The Black and White Media Show

Right now, it’s hard to be a person of colour in England, especially one who reads newspapers or listens to the news.

In the past few days, I’ve had to watch the John Terry show and the news that the England captain is to be charged with a public order offence in the new year for racially abusing a black player.

Terry called QPR defender Anton Ferdinand a f***** black c***. There’s no “allegedly” about it - Terry’s racist rant was posted on Youtube for all to see. The Chelsea captain made a statement that he intends to fight the charges “tooth and nail”. Really? Has no one shown him the footage? As a black journalist, I waited patiently for a news outlet to feature comments from a black football player about their experience on the pitch. I waited and waited, then I waited some more.

The way this story has been covered is curious to say the least. The implication is that Ferdinand should have put up and shut up, that to accuse an England captain of being a racist is “political correctness gone mad”.

Unlike Mel Gibson, Terry cannot claim that he was drunk. In fact, he has no defence. He made racist remarks and was filmed doing so. The extraordinary fact is that virtually no one in this country owns up to being a racist. No one even likes to be open and honest and admit they have witnessed racist behaviour. Truth be told, this is a racist society. Everyday I go out, I can expect to experience racism in some form or another - from being closely tailed by security guards in stores, to not being served in cafes and restaurants. I have worked for a national newspaper where a journalist thought it would be a jolly wheeze to make monkey noises whenever I came in the room. On a woman’s magazine, an editor seemed unable to bring herself to talk to me, preferring instead to write notes on pieces of paper and throw them at me.

And racist discrimination starts early. I was recently invited up to the BBC new offices in Salford where I watched a segment for a new children’s show, The 4 O’clock Club. The show features two black brothers who are both rappers. My heart sank when I saw the clip. Yes, I understand that lots of young people listen to hip hop, but given that this is the only programme featuring two black male leads, can we not have them do something else? Is it really that much of a stretch?

White Britons have no idea what it’s like to be discriminated against in this way. They just don’t get it.