The Telegraph’s Dan Hodges has provoked a storm or possibly stirred up a furore (sorry, stuck with an online thesaurus today) by pointing out that laughing at racist jokes makes people racist.
Controversial stuff. Now I’m not going to go down the line if splitting hairs over whether nationalistic jokes are racist jokes because they are and I’ve covered that in the past.
But everyone is racist.
Ever tapped a hand on your wallet pocket when passing a particularly swarthy or bearded fellow in the street?
Ever laughed at an Oirish joke?
Ever challenged an Englishman on the behaviour of his country during the colonial past?
Ever tensed up slightly when a chap of another skin hue has glanced at you on a train?
Ever spat in someone’s face because you didn’t like the colour of his skin?
You’re a racist, of one degree or another.
We all are. Even me and I’ve been subject to at least one of those.
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