British historian and television presenter David Starkey gave up his honorary scholarship at a university at Cambridge University after he was outraged by his comments about blacks and whether slavery should be considered genocide.
Starkey said in an interview for a YouTube show posted online on Tuesday: “Slavery was not genocide, otherwise there wouldn’t be that many blacks in Africa or Britain, would there?”
“Many of them survived and, again, there is no point in arguing against globalization or Western civilization. They are all products of it, we are all products of it,” he added.
The comments prompted Sajid Javid, a former finance and interior minister who spoke about how his Pakistani father faced discrimination after coming to Britain, to call Starkey racist.
“We are the most successful multiracial democracy in the world and we have a lot to be proud of,” Javid tweeted Thursday.
“But David Starkey’s (‘so many damn niggers’) racist comments are a reminder of the terrible opinions that still exist.”
We are the most successful multiracial democracy in the world and we have much to be proud of. But David Starkey’s (“so many damned niggers”) racist comments are a reminder of the terrible views that still exist.
– Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) July 2, 2020
Javid’s tweet was picked up by the British media and Fritzwilliam College at Cambridge University accepted Starkey’s resignation on Friday.
The director of Fitzwilliam College contacted the historian after his comments on the Reasoned UK YouTube channel.
He released a statement saying that although Starkey did not have a teaching position, honorary fellows have the same responsibility as all members of the university to uphold their values.
“Fitzwilliam is proud to lead the way in Cambridge by opening access to higher education for underrepresented groups,” the statement read. “Our student and academic bodies are diverse and welcoming to everyone. We do not tolerate racism.”
If you think that saying “slavery was not a genocide because there are so many blacks today” is not racist, imagine that David Starkey said that “the Holocaust was not a genocide because there are still Jews.” That is a misfortune.
– Hasan Patel 🌹 (@CorbynistaTeen) July 2, 2020
Others associated with the historian quickly distanced themselves from him. Its editor, Harper Collins, said he would not publish future Starkey books and that people at the company “wholeheartedly condemn” the “abominable” comments he made in the interview.
“Our last book with the author was in 2010, and we will not be publishing any more books with him,” he said.
“We are reviewing your existing list in light of your comments and opinions.”
Canterbury Christ Church University also ended Starkey’s role as a visiting professor, saying his comments were “completely unacceptable.”
In the interview, Starkey also said that an “honest teaching” from the British Empire would characterize the territories that Britain claimed as colonies and protectorates as “the key first stage of our globalization. It is probably the most important moment in human history and it’s still with us. “
Starkey, a well-known television personality in Britain, has published over 20 books, including many on the Tudors.
I cannot speak for my employer, but as someone who teaches history at Cambridge, I am ashamed of our connections with David Starkey and urge the University and Fitzwilliam College to cut all ties to him. pic.twitter.com/maumGQxeTV
– Nicholas Guyatt (@NicholasGuyatt) July 2, 2020
Darren Grimes, the right-wing commentator who conducted the interview with Starkey, Wanted dissociate from the historian’s comments.
“Hand in hand, he was not involved enough in this interview as he should have been,” Grimes said in a statement.
“I should have questioned Dr. Starkey about his comments.”
SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies
.
