Jeremy Clarkson is often portrayed as a kind of anti-establishment figure, and yet in many ways he is very much a part of the establishment. He has earned millions of pounds over the years as a BBC presenter and also as a comment writer in the national press. Would this be possible if he were anything other than an establishment lackey?
Clarkson has often courted controversy, for example using the word slope, which apparently is a slang term for an Asian person. I am not the only person who had not previously known this. There are so many words nowadays which serve as innuendo that it is impossible to keep up with them. Any one of us could say a word without knowing that it has a secondary meaning. Any one of us might find ourselves accused of causing offence even where none was intended.
The latest controversy surrounding Clarkson is that he either did or did not say the word nigger in a clip which was never broadcast. It has been pointed out that radio stations are still happy to play the song Oliver's Army by Elvis Costello which contains the word nigger. Then again, the reference is actually to a white nigger, which maybe makes it acceptable to the establishment.
The word nigger means black. It derives from the almost identical Latin word. Therefore white nigger is an oxymoron. (Apparently it was an accepted term in Northern Ireland at the time the song was written.)
I have said it before. Britain is a pre-communist country. Our leaders are trying to lead us down the road of subservience to the establishment, and one of their methods is to try to curtail our freedom of speech. However they are not so honest as to say that they do not value free speech. Their attitude is that we do have the right of free speech, but that we must not say anything which causes offence - and of course they decide what might cause offence.
I do not doubt that some people in this country might be genuinely offended by the words slope or nigger, but I suspect also that they might be a minority. For myself, I am offended by the fact that our inner cities are killing zones. I am offended that by the fact that our armed forces are expected to take part in illegal foreign wars. I am offended by the fact that many families in this country are struggling to avoid going hungry.
The sensibilities of people who dislike the words slope and nigger are way down my list of priorities when it comes to being offended. As for Jeremy Clarkson, he has a choice. He can continue to serve the establishment, or he can take a stand against it. I cannot make that choice for him.
Update: it has since been reported that the BBC has dismissed a radio presenter who accidentally played a song containing the word nigger.
The song he played was recorded in 1932. I wonder how many black people were murdered by other blacks on the streets of London that year.
Related previous posts include:
Communists please explain
Communism in Oxford
Inclusive is communist
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