Official: Philip is not a fool

Jim heartfield jim at heartfield.demon.co.uk
Tue Aug 17 10:58:01 PDT 1999


In message <s7b7f57f.092 at mail.ci.detroit.mi.us>, Charles Brown <CharlesB at CNCL.ci.detroit.mi.us> writes
>Seems to me the sinister, deeper message is something like "see, we even say the
>Royal family has genes for lower intelligence in its history. So, the notion of
>genetic determination of intelligence is not elitist or racist, otherwise why
>would we say it impacts the Royals ?"

I think to be fair the article was a well placed joke at Prince Philip's expense, irony, I guess, does not travel.

Overwhelmingly the response of the British Press to Philip's racist outburst was disapproving, even ridiculing. The Mirror carried a headline combining the eclipse and Philip 'Total Eclipse of the Loon'.

The lesson of the whole affair was not that racism was officially acceptable, but that it was unacceptable, at least in its explicit formulation.

More recently though, the government has started a campaign against 'forced marriages' which has the effect of criminalising Asian families, as well as a campaign against Islamic fundamentalists, following the recent trial of British Asians in the Yemen. There were also attacks on immigrants in Dover, where the far right have been trying to appeal to hostility to them from locals. The Conservative Party has been trying to jump on that bandwagon.

-- Jim heartfield



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