In the unbroadcast clip, Clarkson is reciting the 'eeny, meeny, miny, moe' nursery rhyme to chose between two but instead of using less controversial versions of what to catch by the toe, phrases such as tiger, monkey or piggy that i remember from my childhood, he went with nigger but mumbled it in a way that 'wasn't quite good enough' as he now admits after his initial denials.
Now he is begging forgiveness and explaining that: 'I was well aware that in the best-known version of this rhyme there is a racist expression that I was extremely keen to avoid. I mumbled where the offensive word would normally occur but if you listen very carefully with the sound turned right up it did appear that I'd actually used the word I was trying to obscure. I was mortified by this, horrified. It is a word I loathe and I did everything in my power to make sure that that version did not appear in the programme that was transmitted'.
Whether Clarkson is a racist i don't know but i would ask him why, when he could have chosen any other rhyme kids use to choose between things, he chose this one and even after deciding eeny, meeny was the best one for the job, why did he then choose to use the offensive word and not replace it with something else instead of saying, albeit not very clearly, the word that could get him sacked?
Clarkson's Top Gear co-host James May may have explained it better than anyone, saying: 'Jeremy Clarkson is not a racist. He is a monumental bellend and many other things, but not a racist'.
I would agree with the monumental bellend argument but if he is sacked, and i highly doubt they will tell him to pack his bags, but if he is, then its his own fault for being an utter tool and the fact that he was trying to mumble his way through it so he knew he was being offensive so it's his own fault.
No comments:
Post a Comment