope or there's no reason to carry on.
I believe in being realistic, but I also believe in hope.
Anyone who based a realistic prognosis for my future well-being, based on my first thirty years of behavior would have given me little or no chance at survival. But I beat the odds. Not only did I survive, but I actually became quite healthy. Therein lies my hope, or my optimism.
As I've stated before, I am an optimist about our great country's future about the same way I would have hopefully been an optimist in 1945, when things were looking pretty bleak. I still feel that way about America. And I still have hope.
Yeah, this is terribly out of character for a leftist, then again so was the liberation of Iraq.
ReplyDeleteGood on Tony for calling a spade a spade. I might just spread the word on this, with attribution off course.
Thanks Gary. And go to it MK.
ReplyDeleteIn a summary by another's quote:
ReplyDelete"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." — George Orwell