Offences, which do not like a joke – an open letter
Have you heard the one about the Yorkshireman, the Cornishman and the man of Kent? It doesn’t quite have the ring about it as an opening line as ‘Have you heard the one about the Irishman, the Scotsman and the Englishman?’ But if Coco used the latter, Coco would get away with the rest of it in an English public house, providing none of the English liberal elite were present, and might regret the long, but deserved, stay in hospital if Coco tried it in Clonmel. What the reaction would be in Aberdeen is as clear as whether Schrödinger’s cat is alive or dead.
But, in using the second opener Coco is not being racist, Coco is making a professional judgement; the joke needs something on which to hang the three preposterous remarks, and as we know a joke will not succeed if it is longwinded.
We all characterise others, and recognise characteristics in our own stock. Coco is a man of deep pockets and short arms, which says nothing of Coco’s wealth nor physical incapability, when Coco’s part of the country is the butt of the joke. Does Coco take offence at that? No, why should Coco, when Coco only need to take offence if Coco is insecure in Coco’s belief that all such characterisations are at the same time far from the truth and close to the truth. Schrödinger’s cat lives again.
Some people are though quick to take offence. The BBC, about whom you complained, ran an article some years ago which had a picture of whited up Nigerians. If it is appropriate to white up, then why not also to be able to black up? A more recent report suggested that one ballet dancer felt humiliated that she had been asked to white up in Berlin, but when you look at cosmetics in countries which are populated predominantly by darker skin colours than ours, how many whitening products does one find? Another aspect of the report referenced an idea that when you are on stage you can retain your own identity. Coco had thought that the whole point of being a stage actor was to take on the identity of the person you were to portray, which of necessity requires the giving up of your own. If Coco were to watch a spy film, Coco would not want to see Sean Connery but James Bond. Whiting up for the stage does not imply a loss of identity any more than it did for the Nigerian men, for whom it was probably part of their identity.
The present malaise about racism has much which is unforgiving in it. An elder of a church said recently that these movements have much for which to answer. For years we have had people coming in and out of our church of a huge variety of hues, and all I have ever seen are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ who want to love, serve and worship him. Now I am asked to take note of whether they are black or white – with nothing in between?
Racism is thinking about race as marking someone else different to (and probably also implied less deserving than) me. But this gentleman, and probably many thousands like him, had never had race in his thinking in his dealing with others. Your reported comments suggest that you are probably one like him. Anti-racist sentiment however forces us to think in racist terms. It is not something that either you or Coco want to do.
Recently Coco complained that a professional institute had set up a black section. Coco asked that as it would be considered inappropriate to have a white section, why did they think it appropriate to have a black section. The response did not address the question, but merely referenced the usefulness of the section to the minority group. Coco has no doubt at all that the section is useful, but Coco still considers that it is an inappropriate use of the funds of the organisation. Such a view as Coco has is however unpopular.
The recent mantra that ‘diversity is required for the prosperity of our company etc’, seems to forget that the UK and its companies were at their most prosperous when the very opposite was true. It is not a message that people want to hear today. [For reasons other than diversity Coco would not want to return to those days.]
In Coco’s view you were right to point out that there was a lack of diversity in the Gospel Singer of the Year. Coco was not aware of the event, and Coco has not troubled his own self to find out any more about it yet. It does not really however surprise Coco to hear that the finalists were all black. It is nothing however to do with race but rather with culture and skill. The culture promotes a particular style of gospel singing which is popular today. Coco quite understands that and in some settings quite enjoys listening to it*. There are other styles of gospel singing which probably, due to the preferences of the present day, would not get past the first round. How far would George Beverly Shea have got today? Perhaps even Graham Kendrick or Stuart Townsend would not survive many rounds. A presbyterian a cappella precentor would probably not even have been allowed in the first round, but it seems to Coco that the precentor is much more of a gospel singer in terms of what the Scriptures require than any of the others.
Whilst the organisers have no control over the line-up of finalists, it is difficult however to understand what wisdom the organisers saw in not ensuring that there was ‘diversity’ in the other members of team, judges, presenters etc. unless they wish to say there was diversity as they had representatives of several different racial groups such as Shona, Zulu, Igbo, Fulani, Ethiopic, Somali and the hundreds of others whose names Coco has never known. But would that sort of diversity not in itself be an acknowledgment of racism in their thinking?
Coco is sorry that you were taken to task for merely pointing out the obvious. There are times when the emperor does not wear his clothes and it does no harm to others, but there are times when it does do harm and it behoves us to mention it in the most polite way that we possibly can.
A difficulty we have though is that we know that by speaking in apparently anti-cultural [unpolitically correct is close but not quite right] ways we shall become objects of opprobrium. We can hope however that those that take offence at our words do so only because they have not fully understood what was said, and have not yet understood the contradictions in their own position. Coco is glad to have read that you have discussed the matter you raised with some of these groups of people and are willing to continue to do so. The report on the BBC seems to show that they have failed to understand what you actually said. Coco hopes that does not also reflect an unwillingness to understand, and that by discussion they will learn.
Racism is a problem, and some people are hurt by it. Racism is however not just practiced by white people. You could say that the Atlantic slave trade, for which we are still vilified even though we abolished it, was driven by racism within West Africa. The slave trade across Africa to the east clearly shows all the signs of racism. But it is rife worldwide: the dominance of the Han in China, the endless in fighting between tribes in the African republics, the Iberian dominance in South America; Coco is sure you know of many other specific examples and far more than Coco knows.
For some however it is a tool that can be used for advantage: a complaint is made by A ‘You didn’t choose me because I am a different colour than you’. The complaint is not entirely unfounded. A was not chosen because A was both not the right person for the job and secondly because A is racist. The employer believes in diversity and does not want to employ someone who thinks that race matters and should be brought into the considerations for a job.
But race does matter. You are an Irishman. Coco has often offended an Irishman by saying we are all British here forgetting that my friend is from the south. She is still a friend. Coco cannot enter into the cultural secrets of a Japanese family any more than a South African can understand how a UK business planning meeting works. Where it matters we must recognise it and allow for it, but where it does not we are all equal before a sovereign God to whom we must answer for the way we treat those who have also been made in his image.
Let the world do as it will. If it wants to promote racial differences under the guise of anti-racist sentiment, let it do so. Let us present the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in whom there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, male nor female. Let us not regard any man by the flesh, but according to whether they love the Lord. In this way we shall be truly anti-racist whilst celebrating the diversity of culture that God has given to us. The gospel of free grace, an incarnate God and a crucified Saviour has more offence in it than any offence of which the world is capable to the pride of man.
The grace of your Lord Jesus Christ be with you