A Test Case!

Tim Worstall has a superb quote of the day, which you will all, of course, have read already - Tim being top of your reading list every morning.

It would appear that Libby Purves has been presiding over a cat-fight of unprecedented ferocity and the Telegraph gives us a report, the transcript and adds a leader for good measure, even if it is a model of fence-sitting.

But your entrepreneurial Pedant-General sees an opportunity. It is time to test my hypothesis...

The Scene:
A Radio 4 studio for the broadcast of "Midweek" - a mild-mannered review of arts and eclectica hosted by Libby Purves.

Guests/Protagonists:
Joan Rivers: Outspoken New York style comedienne
Darcus Howe: "Outspoken writer and Social Commentator", or as the Torygraph puts it:

"... magnate of the race relations industry, droning on in his habitual psychobabble about the "narrative" of his broken marriage"

The relevant excerpt:

Joan Rivers: I'm so bored of race. I think people should inter-marry. Everybody should be part this, part that and part everything. Race doesn't mean a damn thing. Everybody should just relax, take the best of their cultures and move forward.

Libby Purves: That's a very American approach.

Darcus Howe: That's not an American approach. America is one of the most savagely racial places in the world.

Later ...

Howe: ... since black offends Joan.

Rivers: Wait. Just stop right now. Black does not offend me. How dare you. How dare you say that. Black offends me? You know nothing about me. How dare you.

Howe: The use of the term black offends you.

Rivers: The use of the term black offends me? Where the hell are you coming from? You have got such a chip on your shoulder. I don't give a damn if you're black or white. I couldn't care less. It's what the person is. Don't you dare call me a racist. I don't know you. I want an apology.

So... before we delve into the detail, we should remind ourselves of the rules regarding the giving and taking of offence:

1. Offence can only be given, not taken
2. In order to "take" offence, it is therefore necessary to be certain that offence was intended - that the "giver" intended to offend. This may be obvious, but where it is not, the motive of the "giver" should be questioned, but giving the "giver" the benefit of the doubt.
3. The "taking" of Offence where none was intended is itself offensive: the taker assumes malice on the part of the unwitting "giver". Assumption of bad faith where none exists is offensive. Interestingly, there is no need to refer to rule 2 here. If A says something innocuous and B "takes" offence, A knows that B has broken rule 2: B did not clarify motive. A knows therefore that B has assumed bad motive and A does not need to clarify B motives. B has given offence.
   

There can be little doubt that Joan has taken offence, but was it clearly intended?

Let us look at the evidence:

Joan Rivers: I'm so bored of race. I think people should inter-marry. Everybody should be part this, part that and part everything. Race doesn't mean a damn thing. Everybody should just relax, take the best of their cultures and move forward.

Of course, we don't know the discussion that precedes this or causes Joan to pronounce [actually this is just laziness on my part - I'm sure we could dig up the "Listen Again" page from the BBC website] on this topic, but she has laid out her stall fairly clearly: she is, in the vernacular, "colour-blind".

The response is interesting:

Libby Purves: That's a very American approach.

Darcus Howe: That's not an American approach. America is one of the most savagely racial places in the world.

This is a throwaway remark from Libby. Darcus appears to be differing with Libby's interpretation, not with Joan's colour-blindness. Indeed, he could be said to be agreeing with Joan: Joan's declaration of boredom with the race issue is a tacit admission that race remains an issue. She thinks (and I agree with her) that it ought not be. However, this stance could be construed as a threat to Darcus's worldview - where race is at the root of everything.

So far so good: Joan's position is laudable, even if it is just an expressed aspiration rather than a commentary of the current state of affairs.

Then the kicker:

Howe: ... since black offends Joan.

Rivers: Wait. Just stop right now. Black does not offend me. How dare you. How dare you say that. Black offends me? You know nothing about me. How dare you.

Here, Howe declares that Joan is a gratuitous "taker" of offense. Howe breaks rule 3 above and Joan has no need to refer to rule 2 before taking him to task on it.

That Joan then continues for the rest of the program in a huff and says some fairly rude things about Howe is by now irrelevant. Howe made the first move by projecting bad motive onto Joan where it was completely clear that none existed. In the context of a discussion on race, I can hardly think of a more offensive thing to do.

P-G Verdict: Howe continues to assert that Joan is a racist for some time. A custard pie for him as a first warning. He is up for a flogging on the steps of whatever club would have him as a member if he is not VERY careful.

Libby's handling of the debacle - that this is merely a "language" issue - is also worthy of comment. She ducked the problem rather than challenge Howe to back up his ridiculous - and profoundly offensive - assertion. It is possible that Libby genuinely didn't see the offensiveness of his remark (in which case she is a subconsciously lefty-liberal hand-wringer), but it is more likely that she did not have the courage to challenge him, fearing a torrent of abuse in her direction and, which would be worse in the lefty-liberal hand-wringing world, risk showing up Darcus Howe to be the bigot that he is and more of a fomentor of racial tension than a campaigner for its reduction.

Some bedtime reading for Libby would be in order.