by Michael Deacon, Telegraph
Our national broadcaster seems to think it’s being wonderfully progressive. Perhaps it needs a little lesson from history
From 1958 to 1978, the BBC broadcast The Black and White Minstrel Show: a series featuring white entertainers who had caked their faces with ridiculous make-up, in order to impersonate black people. These days, the BBC is understandably rather embarrassed about this. So much so that, in the wake of Black Lives Matter, it published an article on its website, wondering how on earth its past bosses could have been so blind.
“It didn’t seem to occur to anyone in a position of authority at the BBC that the series really was offensive to more than just a few ‘killjoys’,” the article lamented. As a result, “this infamous programme” constituted “arguably the BBC’s most glaring failure to understand the damage it could do when it traded in outdated stereotypes”.
True enough. I’ve got just one question.
If, as the BBC now accepts, it’s wrong to show white people dressing up as grotesque parodies of black people, how come it’s fine – indeed, wonderfully enlightened and progressive – to show men dressing up as grotesque parodies of women?
I only ask because the BBC’s peculiar fixation with drag queens shows no signs of abating. Just this week, Newsnight invited one to participate in a discussion of the UK’s floundering economy. Perhaps we could boost quarterly growth if we each buy a pair of size 12 stilettos.