http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/8123664.stm

Is it any wonder that I (had I been several years younger) and so many more want to up sticks and get the hell out of this pathetic bloody country.

Orwell's 1984 DID happen ! It was just rather subtle.

Spookily I was just reading the self same story and pondering posting it here.

I wonder how many "ethnic" kids attend the school anyway...

It sounds like the school is the one being offensive and insensitive...

Or at least being guilty of jumping to conclusions without proper thought. Not a great example to set for the children.

Jon

I've seen, first hand, the offence black face can cause.
Well, specifically, due to the behaviour of the idiot with the make up on.

As you may know, Morris Dancing is in fact Moorish Dancing. Hence the black faces.
Down here, in my old village of Kingston, the locals put on a festival which made the connection between us and Kingston, Jamaica.
Some Morris men wore black face. Some didn't. One local decided to wear faux dreadlocks.
Which would all have been fine and well, but on this day, we had a visit from the what I suspect might have been the first black person in Devon ever.
He was fine with it all, up until one of the dancers put an arm around him, called him brother and in a bad Jamaican accent said "Hey man, you an me de same!"

People (none of whom live in the Westcountry, funnily enough) have been moaning about "Darkie Day" which is held in Padstow for a long time. Especially the cow known as Dianne Abbott MP, who probably doesn't know where Cornwall is, let alone have any appreciation for local culture and traditions.

There will always be the Dianne Abbotts and Hazel Kings of this world. The problem is that they, the politically correct minority, are managing to influence those with a modicom of power... ie governing bodies and councils, and slowly but surely this cancer is eating away at the common sense that used to prevail in this land.

Sadly... I see no solution.

Having just spent a week in Cornwall - during which I conversed with many a local - I can confirm the majority with whom I discussed London were stomach-churningly racist.

It's a lovely part of the world (to look at) but I can't tolerate such bigotry for more than a week at a time.

Tar, brush, same. Yes, there are racist people down here, but then there are racist people everywhere. The vast majority of people that I know (having lived in Somerset and Cornwall and regularly visiting Devon) in the South West are not racist, but rather concerned that the Westcountry way of life (and indeed, wider English society and culture) is being altered in order to accommodate a bunch of people in London who "don't like it" or people who move in from abroad and find something they don't like. It's the equivalent of me moving to London and bemoaning the skyscrapers and awful tower blocks, or moving to Tehran and moaning at the lack of Christian churches.

The Westcountry has been stuffed by London and South East England for years (under-funding, second homes, treating it like it's their own garden or something), and quite rightly no-one down here likes it when the sods up country (who have little or no appreciation of Country life, other than when they come down in the summer to ruin the place) try and tell us what's acceptable.

I'm calling BS on the "just a disguise" explanation myself, i think originally it was to laugh at black men, the truth of the matter is, in 'olden days we were racists, it's good that we're moving on.

Oh dear lord, why does everything have to be banned in this Country? Seriously, if it's that awful and no-one likes the practice, no-one would do it and no-one would attend. As it stands, there's nothing racist about it (and certainly not intended) and it still goes on because people still enjoy it. If there's going to be a change in attitude, let it come about through culture instead of forcing certain attitudes on people by inappropriately utilising the force of legislation.

Perhaps we should ban clowns from wearing white face paint, after all, it's offensive to white people.

Don't forget those of other ethnicities as well, it could be seen as white supremacy!

You don't see the black and white minstrel show on TV any more. What a great loss to British culture

To be fair, the British have on occasion been very 'firm' about disallowing local customs they considered to be distasteful in the parts of the world we once had some sort of control over.

The most obvious example - although not necessarily being the most supportive for modern thinking, I'll admit - is that the British contingent in India stamped very hard indeed on the practice of throwing the living spouses of dead nobility onto their funeral pyres. I believe the quote from the governor at the time goes something like

"I understand it is your custom to do this, and you will continue to follow it. It is my custom to hang people who do things like this, I will continue to follow it too".

Not all parts of all cultures are of value and to be maintained at all costs. One of the pains of enlightenment is leaving behind the things you know and hold dear if they are no longer what you need to grow. However I do have some sympathy for the fact that not every single instance of a white person wearing black makeup is by definition about or relevant to the afro-caribbean community. The fact is this event is more than likely just an unhappy coincidence and, to be honest, I think it probably should continue provided some effort is made to explain what it is and why it is happening.

Jon

It's wrong to make laws against being offensive, such laws could cause offence to people, meaning the laws are contradictory and wrong

I don't see the problem with racism, I've lived amongst black people before and been called white boy amongst other things, mainly it's jest...When you mean for racism to be offensive, you might as well swear at someone or tell a "your mum" joke, it's the same thing in my mind. Racism isn't a problem until someone makes it a problem, and it's the receiver that makes it a problem.

I've always believed British culture was great because of the phrase "take it with a pinch of salt", visiting Dublin, they don't seem to be able to joke about serious things and take things with a pinch of salt...It's a shame.