Good Point – Or Is It Racist?

Proud bushman or traffic warden in waiting? You decide












The normally sedate schedules of Radio 4 have diversified into the world of the radio phone-in with a new show called Down the Line. Here's a transcript:

Host Gary Bellamy: Our next caller is Stuart Hill from Gloucester. What's your point, Stuart?

Caller: Well, my point is this. It's ironic, isn't it, that the once-proud African man, standing on one leg, looking out across the Kalahari desert, once master of all he surveyed, is now exacting a terrible revenge, after centuries of repression, removed from his homeland and subjugated... is now bringing the white man to his knees by issuing parking tickets willy-nilly. And I feel that it actually demeans both the African man and the European man, that we are now waging a war with parking tickets, pieces of paper and bureaucracy, over this silly notiono that no, you can't park your car there, or you can park your car, for example, there.

Bellamy: It certainly is ironic. It's a good point – or is it racist? I'll tell you what - it would be great to hear from someone from the black community to get their views on that, or, in fact, to get their views on anything. So come on: ring in if you're black.