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Ollie’s been outed and ousted. Such a pity. No sooner did we (us England cricket supporters) get a good cricketer who didn’t mess up on his debut, but we find out he’s a rotter. Or was a rotter when he was eighteen years of age, nine years ago, in 2012. Mind you, Prince Phillip was the same kind of rotter, according to a sensitive cohort at King’s College London.
Joleen Clarke, associate director of the university’s libraries, committed the sin of sending a picture of the Prince with the Queen opening a library at the college in 2002. This apparently triggered some sensitive souls, including an anti-racism group at the university, because of Prince Phillip’s “history of racist and sexist comments.” Ms Clarke subsequently apologised for sending out the picture, having “come to realise the harm that this caused members of our community.”
I will give a well-known example of the Prince’s “racist” comments: During a visit to China in 1986 Prince Philip told a group of British students: “If you stay here much longer, you’ll all be slitty-eyed.” At the time he was 65 years old, not eighteen. I have picked out this terribly regrettable comment by the Prince because it accords, I think, with one of the tweets from Ollie Robinson. Atop this page is a snapshot of four Robinson tweets.
You will see the first one has parallels with the prince’s comment. Trying to be funny has pitfalls. Clearly both Robinson and the Duke were trying to be funny. Let me guess. I wouldn’t be surprised if occasionally the Chinese make racist comments when joking about us moon-eyed, dough faces. I dare not go into what they might say about black people.
Before getting our knickers in a knot we have to question whether untoward comments are malicious or just simply gauche. I suggest the latter applies in nearly all cases.
As for being sexist, give me a break. ‘Girls who play video games tend to be more sexually fulfilled’ and ‘Lots of girls need more class’. You might disagree with these observations. Personally, I doubt the accuracy of the first but admit to having done no research. As for more class, I do myself sometimes think, when seeing some girls passing on a night out, that they should, perhaps, cover themselves a little more. Other than that, I’m not sure what Robinson means.
I am sure that neither comment reaches some shocking, caddish, level of sexism. Google ‘mean tweets about men by women’ if you want an overdose of sexism.
The fourth tweet in the frame “my new Muslim friend is a bomb” — a reference presumably to Islamic suicide bombers — is not the kind of comment one should put about. But remember, 2012 was only seven years after the London underground bombing which killed 52 people and injured hundreds, and even sooner after bombings in Mumbai in 2006 and 2008 which left 375 dead, and in France in March 2012 which left seven dead — barbaric events tending to scar us all.
Also, it is best to remember, more generally, when holding people accountable for youthful indiscretions that our brains are not finished developing until around the age of twenty-five. To boot, Ollie seems to have been a bit of a lad – drinking, late nights and what not. Probably an indiscretion or two is on the cards.
Is it possible these days to have perspective? He didn’t rob, cheat or kill anyone. He made some poor jokes when young. He has apologised. And for this he is suspended from all international cricket and, no doubt, his county will join the lynch mob. This is the man’s livelihood they are messing with. What’s wrong with a dressing-down and a fine?
Of course, the problem these days is virtue signalling. Ollie’s indiscretions are a godsend to the holier-than-thou brigade. The more they pillory and punish him, the more virtue reeks off them.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan joined the pile on, reportedly saying: “Yes, he was 18, but I do find that staggering that the ECB with everything, the resources that they have in their operation, they don’t go through everything about every player that you pick just to make sure you have got everything covered.” Presumably then, he should never have been be picked. Banned. Shunned. Driven from the game. Nasser Hussain thought the tweets to be “horrible” but at least had the common sense to remind people that “an 18-year-old does make mistakes.”
Hear, hear to that.
I demand this:
That the full costs, tangible and intangible, direct and shadow, of the presence in Australia, of certain non-European groups be put on display, for all to see. This accounting must include crime rates, including estimates of crimes not recorded because such atrocities are permitted, actually encouraged, in the cultures of these select non-European groups -and which are now endorsed by way of multiculturalism and associated censorship. Of course, nett costs, on all dimensions, to Treasury that are incurred by these non-European groups must be noted and published. Also, a new body, The Australian Human Responsibilities and Citizenship Commission must be established. Among its remits, it must act with full force to ban in perpetuity all future wealth transfers to all persons of European and non-European ancestry who are identified as so ignorant of history, so ignorant of the complexity of the governance of human affairs, so ungrateful for their very existence, and so psychologically and spiritually stunted, that they would say and do things that denigrate, vilify and seek to destroy our European, esp British, founding and heritage. Non-Europeans generally, and Europeans of the bottom 20% of human capability and productivity, owe their lives to the intellectual work, the investments of capital, the practical ingenuity, the sacrifices, and the generous contributions to their communities, made by capable, law-abiding, nett productive persons of European provenance. Time to Wake Up, and Lest We Forget.
“(us England cricket supporters)”?!? I had to catch my breath and stop reading at that bracket. I’ll come back when I’ve suitably recovered.
I may have missed it but were there any arrests of those Muslim men driving around Jewish areas in London threatening to kill Jews and rape their women? That is surely way more offensive than Ollie’s tweets made some 9 years ago.
“I dare not go in to what Chinese people might say about black people”. Google racism in Wuhan in the UK Guardian. Dr Tim Soutpommasane wouldn’t be able to cope with being race discrimination commissioner there.
I presume Ollie was counselled before he was given the flick.
DougD: In my view, Dr Tim Souhtwhatshisname is unable to deal with reality in general. Lot of people who demonise people of European descent and who complain about Western Civ have poor/weak souls, and they hate the conditions of their lives. This, instead of being grateful that they drew breath and have benefitted mightily from Western abundance, freedoms and access to celebrity status for parasitic nobodies -boons that have been created only within Western Civ.
Ross Cameron, who along with Rowan Dean was one of the first of the presenters of Sky’s “Outsiders’ program, made a similar joke about Chinese eyes and was promptly and unfairly marched off air for it.
Jokes can be dangerous things in these touchy days in culture of the West. More’s the pity.
Offer him citizenship and a baggy green, set him against the poms at the next test in the hope he tonks a ton off the first 30.
Laugh at them. You know you want to. It is the only sane response at this point.
Good exposure Peter and I agree. What an asinine overreaction to a trivial thing….and on that other most asinine of things…a ‘Tweet’, twitty, tweet !! No doubt the poor fellow will have to go through the usual ritual grovelling and apologising urged on him by Management, and all the outraged and offended little types. Of course in my view the most disappointing thing about it is that any past Captain has seen fit to join in….it smacks of a sort of mental insecurity to me, to the extent that I wonder how, or why, anything like this gets out in the first place….who can it be, with so little to do or read in their lives that they have to go trawling for, and then making an issue of, this sort of stuff.
Can confirm girls that play video games are much more attractive to guys of a similar persuasion than ditzy, shallow, Instagram types.
That said, there are many pretty girls that make quite a good income from simply playing computer games via twitch or Youtube and are doted on by their adoring male fans.
Clearly those blokes have more discretionary income than I do!