Russell Howard condemned for saying white people don't need advice on how to speak to black and Asian colleagues about race

Comedian says guide produced to advise people how to avoid offending colleagues is 'insane'

Russell Howard has been criticised for claiming white people in the UK should not take advice from ethnic minorities on how to speak about race.

Speaking during his Sky One show, the Russell Howard Hour, the comedian said a guide produced to advise people on how to avoid offending black and Asian colleagues was "insane".

There was no need for the advice, he suggested.

On his show, Howard played a clip from Good Morning Britain in which stand-in presenter Richard Madeley asks: “Do white people need instructions on how to talk to black and Asian colleagues about race?"

Commenting on the clip, Howard responds: "No! But for some reason – you will not believe this – a booklet has been made telling white people how to talk to ethnic minorities, and it contains helpful advice that nobody would ever f****** need.”

The booklet was published by non-profit organisation Business in the Community and produced by Sandra Kerr, the organisation’s Race Equality Director.

Included in the guide was advice not to ask to touch a black woman’s hair – a practice that those affected by it say is commonplace and based on the notion that they are somehow a novelty. “If you missed the opportunity in primary school to touch a black girl’s hair, it’s a bit too late now”, the booklet says.

Howard, however, claimed the problem did not exist.

“Who is doing that at work?,” he asked to laughter and applause from the audience. “Also who was doing that at school? There were no black girls at my school going, ‘Come on, rub away’.

“It’s so insane.”

The advice also recommended not asking women what they are wearing under their religious dress.

Mr Howard commented: “You wouldn’t go up to a nun and go, ‘What we dealing with sister?’”

The comedian said the piece of advice he had found most unnecessary was the recommendation to avoid asking people where they “really come from”.

Mr Howard’s comments prompted criticism after a clip was posted on social media,

Author and poet Musa Okwonga wrote: “I think Russell Howard is very ignorant if he doesn’t know black women are constantly having their hair touched at work.

“The irritating thing about the above comedy is that it doesn’t pay a single second of attention to what’s actually happening.

“The ignorance of so much British ‘liberal’ comedy is breathtaking. It takes the position of the school bully with unerring accuracy.”

Another summed up Howard’s approach as: “It hasn’t happened to me so it can’t possibly be true.”

The Independent has contacted representatives for Russell Howard for comment.