David Starkey under fire for saying 'slavery wasn't genocide' because 'so many damn blacks' survived
Historian resigns from board of Mary Rose after sparking fury with racist comment
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Your support makes all the difference.Historian David Starkey has been condemned for his “truly disgusting” claim that slavery was not genocide because “so many damn blacks” survived.
The 75-year-old, who is best known for his programmes about Henry VIII, made the racist comment while discussing Black Lives Matter protests on a Youtube show hosted by Brexit campaigner Darren Grimes.
He 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...”
His comments prompted widespread criticism on social media. Former chancellor Sajid Javid wrote: “We are the most successful multi-racial democracy in the world and have much to be proud of. But David Starkey’s racist comments (”so many damn blacks”) are a reminder of the appalling views that still exist.”
David Olusoga, who was described by Dr Starkey as “an interesting and quite able historian” on the show, reacted by saying: “This is truly disgusting. And by the same ridiculous, twisted logic the Holocaust would not be counted as a genocide.”
The Mary Rose Trust, which is responsible for Henry VIII’s favourite warship, said was “appalled” and had accepted the historian’s resignation from the board of trustees.
“Mary Rose Trust is a charity that exists for the benefit of everyone and we have zero tolerance for such comments,” it added.
During the show, Dr Starkey also suggested that people should not “go on about” slavery because it has been abolished in 1833.
”There’s no point in arguing against globalisation or Western civilisation – they are all products of it. We are all products of it,” he said.
“The honest teaching of the British empire is to say it was the first key stage of world globalisation. It was probably the most important moment in human history and it is still with us.
“As for the idea that slavery is this terrible disease that dare not speak its name. It only dare not speak its name because we settled it 200 years ago...
“Do you know what, we had Catholic emancipation at pretty much the exact same time we got rid of slavery – in the 1830s - we don’t go on about that.”
Dr Starkey also caused outrage in the wake of the London riots in 2011 when he said that Enoch Powell’s ‘rivers of blood’ speech was right “in once sense” and added: “The whites have become black; a particular sort of violent destructive, nihilistic gangster culture has become the fashion.” And in 2015 students and staff at Cambridge University campaigned for his removal from a major promotional campaign.
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