[Brian Allgar]

The dismissal of Carol Thatcher for uttering a racist remark is reassuring for those of us who feared that the BBC was in danger of becoming soggily liberal. Childhood recollections of Robertson’s Marmalade cannot justify Thatcher’s insulting use of the word “Golliwog”.

But the BBC still has a long way to go. Only yesterday, I heard an announcer state that the next piece was Debussy’s “Golliwog Cakewalk”. Wake up, BBC! It is evident that this work needs to be renamed “African-American Cakewalk”, just as the racist title of Conrad’s novella should become “The African-American of the Narcissus”.

And what are we to make of those announcers who still refer to a whole body of music in racist language? The BBC should sack anyone who does not use the respectful term “African-American Spirituals”.

Their bridge correspondent, too, must learn to refer to the suits as Clubs, Diamonds, Hearts and African-Americans.


(The funny thing is that there a few people on this site, as I know from my own experience, who will agree with every word of the above!)