I’ve got a question, when will the television address the various issues of race? The answer: Black History Month. Some opponents of Black History Month claim that it condenses all ethnic minority focus into one month a year. Others say its better than nothing. One of the most high profile events of the month was Nick Griffin’s appearance on Question Time. The recent EDL march in Manchester has thrust the issue of far right politics into the forefront of many people’s minds. Some people think a ‘no platform’ policy is the best way to deal with the BNP; others prefer to face them head on.
The BBC received flack over the decision to invite Nick Griffin onto Question Time, they say however, “The BBC is obliged to treat all political parties registered with the Electoral Commission and operating within the law with due impartiality.” Whatever your opinion and despite hundreds of protesters attempting to block aid the studio he went on, and everybody was watching.
Due to the political ignorance displayed by the public I usually find Question Time both hilarious and depressing, this time I wasn’t laughing. Question Time should be an opportunity for the public to engage with the political elite about pertinent issues. It usually ends up being a series of tirades against fat cat bankers. The first question of the night asked whether the BNP were entitled to hijack Winston Churchill? Who cares? Winston Churchill has been dead for over 40 years, is the use of his image the most abhorrent of Nick Griffin’s actions? The show unsurprising largely focused on Nick Griffin and the BNP but there was very little discussion on polices, either by Nick himself or by the main political parties on how to reconnect with disenfranchised voters. Question Time usually fails to evoke any real debate because everybody is desperate to get in a witty sound bite that is hopefully followed by a raucous round of applause. One audience member may have found it hilarious that dick rhymes with Nick, but national television is not the place for playground insults. Only the BBC had a truly successful night, quadrupling their normal audience figures.
The BNP are seen by many to be the face of racism in Britain, however the musings of a marginal political party do not mean much in the real world. Earlier that week [Monday the 19th of October] the BBC broadcast an episode of Panorama entitled Hate on the Doorstep. This program addressed the everyday prejudice experienced by some people in Britain. Two reporters, Tamanna Rahman and Amil Khan, lived on a Bristol estate for eight weeks and covertly filmed the abuse they received almost daily. Hate on the Doorstep questioned the cohesion of multicultural Britain and showed the immediate problems encounter by some people. The underlying conclusion being racism is still an issue that needs to be addressed within the wider community, not just politically. This is a brave statement to make when many people, including head of the race equality commission Trevor Phillips, believed that the experiences shown on Hate on the Doorstep were a thing of the past.
The BBC were not the only ones getting in on the race act. Channel 4 has decided to dedicate a whole series to Race: Science’s Last Taboo. This opened with Rageh Omaar exploring the link between Race and Intelligence. This program offers no surprising conclusions, and nearly every point is drawn from anecdotal evidence. The documentary plods along, desperate to disprove the hypothesis that different races have different intelligences. The problem with this is there was never a compelling argument to suggest there was. Next up was Bleach, Nip and Tuck: the White Beauty Myth. Far from being informative the program appeared to exploit the insecurities of those featured and vaguely associated those insecurities with their race. Quite worryingly the tone of the program itself felt quite racist. The implication that a woman receiving breast augmentation is doing it to achieve Caucasian features is misguided considering the number of white women that also receive the procedure. This program had the potential to be truly insightful into the self-image problems felt by ethnic minorities to fit a westernised ideal of beauty. There was little talk of the media and the image of beauty they project, and thus no insight into why people may want to change the way they look. Unfortunately if there is a white beauty myth, it is perpetuated by TV itself.
TV has probably been the biggest cultural influence in Britain for the past 50 years and should be at the forefront at expressing this countries multiculturalism. This is not always the case. Numerous studies indicate that ethnic minorities feel disconnected with mainstream television channels, and this could be due to the lack of Black and Asian faces seen on our screens. Popular soaps Coronation Street and Eastenders have few ethnic minority cast members despite being set in large ethnical diverse cities. Ethnic minorities make up such a small percentage of the population of Britain such that the pressure to change television is small. In fact there is pressure to stick to the status quo. Earlier this year an episode of Eastenders featured a cast entirely made up of Black people. This received over 250 complaints from viewers. Maybe Britain isn’t ready to see too many black faces.
Add Your Thoughts