Channel 4’s series “Race:Science’s Last Taboo” takes a conroversial look at race related issues.  The first in the 6 part series, Race & Intelligence: Science’s Last Taboo aired on Monday night on Channel 4 and looked at whether black people were less intelligent than other races and examined studies by ’scientifc experts’ for and against this view.

The show was presented by a Black man, Rageh Omaar, a format, which in media language allows producers to say what they want  through the eyes and mouth of a black man which sanctions the shows output and takes the responsibility away from the producers.

The fact that the reason for  black underacievent in certain areas is related to economic and social factors is only addressed at the end of the show. Poor white people also suffer from similar levels of academic underachievement so the race factor does not stack up.

Any well meaning black person would have been offended by the intended content of this show. Do our Black children, who are already suffering from low levels of self esteem from tryingto survive in a school system that is set up to fail them, need to see, and have their white colleagues see a show that aimed to portray them as intellectually lower than people around them.

The question remains – what was the point of the show? It concluded with what we already know, that social and economic factors are the reason for underachievement, but it managed to fill over an hour of airtime of negative and racist stereotypes that Black people did not need to be subject too. Isn’t it bad enough that we have to deal with racist media on a regular basis without a show like this on prime time tv.

After the Nick Griffin  appearance on Question Time, and this show on Channel Four, all during Black History Month, you have to wonder whether this is a coincidence or a conspiracy.

The one person on the show, social anthropologist Dr Lez Henry, who would have been able to intelligently and eloquently explain why black children and black people appear to be more disadvantaged, was only given about 2 minutes to make his point.  The ‘intellectuals’, according to Dr Lez Henry,who have for years tried to proclaim the intellectual inferiority of Black people, have never been challenged and he says the information that can challenge this penicious way of thinking is hidden.

Channel Four recently appointed Oona King as their Head of Diversity, but what is the point if shows like this give airtime to negative stereotypes, in the same way that BNP Leader Nick Griffin was a voice on BBC 1’s Question Time . Who do Black People have at the top to monitor the output of programming like this? Did Oona king see this before it was aired?

If a similar show was made about Jewish people there would be an uproar. The problem with Black people is we don’t create an uproar when negative programmes are aired and we give producers the power to say what they want without understanding the repercussions.

Channel Four is airing 5 more shows in the series. We don’t want to promote negative programming, but we would recommend seeing all the shows in the series to monitor they type of shows that are to be aired on our screens.

If you want to contact the Ofcom with any comments  on these shows, click on the link below:

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/complain/progs/specific/?itemid=286458

Tuesday 27 October – 10pm: Bleach, Nip, Tuck: The White Beauty Myth, Episode 1. Two documentaries from the Race: Science’s Last Taboo season examine the growing trend for deracialisation surgery.

Thursday 29 October – 10pm: The Event: How Racist Are You? This programme from the Race: Science’s Last Taboo season, asks are we all more racist than we realise or would like to admit?

Sunday 1 November – 7pm: The Human Zoo: Science’s Dirty Secret. This documentary from the Race: Science’s Last Taboo season explores the disturbing phenomena of early 20th century human zoos.

Monday 2 November: 8pm: Is it better to be Mixed Race?  This documentary from the Race: Science’s Last Taboo season asks is it a biological advantage to have parents of different ethnic backgrounds?

Tuesday 3 November – 10pm: Bleach, Nip, Tuck: The White Beauty Myth, Episode 2. Examination of the growing trend for deracialisation surgery.