Racist podcast rant - Arsenal fan & 'Comedian' Alan Davies not happy with us

Fode N The Hole said:
Telling people who already spend most of their time living in a city in a desert to go back and invest in a league in "the desert" isn't racism to me. If they weren't from the desert it would be a different matter, but they aren't so it isn't.

His rant was entitled, bitter, hypocritical and out of touch, but it wasn't racist.
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I’m not sure I agree. Black people are ‘black’. That doesn’t mean the assertion of that factual position when displaying hostility towards them isn’t racist.

Racism is rooted in the mistrust of other ‘tribes’ that resides deep within all of us. It’s ultimately a survival instinct that conditioning and civilisation hopefully suppress to the point that it no longer features in our subconscious minds and therefore our words and actions. In many ways it is the antithesis of hospitality as it displays hostility towards people who are different, because they are different, and draws upon that difference through hostile words and actions.

Telling someone to go back somewhere is founded upon all those things. It is inhospitable, it displays hostility and deploys a distinguishing feature to accentuate the force of those unpleasant manifestations. It is essentially saying: you are different and I’m going to identify that point of difference as part of the means of expressing by hostility towards you and my desire that you leave my territory.

It’s at the very mildest possible end of the racist spectrum, but to suggest it is not racist in any way is plainly wrong Imo.
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
I’m not sure I agree. Black people are ‘black’. That doesn’t mean the assertion of that factual position when displaying hostility towards them isn’t racist.

Racism is rooted in the mistrust of other ‘tribes’ that resides deep within all of us. It’s ultimately a survival instinct that conditioning and civilisation hopefully suppress to the point that it no longer features in our subconscious minds and therefore our words and actions. In many ways it is the antithesis of hospitality as it displays hostility towards people who are different, because they are different, and draws upon that difference through hostile words and actions.

Telling someone to go back somewhere is founded upon all those things. It is inhospitable, it displays hostility and deploys a distinguishing feature to accentuate the force of those unpleasant manifestations. It is essentially saying: you are different and I’m going to identify that point of difference as part of the means of expressing by hostility towards you and my desire that you leave my territory.

It’s at the very mildest possible end of the racist spectrum, but to suggest it is not racist in any way is plainly wrong Imo.
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If our owners were black he wouldn't be saying "go back to the jungle", there would be an outcry.
I don't see a huge difference telling a Arab "to go back to the desert"
 
gordondaviesmoustache said:
I’m not sure I agree. Black people are ‘black’. That doesn’t mean the assertion of that factual position when displaying hostility towards them isn’t racist.

Racism is rooted in the mistrust of other ‘tribes’ that resides deep within all of us. It’s ultimately a survival instinct that conditioning and civilisation hopefully suppress to the point that it no longer features in our subconscious minds and therefore our words and actions. In many ways it is the antithesis of hospitality as it displays hostility towards people who are different, because they are different, and draws upon that difference through hostile words and actions.

Telling someone to go back somewhere is founded upon all those things. It is inhospitable, it displays hostility and deploys a distinguishing feature to accentuate the force of those unpleasant manifestations. It is essentially saying: you are different and I’m going to identify that point of difference as part of the means of expressing by hostility towards you and my desire that you leave my territory.

It’s at the very mildest possible end of the racist spectrum, but to suggest it is not racist in any way is plainly wrong Imo.
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Except he was telling people to go back to somewhere they already permanently reside, neither Khaldoon or Mansour are immigrants to the UK.

"The desert" could be a racist stereotype or could be a reference to fact, if he had told Africans to go back to live in the jungle it would be a different matter.

It seems to be implied he wasn't actually talking about the movement of people but the movement of capital. Which means issues of inhospitable behaviour take on a whole new dimension.

Some countries have limits on the type and scale of foreign direct investment in certain sectors of the economy, infrastructure or residential properties. And there are valid reasons for this that aren't to do with racism or xenophobia.

As far as I'm aware we don't have any significant controls, and personally I can't see why football clubs need to have tighter controls than energy or infrastructure companies, but that's for another thread. It's still possible to make a valid and coherent argument though.

If you were to turn up in a small community and start flashing the cash about and rapidly try to change the vibe of the community you might expect a frosty reception.

And some of that might be fair comment, but it wouldn't be fair comment if you turned up as a family of refugees or migrants (of modest means) and opened a cafe or restaurant serving your own cuisine.

It might have made more sense if he had spoken about fan ownership structures and possible restrictions about foreign ownership, (after the horse has bolted, I know). It wasn't City or our owners that took the PL down this path, it was a natural consequence of clubs breaking away from the football league and clubs like Arsenal and the Rags listing themselves on stock exchanges.

But as I said earlier, it was an entitled, hypocritical and out of touch [irrational] rant, fuelled by drink and sporting bitterness, mainly because his team lost a match they deserved to win. And it's a comedy podcast so any expectation of a serious discussion would be misplaced.
 
Probably time to draw a line under this, it sailed very close to the edge of acceptability in lots of ways and it certainly wasn't the best career decision Alan Davies has made. Despite their initial bluster and belligerence both The Tuesday Club and Alan Davies have been conspicuous by their silence since the broadcast so they're obviously aware, or been made aware, they've crossed a line and are keeping their collective heads down. I was annoyed at the time but things move on.
 
Bozzie said:
Probably time to draw a line under this, it sailed very close to the edge of acceptability in lots of ways and it certainly wasn't the best career decision Alan Davies has made. Despite their initial bluster and belligerence both The Tuesday Club and Alan Davies have been conspicuous by their silence since the broadcast so they're obviously aware, or been made aware, they've crossed a line and are keeping their collective heads down. I was annoyed at the time but things move on.
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