Ditching the Y-word

As a new campaign targets anti-Semitism in football, Brian Glanville asks if getting Tottenham fans to ditch the self-referential “Yid Army” chant will solve anything
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New Zealand: TV presenter resigns over race row

A breakfast show anchor for Television New Zealand has resigned after being accused of racist behaviour. Paul Henry was shown laughing at the mispronunciation of the name of the Delhi Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, which should sound more like “Dixit” in English. The Indian government lodged a formal complaint, calling the presenter’s comments “racist and bigoted”. Henry had already been suspended over accusations of racism, after suggesting that Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand, who is of Indo-Fijian descent, was not really a New Zealander. The television host said he was “astonished” and “dismayed” at the uproar his comments had caused.

Tintin ban is tantamount to “book burning”

A court case in Belgium has heard lawyers representing Georges Remi, the cartoonist behind the children’s sleuth Tintin, attack calls by critics to ban the stories as “like burning books”. Bienvenu Mbutu Mondondo, a Congolese man based in Brussels, has been pursuing Tintin’s publishers and copyright holders in the civil and criminal court since 2007 . he claims Tintin in the Congo, the book documenting the character’s adventures in the former Belgian colony, contains racist images and dialogue which are offensive to black Africans.

Video of Dale McAlpine arrest

This is really quite depressing. The Christian Institute has posted footage of the arrest of street preacher Dale McAlpine for alleged homophobic comments. McAlpine’s apparent crime was to state that homosexuality was sinful. He is entitled to believe that, and to say that.

But what’s absolutely absurd about this case is that the police arrest McAlpine for a racially aggravated incident. Now, whatever your stance on McAlpine’s beliefs, (though I hope you’re unequivocal about his right to hold his beliefs), surely saying that homosexuality is a sin doesn’t make him a racist.

Dale McAlpine was wrongfully arrested. It would be a real sin if this case were to be taken any further.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12LtOKQ8U7c

Hat tip: Mediawatchwatch

Read Nigel Warburton’s take on Dale McAlpine’s plight here