Prince Harry, is in hot water over his "Paki" and "raghead" remarks. Harry made the "Paki" remark on a video shot while he was training as an officer at the Sandhurst military academy. He referred to a member of his platoon as "our little Paki friend ... Ahmed."
Some have argued in Harry's defence that "Paki" has a certain colloquial usage. It is used proudly by some youths of Pakistani origin - which is true. Names used to stigmatize acquire a new power when they are adopted by those being targeted. For example the gay community took possession of the word "queer" and began using it with pride, thus defusing its power-to-insult.
Others argue that equivalent terms such as "Aussie" and Russkie" get a pass, so why the double standard? Well obviously because "Paki" in the mouths of certain people has long been used as an explicit racial insult.
Harry defenders have also made the point that he didn't use the word with malice. But it's a bit like the "N" word - dangerous territory for whites irrespective of the tone employed - especially from the mouth of one who is a direct scion of an Empire that had a whole lexicon of racist terms for 'the natives'.
The "raghead" remark was directed at one of Harry's comrades who appears to have some sort of camouflage on his head. The Prince is heard saying: "It's Dan the Man... fuck me, you look like a raghead."
You can watch the videos here.
Harry's apology video here.
It wasn't so long ago that Harry showed up at a party dressed as a Nazi - not as out there as you might think. A number of British royals have German ancestry and quite a few titled Brits had Nazi sympathies in the WW2 era. An uncharitable view of the incident might be that Harry was keeping-up-the-side.
It's surprising that anyone would be surprised by Harry's racist lingo given the family he has grown up in. Harry has been exposed to upper crust prejudices from a young age. He is paying for using language in public that most of the titled keep behind the walls of their gated retreats.
Royal privilege and an inbred sense of elitism are two sides of the same coin, and it tends to breed a 'them-and-us... top-down' view of the world.
I posted recently on the new book by BBC presenter Edward Staunton titled It's a PC World. In the book Staunton describes the late Queen Mother as a "ghastly old bigot" - a conclusion he reached after a conversation in which the elder royal managed to insult most of Europe ... link here for the post.
Harry's grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh is an eccentric even by aristocratic standards. He's prone to major league gaffes when out-and-about. He has frequently dropped off-color, even blatantly racist remarks as casually as a " 'ows about you?"
Titled nobs are insulated from the day-to-day realities of the 'little people.' Charity work and boat launchings aside, many of these people have never put in an honest days work in their life.
British PM Gordon Brown has come to Harry's defense. He said Harry's remarks were "a mistake" and went on to describe him as a "role model" for young people. In fact Harry has been let off the hook by most Brit politicos and editors with little more than a slap on the wrist and a "naughty boy" admonition.
Wonder how the British Asian community feels about it? It's hard to avoid the perception that Harry is being indulged because of who he is... which is of course, exactly the case.
Cartoon "Chip off the old block" here.
