Post by Admin on Oct 25, 2021 18:53:13 GMT
Dr David Starkey, TV historian and political commentator, takes Reasoned's Darren Grimes through the scholarship (or lack thereof) behind Black Lives Matter.
Dr Starkey argues, as he did recently for The Critic Magazine, that the political movement behind Black Lives Matter (far removed from the laudable slogan), aims to delegitimate the whole of British history.
As well as allowing the interview to take a personal note whilst discussing cancel culture at his alma mater, Cambridge University, Dr Starkey concludes that, despite all of the current craziness and chaos, he's optimistic for Britain's future
The TV historian and author told an online show hosted by the conservative commentator Darren Grimes that slavery was not genocide because of the survival of "so many damn blacks".
Starkey made the offensive remarks in an episode of Grimes's YouTube show Reasoned, entitled "Dr David Starkey: Black Lives Matter Aims To Delegitimate British History".
The show's host tweeted on Thursday: "I reject in the strongest possible terms what Dr Starkey said in that clip and so very wish I'd caught it at the time. I am still learning the ropes, I will be much more alert to challenging this kind of thing in future."
In it, Starkey said: "Slavery was not genocide otherwise there wouldn't be so many damn blacks in Africa or Britain would there? An awful lot of them survived."
He also claimed that the Black Lives Matter protests, following the death of George Floyd, had been characterised by "violence" and "victimhood".
Writing on Twitter, former chancellor Sajid Javid said: "David Starkey's racist comments are a reminder of the appalling views that still exist."
Starkey has not yet responded to the BBC's request for comment.
Fitzwilliam College, part of Cambridge University, where Starkey holds an honorary fellowship, described his remarks as "indefensible".
"We support and promote freedom of speech in our academic community, but we have zero tolerance of racism," the college said in a statement on Thursday. "Dr David Starkey's recent comments on slavery are indefensible."
The Master of Fitzwilliam College contacted Dr David Starkey, following his comments. The Master has accepted Dr David Starkey’s resignation of his Honorary Fellowship with immediate effect.
Fitzwilliam prides itself in leading the way in Cambridge in opening access to higher education for underrepresented groups. Our student and academic bodies are diverse and welcoming to all. We do not tolerate racism.
Although Dr Starkey holds no teaching role at Fitzwilliam, Honorary Fellows have the same responsibility as all members of our College to uphold our values.