Outrage over Top Gear host's racist gaffe

[Mothers Worry]

Outrage over Top Gear host's racist gaffe

From the West Australian via Yahoo!News:

Outrage over Top Gear host's racist gaffe

July 4, 2011

Racism claims have erupted once again after Top Gear host Jeremy Clarkson attempted to be funny in his Saturday newspaper column.

Clarkson said the energy-saving mode on his new television makes the screen so dim that every program looks "like it is being presented by Lenny Henry in a cave".

War hero Johnson Beharry, who received a Victoria Cross for fighting for Britain in Iraq, said "remarks like this just aren't funny".

"They legitimise racism," Beharry told The People newspaper.

"People think it's acceptable to poke fun at people without thinking about the consequences.

"Clarkson needs to be stopped from saying things like this."

Henry, a black comedian and the former husband of TV star Dawn French, was a charity telethon co-presenter with Clarkson in 2007.

"A year later in a speech, Lenny launched a scathing attack on the 'Alf Garnett'-generation of program makers and claimed racism still existed in TV," People said.

"Clarkson . . . has had a series of run-ins sparked by his controversial 'jokes'.

"Korean car firm Hyundai complained about Clarkson's 'bigoted and racist' claim that their staff had 'eaten a dog'. He also caused offence with mock Nazi salutes talking about German design of a new Mini.

"Clarkson has apologised to the Mexican ambassador for calling his countrymen 'lazy'."

According to reports, Clarkson has a track record of saying people he offends lack a sense of humour.

Race campaigner Lee Jasper told People: "It starts off with Clarkson making stupid racist comments and it ends up as playground taunts and racist slurs on the street.

"It's totally gratuitous because it's not necessary. The whole point is Clarkson is naturally funny. There is no need to resort to racism."

[bpratt]

Oh dear, the Politically Correct wankers are at it again.

Comments that are taken to the Nth degree like claimed by that Jasper guy that a joke suddenly becomes schoolyard taunts and racist slurs is just rubbish, particulary in this PC world, as people are a lot better educated these days, and fully aware pigeonholing people is just not on.

Now of course if he'd called Lenny Henry a "dirty black c**t" or similar plain derogatory targetted at him, then that's a whole lot different.