The BBC later apologised, attributing the outburst to involuntary verbal tics associated with TS and adding that the language was “not intentional”. This is now another very difficult moment for the BBC: what was its judgment, should the epithet have remained audible in a pre-recorded broadcast. Clearly, it should not. One hopes someone will apologise soon to Jordan and Lindo.
Yes, it's the BAFTA Tourettes thing again, an incident which has galvanised every race hustler and activist out there...
But what unsettled me most unsettles me still. I was disturbed by the word, of course. It remains abhorrent and I don’t use it. It carries, in this context, a history drenched in violence and dehumanisation.
And it was used by someone with a disability, a fact you yourself can't explain away:
The medical facts are clear. Coprolalia, a symptom experienced by a minority of people with TS, can involve the involuntary utterance of socially taboo language. Neurologists are clear that such tics are not expressions of belief or intent. They are not intentional - and not deliberate. Disability advocates rightly warn against stigmatising those who live with the condition.
But you can't let an opportunity go to waste just because of a few inconvenient facts, can you?
But two truths can exist at once. A neurological condition can be real and worthy of understanding, and yet the harm or hurt caused by a racial epithet such as this – at a time like this – can be real. I have reported on race throughout my 14-year career, from discriminatory policing and hostile environment policies to the creeping mainstreaming of xenophobic rhetoric as we heard, for example, in Keir Starmer’s island of strangers speech.
And you've spotted another nail to swing your hammer at. *yawns*
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