POLITICAL CORRECTNESS

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The story of the Three Little Pigs has been renamed the Three Little Puppies by Honley Church of England Junior School in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, for fear of offending Muslims. Organisers of a children's music festival have altered the popular characters and lyrics because of the multi-cultural nature of the youngsters involved and their parents in the audience. Children aged from seven to 11 were due to perform at Huddersfield Town Hall with 250 children from 63 schools singing along. However, organisers of the Kirklees Primary Music Festival decided to change the script to be 'sensitive' to Muslims at a recent committee meeting.

Committee member Gill Goodswen, head teacher of Stile Common Junior School, defended the move by saying, "We have to be sensitive if we want to be multi-cultural. It was felt it would be more responsible not to use the three little pigs. We feared that some Muslim children wouldn't sing along to the words about pigs. We didn't want to take that risk. If changing a few words avoids offence then we will do so." And in doing so, Ms Goodswen has done her bit to promote racism and proven herself to be a complete prat!

Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra from the Muslim Council of Britain said, "The vast majority of Muslims have no problem whatsoever with the Three Little Pigs. It's always been the traditional way of telling the story and I don't see why that should be changed. There's an issue about the eating of pork, which is forbidden, but there is no prohibition about reading stories about pigs. This is an unnecessary step." Mohammed Imran, of the Hanfia Mosque and Educational Institute said, "According to the Koran it's forbidden to eat pork or touch a pig, but there's no ruling about talking about them or singing about them."

Local councillors have now stepped in to reverse the decision which they said was well-intentioned but wrong. Jim Dodds, the council's Cabinet member for children's services, said, "On this particular aspect of it, everyone knows the story of the Three Little Pigs, and other nursery stories as well. We have all read them to our own children and grandchildren. I am sure that no-one is offended by any wording within any of those traditional stories." (Source: Mail on Sunday, Mar/07)

A Sri Lankan businessman who came to Europe as a refugee has started an “anti-political correctness party” to fight for the right to discuss race and immigration without fear of persecution. Johannes Shanmugam believes that political correctness has gone too far in Britain. He is particularly incensed at what he claims is the ingratitude of those who have been given refuge in Britain yet complain endlessly about their new home. He announced the formation of his Political Correctness Corrective Party, which has so far just one member, himself, in his local newspaper and is now waiting to gauge the response.

Mr Shanmugam is outraged at the way an Oxfordshire nursery school changed the words of Baa-Baa Black Sheep to “Baa-Baa Rainbow Sheep” for fear of causing offence. He said, “We’re so scared of offending minority people in this country that we’ve come full circle and got into an absurd situation. Is it all right for me to serve black pudding? Should Blackpool be renamed? Where’s it going to end?” He added, "If they don’t like it here, they can go elsewhere. I do think we should have controls on immigration. I can say these things because I am dark-skinned but, if a white person says them, they are accused of being racist. We need to have a civilised political debate. You can’t go around waving placards and threatening to behead someone just because you disagree with them.” (Source: Times Online, Mar/06)

Paintings of traditional wedding scenes have been removed from a register office in case they offend gay couples. The pictures at Liverpool Register Office are being replaced with landscapes ahead of the introduction of "gay weddings". Registrar Janet Taubman said the new paintings were less likely to offend. A spokesman for Liverpool City Council said the painting had been moved as part of a renovation of the former wedding room, which now hosts other types of events including citizenship and naming ceremonies. He said, "It hasn’t been taken down it has been moved to the reception area. It is not offensive to anyone, that is the official view of the registrar." (Source: The Sun)

When is all this political correctness going to end? I personally believe that everybody is entitled to their own beliefs. But if I was to go to Pakistan and I complained that I objected to Allah or any of the Islamic festivals I would be thrown in jail. Yet in this country we have Birmingham council stating that we must not call it Christmas but Winterval. There is a council in London that says it must not be called Christmas. Now there is this museum at Cheddar Gorge that has banned the word Christ from the initials BC.

Then Inland Revenue staff were banned from putting into a charity Christmas children's fund because it also gave out bibles. I never heard any objections when the begging bowls were put out for the tsunami and the earthquake appeals. I actually supported these. If the words Christmas and Christ may be offensive to other faiths, then for a level playing field, the words Diwali, Ramadan, and Yom Kippur must not be used as they may be objectionable to committed Christians. R E Dodge

Almost 20 years after the 'The Black And White Minstrel Show' was removed from BBC television schedules, the Angus Black and White Minstrels are to be known from now on as the Angus Minstrels and will perform without blacking up at their charity fundraisers. Gary Mitchell, one of the group’s members, said the stage act took the decision after the cultural services department of Angus Council called them in for a meeting.

He said, “At the meeting, it was stated that a complaint (one?) about blacking up and the ‘Black and White’ name had been received by Angus Council. The council’s position was that they had a duty to ensure that various issues on racial equality were adhered to.” Mr Mitchell added that the council felt that the show, in its previous form, could have resulted in the local authority being taken to court for “portraying racial stereotyping”. (Source: Times Online)

An injured pedestrian was given a warning by a police officer for using the word “fat” to describe a hit-and-run motorist. Mary Magilton said she was simply trying to give the officer an accurate description of the female driver whose car mounted the pavement and hit her at a busy road junction. She described the driver as having brown, shoulder-length hair and glasses. The officer asked, "what build was she?" and she replied "fat". Instead of the officer taking a note of her description, he paused and told her she could not use such language to describe an alleged offender. Mrs Magilton said, "They did not even get me to sign a statement. They treated me with such disdain. How can they ever find a criminal if they cannot take a description?”

In 2000 the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester was criticised by his own officers when they were issued with a guide entitled Power of Language. They were told they could not refer to the elderly affectionately as old dears or old codgers. God-botherer and Bible-basher were also outlawed. Anyone from an ethnic background had to be referred to as non-white and terms such as policeman and spokesman were described as sexist. However, it advised, “When taking a witness statement from a member of the public be aware of the evidential need to record the witness’s exact words. Use speech marks to show the words used by the witness, especially those giving descriptive information. Doing this will ensure the statement is recorded in the witness’s own words.”

A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police said, “GMP has a policy on appropriate language aimed at helping police officers and police staff to be professional and correct when dealing with the public . . . it covers issues relating to race, disability, gender, religion, sexuality and age and includes operational guidance and information on where to seek advice. The policy, which is regularly reviewed and updated, is aimed at ensuring that honest mistakes through lack of knowledge or insensitivity can be corrected. GMP values diversity and respects individual differences.” The non-thin motorist has yet to be traced. (Source: Times Online) See also: Comments