Saturday 25 April 2015

Saturday Evenings: Stay In, Sit Up and Switch On

So, apparently there are 104 billionaires in the UK and a fifth of those are Jewish. Jews are also likely to be three times top managers in FTSE companies compared to other groups. Finally, Jews are four times as likely to be non-executive directors in banking.

So what? You might be asking yourself. That was exactly the question I posed to myself when I finished watching Trevor Phillips’ recent documentary Things We Won’t Say About Race That Are True.

I really do not mind provocative material, be it films, books or plays. Bring it on, I say. Freedom of speech is a right to be cherished and one I feel very strong about. But I do mind thoughtless, provocative theses. I do not like half-baked, eager-to-please arguments either. I believe that Trevor Phillips’ documentary erred on the side of controversy for the sake of controversy.

Provocative? No. Naïve reporting? Maybe
First of all, back to the Jews. This was the first group Phillips focused on to back up his thesis of race as a hard-to-approach subject in today’s UK. What complicates matters somewhat is that many Jews do not and will not acknowledge themselves as Jews. I should know, I work with some of them. You see their surnames, you make an assumption, you ask them about their Jewishness and they shrug their shoulders at best or say that they are not religious at all. To these people their Jewish surnames are just that, Jewish surnames. They could be Spanish or Igbo for all they care; they see themselves as secular first and as many other things after. Trevor does not, at any point during the film, say whether he asked this fifth of the UK’s 104 billionaires whether they kept kosher or not. Presumably these well-heeled Jews do not live in Stamford Hill, so access to them might be a tad difficult. Why, then, assume that just because their surnames are Jewish, they consider themselves to be Jewish?

That is the main problem with Things We Won’t Say About Race That Are True. In his desire to provoke, Phillips leaves massive gaps behind. Holes big enough that you could drive a lorry through. Take the way he tackles the sex scandal in Rochdale few years ago in which several girls were groomed by gangs of predatory men. Trevor, quite rightly, focuses on the fact that many of these men, Asian, and mainly of Pakistani origin, were not stopped. One reason, as he clearly explains, might have been fear of being culturally insensitive towards this particular community. I agree with Trevor. But why does he not apply the same brush to the dozens of sexual abuse cases that have come to light in recent years (at the moment of writing this post it is Lord Janner’s alleged sexual assault on children and young people that is being talked about) in which the majority of the accused are middle-aged, middle-class, white men? If we can point the finger at one minority community and flag it up as an example of sexual practices that leave a lot to be desired, would it not be fair to do the same to another one?

The issue is that Trevor leaves far too many loose ends. Grooming and sexual abuse do not happen only in certain communities. They are not carried out by a particular cultural group nor are they related to individuals of a specific age group. They are the sad manifestation of a society that is sick. They are the result of the increasingly sexualisation of our youth, especially girls. They are also the sad outcome of a sexist, misogynistic society. I agree that culture, religion and other factors might have an aggravating influence but overall, we (journalistic “we”) have created the problem and now we cannot solve it. A country in which it is still OK to ogle at the breasts of a teenager on the third page of a tabloid, is a country that provides fertile soil for the likes of Jimmy Saviles and Shabir Ahmeds to grow and thrive.

I was disappointed in Trevor. There was such a hype surrounding the programme (I watched it on catch-up once the initial furore died down somewhat) and yet I felt short-changed. Phillips probably thought himself to be “daddy cool” for using the c-word (yes, that c-word!) preceded by the adjective “black” in reference to the incident involving the Chelsea captain John Terry and the QPR defender Anton Ferdinand. To me it was mere posturing. In my opinion the real Trevor came out at the end of the programme when he transformed himself into a giggling adolescent whilst interviewing former Prime Minister Tony Blair. Instead of pressing Tony on his ill-thought decision to invade Iraq which had the unfortunate side-effect of rolling back years of good and positive work with the Muslim community, Trevor committed the ultimate act of hara-kiri whilst a beaming Blair asked his former charge not to be too hard on himself. To say that the scene reminded me of the relationship between a slave-master and his servant would be apt. It was also rather uncomfortable.

There are many things to say about race. The issue is not whether they are true or not, but to explore the factors behind them. Trevor had the chance to give us a smidgen of that but in the end he, too, preferred to sacrifice good analysis for sensationalism. The irony is that the only victim was truth itself.



© 2015

Next Post: “Urban Diary”, to be published on Wednesday 29th April at 11:59pm (GMT)

29 comments:

  1. I missed the programme - and your comments don't make me want to see it. What has race got to do with it? People (mostly men) abuse children. Some people make a lot of money. If we get caught on the race issue we miss the point - inequality and the abuse of power.

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  2. ugh... i hate all kinds of reports (&not only on tv) that lack significant research... it happens way too often that people take some small facts and inflate them like a hot air balloon...and move everything out of balance a bit.. sad..

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  3. I'm half Jewish and proud of it, but it's more of a cultural identity for me. I'm an artist and a writer, not a billionaire! As for why so many Jews are bankers that may be the legacy of discrimination. Historically Jews were barred from most professions, but money lending with interest was left open to them since Christians found it a distasteful profession. I believe that national, rational and religious differences have societal origins. From what you revealed of that program, it sounds like it would only feed the flames of prejudice and stereotyping.

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  4. A lot to consider here. Your comments about youth (particularly girls) made me sad. I think kids nowadays are expected to grow up much too fast and in some cases, experience things that are definitely best left to adulthood and some that should never be. Thought provoking post, thanks.

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  5. As you said "Trevor Phillips documentary erred on the side of controversy for the sake of controversy"
    I would very much agree.
    My husband is Jewish but no billionaires in his family ..
    Once someone that my husband had an encounter with said to him " I guess you must be rich"
    My husband answered " why would you think that?"
    The person answered "Because you are Jewish"
    He knew from my husband's last name he was Jewish ..but such a very prejudiced statement on his part

    Welcome back ...
    Good to see you ...

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  6. I missed the program, and I echo Jo's comment. A very warm welcome back to you, it is wonderful to see you again. :)

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  7. Buen regreso amigo, espero que hayas disfrutado de tus vacaciones con un buen descanso a la vez, un abrazo.

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  8. All it takes is one little tidbit for someone to grab onto and then they think they know it all and what they say is fact

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  9. Good essay and glad to see you back blogging!

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  10. Characterizing people and making sweeping conclusions about them based on generalities is a gross injustice. Pigeonholing people and thinking in terms of stereotypes makes it more difficult to see and appreciate them as individuals.

    Welcome back!

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  11. Viewing individuals primarily though the lens of race or ethnicity is the problem isn't it? Most Jews are less fascinated by "Jewishness" than jew-haters and see themselves as Bob, or Sue, or Francine - not as "A Jew" and The same must be said of EACH of us, regardless of our memberships. You make excellent points.


    ALOHA from Honolulu,
    ComfortSpiral
    =^..^=

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  12. I agree with your conclusions, CiL. I would like to blame television itself for creating such ridiculous absurdities, but before television there was "yellow journalism" and today the internet is the platform often utilized to spread exaggerations, innuendo and lies in the race to be the most read and the most watched in a world where often the most idiotic and the most scandalous are the monetary winners. So, in truth, the medium is merely a tool and the unscrupulous among us are the real villains.

    I enjoyed the video for more than one reason, mostly for a glimpse again of Ossie Davis. In the vernacular, he was a hell of an actor and a hell of an activist in all of the right ways. A couple of his movie soliloquies are melded into my mind. I think I will look up a few of his films and watch them again, starting with "The Hill." With my background, I consider it to be a masterpiece from at least two viewpoints.

    Super post, CiL.

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  13. Judaism is a religion,not a race. And by starting with Jews and in what seems such a derogatory and misleading fashion, he just feeds the flames of antisemitism that are rising all around us.

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  14. What a thought-provoking post, ACIL! It's a bit of a conundrum what influence the past 50 or more years have had on our perceptions worldwide, as far as race/religion status goes. I can only speak for my own experience, and that is a mixed bag at best. I can acknowledge that, in the United States of America, at every stage of my educational/professional/sociological development I was subjected to a thorough "scan" of my heritage/lineage/religious makeup. It has not been a pleasant experience from my perspective. Why, for instance, should I be expected to divulge my religious background to a local medical clinic when presenting with a sprained ankle?? I think the statisticians have gained the upper hand in every aspect of modern society, and we are in for a rough ride, my friend!

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  15. A thought-provoking post. But a shame that the programme was controversial for its own sake, rather than to raise and solve questions.

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  16. Hi ACiL - I didn't watch it or chose not to .. then read some of the comments and gather it didn't match up to its expectations. We seem to be concentrating so much on different races, yet we are all one homogeneous group and should be looking at the benefits our neighbours, local leaders etc have to offer. You've had some very salient comments here .. and welcome back - cheers Hilary

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  17. I'm afraid I am going to be seen as flippant and uncaring, both of which are untrue. First of all, I couldn't get the video to play for me, and secondly I am uncomfortable with this subject. I love mankind and wish they could get on, but my hope is that I have left this earth before things blow up.

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  18. Thank you all for your comments. I hope the video can still play as I know there was a deadline attached to it.

    Greetings from London.

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  19. Hey cubano-- I am not very familiar with these things on your side of the pond but there is a kind of baiting that goes on everywhere. As always, your work is interesting and thoightful. Thanks. Manicddaily. K.

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  20. I really do wish I had time to watch the entire documentary. I agree with the points that you so clearly made in your article though. "Facts" can be twisted and used to make whatever points someone wants to make, I think. Glad to see you once again!

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  21. It seems from what you write that the documentary was biased, to say the least. It is easy to manipulate by choosing what you present and what you leave out.

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  22. I love your new header! Mischief indeed. Since I'm not in Great Britain, I didn't see the show but I'm very familiar with the kind of controversy grandstanding that it seems the presenter is promoting. Race relations is a hot button issue that always guarantees attention, it up there with sex and violence in terms of topics that will get a buzz going. I think it's in poor taste to use any of them to just gain attention but that's what the media is in the business of doing.

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  23. Good to see you back and with such a thought provoking post!

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  24. Yes, I believe if someone is going to stereotype, predators, serial killers, and mass shooters are all most likely to be male. Not sure why... But some people think that if you say something positive about a group, it isn't racism. From what I understand, even if it's positive, it's racism because it's a stereotype.

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    1. WHITE males on the predators, serial killers, and mass shooters. That's what I get for reading blogs when I'm not fully awake yet!

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  25. Hola Cubano, I wanted to say hello, I think it is natural born to be racist and stereotyping others, I think, I do not know for sure, but I must say that when anyone highlights anything about Jews or Jewish, they are just the best in every field, not just in banking, like now I am fully intrigued and submersed in House, the creator and writers of the show are complete geniuses, still of course not all of them Jewish -

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  26. wow it sound interesting

    follow me back www.braveheartnaija.blogspot.com

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  27. I am afraid that my own recent experience with BBC documentaries makes it pretty clear that sensationalism is the order of the day and in some TV circles it seems to be a race downwards. People will just stop taking documentaries seriously if they are distorted in order to make them deliberately provocative and "controversial". The people who are in charge really must think the viewing public are idiots.A real pity that they are so full of themselves that they don't respect the people who watch - and pay.

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