English Opinion

Anyone that has since the news today will know that Prince Harry, third in line for the throne, has once again made a huge mistake. First he attended a fancy dress party in a Nazi uniform and now he had been caught calling a member of his Army regiment a “Paki” and another a “raghead”. Both are obviously considered racist terms and have the potential to offend millions. Prince Harry has apologised since and explained that both were said in the context of joking with friends, but the entire thing as captured on video and has rightly caused uproar in the media. Unfortunately he has already used both terms and cannot take it back, thus opening the age old debate as to whether “racist” terms are ever OK to use and whether racisim has really been wiped out of institutions like the military.

I have to say that I absolutely abhor racism of any kind. I am sure many will disagree with me but I fully believe that we are all the same underneath and the colour of our skin should not make a difference to the way we are perceived by others. I am a British white woman so I have never experienced institutional racism of any kind, although a black girl once tried to beat me up in Birmingham because I was standing in her way and was not “one of us”. To be honest I didn’t even class that as racism because she was just looking for a fight but I suppose it’s the closest I’ve ever come to being a victim of it. However, I have witnessed it and it is the most vile way of bullying because it is the one thing nobody can escape from.

Having said that, I like Prince Harry and believe that it was an in joke. Call me naive, but it happens. Take the N-word that African Americans use amongst each other. They have taken a derogatory remark and turned it on its head. A woman my husband works with refers to herself as a “Paki” and is from Pakistan. She has also done the same thing. If Prince Harry’s friends were OK with it and they were close then I don’t necessarily think it’s much of an issue but the public outing of the whole incident has now made it an issue and one that must be dealt with. Although he is like any other bloke underneath, Prince Harry’s status dictates that he should avoid situations like this and anything that could be perceived as reckless and racist.

In jokes are just that, but if it is made public and someone as famous as Harry says it then it is automatically a major issue because some people are stupid enough to look at the words and think that it is OK to use them when talking to anyone. I can see why Muslim groups are outraged and why the Army is investigating, but it was a 3 year old video so why the hell is the government adding their opinions? It really isn’t any of their business.

However, racism will never go away no matter how hard some of us try because there will always be people that hold onto it and use words like those above in a derogatory manner and mean them to be that way as well. I wish it would but that just is not human nature and to ignore its existance is a mistake. Words like the above should not be used in any contex by anyone of any race then there would be no room for debate. As such, if you use the words then you’re a racist, but it cannot work both ways in various contexts… not if the world is to get any better and more equal

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