Courtney Lawes: ’England Is Not a Racist Country’

I was born on the wrong side of the tracks and on the wrong side of the equator to be remotely interested in rugby. I have seen games at Murrayfield, Twickenham and at the Suncorp stadium in Brisbane, when I was on the right side of the equator. But the game leaves me relatively unexcited, compared with the immediacy of football. Its incomprehensible rules and frequent stoppages frustrate me. But, suddenly, I’m interested.

A young man, by all accounts an incredible player and tipped to be the next England rugby captain, has just announced that Britain is not a racist country. His name is Courtney Lawes; he’s black and the son of a Caribbean immigrant. It is refreshing to see that at least one prominent sportsman is unwilling to join the cacophony of virtue signalling. There must be an expression for what he’s done; meantime, let’s just call it an ‘anti-virtue signal.’

Football is bursting at the seams with the ‘virtuous’, from England Manager Gareth Southgate down to minor league players who still ‘take the knee’. They adorn themselves with Pride armbands and pontificate on all manner of social issues that, viewed from their multi-millionaire lives, can barely affect them. Of course, the stand out virtue signaller and world record beating football hypocrite is Gary Likener who can barely have enough time in the day to write, tweet and speak—punctuated by his trademark sigh—about all the issues that concern him. After all, he knows what it is like to be a person of colour in today’s racist Britain. I am sure that he does not agree with Lawes. We are yet to have that confirmed, but doubtless it is only a matter of time.

I can only assume that Courtney Lawes has jeopardised his career. How likely now is he to become the next England captain? How long before he is ‘forced to apologise’, take the knee or proclaim that ‘black lives matter’ in order to be accepted back into the fold? It is to be hoped that he will stick to his guns and that his career is unaffected, but we have been here before with so many. Hope springs eternal, but reality usually bites.

Whatever the outcome for Courtney Lawes, is he right? It is almost a trope in these pages to point out that, if Britain is such a racist country then why are there no queues to get out? Why do the rubber dinghies in the English Channel only head in one direction? Where are the queues of people fighting to get into Pakistan, Afghanistan or even Eastern Europe? Of course, there are none. But already this year we have had over 12 thousand illegal immigrants wash up on our shores, and woe betide anyone who call this out for what it is: an invasion of young men, mainly Muslim, whose beliefs and interests are entirely alien to ours.

Moreover, there are objective data to support the fact that Britain is not a racist country or, at least, is one of the least racist in the world. And you can see this with your own eyes. For example, take the beggars and street sleepers in the UK. Barely a black person among them. On the other hand, take a walk down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC as the sun is going down. Bedding down for the night in their sleeping bags and cardboard shelters are the hordes of street sleepers, all black. Ironically, many are sleeping outside two notable buildings on the avenue, one of which is the HQ of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the other which is the HQ of the National Council of Negro Women (do none of these people get the memos about inclusive language?).

However, there is also a case for saying that Courtney Lawes is wrong. There is evidence of racism in Britain. Only this week we hear that potential authors are being told by publishers that they are no longer interested in stories about white able-bodied people. Zero outcry ensues, but imagine the nuclear reaction to turning that one around? It is considered a major disadvantage to joining the RAF if you are white. And how about black only events? The consequences of organisers insisting on white only events are—quite rightly—unimaginable. It is always Black History Month somewhere, yet celebrations of British history are besmirched with accusations of colonialism, slave ownership, racism and the call for reparations. To be white under these circumstances is to be a second-class citizen who ought to be ashamed of his heritage.

To be fair, I think Courtney Lawes is right. Britain is not a racist country. But, unless we stem the tide of anti-white, amongst other things such as anti-heterosexual and pro-trans, propaganda, it could become something worse.

Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He is a columnist with Unity News Network and writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East and the Middle East. He lives in Kingston upon Hull, UK.

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