Following the selection of Boris Johnson as the Conservatives London Mayoral candidate yesterday, the editors of Britain’s two leading Black newspapers have joined forces with Lord Ouseley, former chair of the Commission for Racial Equality and Prof Chris Mullard, chair of the Notting Hill Carnival, to write an open letter to David Cameron expressing their concerns. The letter is reproduced below.
Dear David Cameron
Re: Boris Johnson MP
As Boris Johnson is now the official Conservative candidate for the forthcoming elections for the Mayor of London, we write to request that you clearly dissociate yourself personally and your party from his offensive comments that are an inescapable barrier between your party and the black communities in this country.
You will be aware that there has been much discussion and a growing level of serious concern expressed within London’s Caribbean and African communities in relation to this series of offensive statements made by Mr Johnson. Since he declared his candidacy, the Conservative Party has remained silent on this matter but there is now no reason for you not to clearly dissociate your party from his statements as he is now your official candidate.
Taken together, the series of statements he has made constitute an alarming and consistent trend. The issue goes beyond the London election – it strikes at the heart of the Conservative party’s stated claim to be open to all.
We believe it is no longer credible for such comments to remain without a clear statement from your party – officially – that you reject his language and the statements he has made.
For example, Mr Johnson has referred in his own articles to black people as ‘piccaninnies’ and Africans as having ‘water melon smiles’. He was also quoted by the Observer to have said, whilst in Uganda: ‘Right, let’s go and look at some more piccaninnies.’
He has written of Africa that ‘the problem is not that we were once in charge, but that we are not in charge any more'; has described South Africa under Nelson Mandela as the ‘majority tyranny of black rule'; and he has written in relation to African people that ‘left to their own devices, the natives would rely on nothing but the instant carbohydrate gratification of the plantain’.
London is a multicultural city with positive, vibrant and dynamic black communities. We would expect that all parties reject the kind of language used by Mr Johnson.
As you know, Mr Johnson has also written that the Stephen Lawrence inquiry was ‘Ceaucescu-ish’ ‘hysteria’, with the ‘whiff of a witch-hunt’, and described it as ‘Orwellian’ – comments that have led to him being criticised strongly by Doreen Lawrence, Stephen’s mother.
The Conservative party must confront the serious implications of choosing a candidate with such a track record to lead the most diverse city in Europe. As leader of that party so far you have failed publicly to challenge, acknowledge and recognise the offensive nature of these comments.
We do not accept the claim of Mr Johnson’s supporters that this pattern of repeated language is in some way amusing or ironic; there is no context in which such language can be justified.
On the contrary, we believe these statements, along with Mr Johnson’s failure to acknowledge the offensive character of what he has said, raise profound questions about the Conservative party’s relationship with London’s black communities.
All London’s political parties need to ensure that they are unequivocal in their opposition to racism, including the Conservatives.
We call on you to now address these issues by stating clearly and without equivocation that there is no place in the Conservative party for the terms used by Mr Johnson in relation to black people, and that you firmly dissociate yourself and the Conservative party from the language that Mr Johnson has used and the comments he has made.
Yours
Lord Herman Ouseley
Michael Eboda, Editor New Nation
Steve Pope, Editor, The Voice newspaper
Prof Chris Mullard, Focus Consultancy Ltd
