Rapper Dave brings up Boris Johnson's Africa comments in defence of claims PM is racist
Priti Patel previously called music star's claims ‘highly inappropriate’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Dave has resurfaced Boris Johnson’s controversial comments about African people, in order to strengthen his claim that the prime minister is “a real racist”.
The rapper added lyrics to his song “Black” at this year’s Brit Awards, saying: “The truth is our prime minister is a real racist.”
Home secretary Priti Patel then denied this claim, telling BBC Breakfast: “He’s absolutely not a racist and I’m afraid that is very much a generalisation that has been made by rapper Dave, and I just disagree with it.”
She also told Sky News: “That’s utter nonsense, it really is. I don’t know what those comments are based on … He is not a racist at all. I just think those comments are highly inappropriate.”
Dave has now tweeted a video of Patel’s denial, adding in footage of him scrolling through an article detailing all the prime minister’s controversial remarks about Africa.
The CNN report points to Johnson’s Spectator column from 2002, titled “Africa is a mess, but we can’t blame colonialism” and another in which he described young Ugandan children who sang for him as “Aids-ridden choristers”.
A third example given was Johnson’s use of the word “piccaninnies”, a racist term used to describe black children, in a column he wrote for The Daily Telegraph.
And in another article in The Daily Telegraph about the Congo, Johnson wrote: "No doubt the AK47s will fall silent, and the pangas will stop their hacking of human flesh, and the tribal warriors will all break out in watermelon smiles to see the big white chief touch down in his big white British taxpayer-funded bird."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments