People can convince themselves that they had never heard of things that were once hugely popular. Take the 1970s situation comedy, Watch Your Tone!
The central character was Mr Hancock, a name straight out of the age of Mrs Slocombe. In a carefully crafted four incidents per half-hour episode, this minor public school failure would have cause to remind a series of black and Asian women to, "Watch your tone!" Wild mirth would ensue, both among the studio audience, and among 20 million and more viewers at home.
Bladders would sometimes be voided when Mr Hancock encountered Mrs Pakiwallah, a sari-clad and wobble-headed white man in drag and in brown makeup. Mr Hancock would prod the red dot on Mrs Pakiwallah's forehead three times as he berated her, "Watch! Your! Tone!" Of course the whole thing became a national catchphrase. But who remembers it now?
Only Mr Hancock himself, it would seem. Against whom Rosena Allin-Khan has received absolutely no support from Keir Starmer. Dr Allin-Khan could bring down Starmer today if, as an A&E doctor in the midst of the present crisis, she were to resign her front bench position because the Leader had been so unsupportive.
The Starmer Leadership has a problem with women of colour. And at some level, part and parcel of that must be that Starmer himself has a problem with women with colour.
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