Donald Trump’s tweets forced the media to call out racism, but should it have happened long ago?

The US president’s words and actions are not necessarily any worse than some of the language we’ve heard from our own MPs

Covering racism in the media has been a notoriously complex task for some time. Needlessly so, some would say, given how clear the parameters are, especially for those of us who stare it in the face regularly.

Now most of us agree: when the US president singles out four congresswomen of colour and suggests that they, American citizens, should “go home” to the countries of their heritage, calling those comments “racially tinged” just doesn’t cut it.

I’d argue that it never really did, in any circumstance. There is no lesser, “not-quite-but-almost” racism, although Donald Trump, who in the face of recent accusations denies that he is racist, would likely disagree. There are shades of severity, verbal and non-verbal signifiers, and differing types of harm. But it all falls under the same umbrella. We shouldn’t pander to the desire to rid people of the burden of being thought of as something that most understand is seen as deplorable, but which the accused still believes they should be free to express.

So, now that we have accepted that Trump is unequivocally racist, as if his words and actions over the decades didn’t paint a clear picture for us years ago, what next? Will the blatantly discriminatory language of many of our most successful politicians in the UK be treated with the same vigour?

One of our columnists, James Moore, wrote about some broadcasters and publications “needlessly sitting on the fence” over Trump’s comments when it comes to incidents like these, pointing out that “people have to be almost as blatant as Trump was for the accusation even to surface”.

Trump’s words and actions, as blatant as they were, are not necessarily any worse than some of the language we’ve heard from our soon-to-be prime minister and the people he surrounds himself with. It’s a level of hypocrisy I wrote about recently, particularly when it comes to Britain’s eagerness to engage with overseas discrimination and prejudice while simultaneously scoffing at having to dismantle it at home.

I wonder how far British public figures will have to go before everyone, the media and individuals alike, has the courage to call racists out for what they are? Let’s hope none of our MPs have the gall to suggest that Britain will never be home to immigrants. Come to think of it, hasn’t that already happened?

Yours,

Kuba Shand-Baptiste

Voices commissioning editor