LIGHT ON Bliki

In June 2012, at the Sunday Times Festival of Education public debate on the notion of “Britishness”, Mr. David Starkey stated that the high profile child grooming case in Rochdale was not surprising as the men charged with the offences had values that were 'entrenched in foothills of the Punjab'. He added that they needed to learn British values and that they were at the same time destroying these values. The comments were directed at British Muslims from Afghan/ Pakistani heritage.

The contemporary discriminatory disvalue is that comments like these condone the attitude that individual actions can be explained by group characteristics or cultural values. The statement conveys a message of hierarchy in the sense that British cultural values are held above those from ‘the foothills of the Punjab’. It is therefore attacking the identity and values of a large number of people based on their ethnicity/belonging in a particular cultural group. The Rochdale sex grooming case led to more general racist attacks on UK Asian communities and accusations that they were sexual predators/perverts due to their ‘cultural values’. To have a figure such as David Starkey, known for his controversial opinions but equally an undeniably intelligent man on paper, share these opinions gives them not necessarily more weight but more airing opportunities on national platforms.

Lausunto ilmaisee hierarkiaa antamalla ymmärtää, että brittiläiset kulttuuriset arvot ovat korkeammalla tasolla kuin ne, jotka on omaksuttu “Punjabin kukkuloilla”. Näin lausunto hyökkää tietyn ihmisryhmän identiteettiä ja arvoja vastaan.

A kijelentés azt az üzenetet hordozza, hogy hierarchia áll fenn abban az értelemben, hogy a brit kulturális értékek többet érnek, mint azok, amelyek a „Pandzsáb régió hegyei közt” honosak. Így egy kulturális csoport identitását és értékeit támadja.

La dichiarazione trasmette un messaggio di gerarchia, nel senso che i valori legati alla cultura tradizionale britannica sono tenuti in maggior considerazione di quelli “radicati nelle colline del Punjab". Quindi attacca l'identità e i valori di un particolare gruppo etnico e culturale.

Izjava izraža sporočilo o hierarhiji britanskih vrednot, postavljene nad tistimi, ki izvirajo iz "vznožij Punjab hribovja". Izjava napada identiteto specifične kulturne skupine.

The comments were picked up by the British media E.g. http://rationalist.org.uk/2824/pantomime-polemic http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2163918/Historian-David-Starkey-branded-racist-bigot-saying-Rochdale-sex-gang-values-entrenched-foothills-Punjab.html?ito=feeds-newsxml