David Starkey - I am not a fan...

Over the weekend David Starkey was quoted as saying that the riots were a part of  'black culture'.  What on earth does that even mean?  He claimed that white teenagers had adopted the black, Caribbean patois and as a result had effectively lessened their chances in life.  He was also banging on about Enoch Powell being right when he originally said immigration would lead to 'rivers of blood'.  I can't even begin to establish how much this angered me.  I mean honestly. 

There were a mixture of factors that led to the rioting.  It included; lack of trust in the police, poor education, poor parenting (in a minority of cases) and general opportunism!  It certainly did not seem to me that it was a result of 'black culture'.  In fact you cannot say that when almost all the people I have seen leaving court have been from white households and the ones who have spoken have not done so in that fake Caribbean way.  There have been millionaires and teaching assistants and all sorts involved, so where does Starkey get his ideas from?

Then again this is not the first time he has said something offensive and ill informed.  He has made many derogatory comments about female historians and feminism.  He just likes to offend by the sounds of things.  I wouldn't personally consider Starkey to be a 'proper' historian.  He is more like a journalist historian and that is being kind to him.  His views are out dated and in some cases bigoted as shown by his most recent rant.  The only good news is confirmation from Channel 4 that they have no programmes planned for Starkey in the near future.  If they have any sense they will never book him again after this latest out burst.