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British
Queen Honours British Indians
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Why
Prince Harry Should be Sacked
from The British Army
By
ELAINE SIHERA 
Prince Harry made
a couple of racist remarks on tape and they were shocking. There
have been many people trying to excuse his behaviour, trying to
blame 'pc' culture for any negative reaction against him and
trying their best to pretend it is not important, just a storm
in a teacup. But it is extremely important what the Royal Family
does, if it is to enjoy the respect of the people the Queen
presides over. |
The
Queen is head of the Commonwealth and if her family is not going to have
the respect for every country within that diverse circle, especially
people of colour, what on earth is it saying about their role at the
head of such diversity?
Prince
Harry cannot afford to be a law unto himself just because he has a title
and enjoys a privileged life. That comes with specific responsibilities
in the way he behaves, in valuing others and setting a good example as a
role model for the taxpayers money. If he just wants to be a yob, to
treat people how he likes and to say what he wants, what's he doing as a
prince? Furthermore, he said those things in the Army - an army which
has been a bastion of institutional racism up to a few years ago and has
gone to lengths to clean up its act, to make its forces more diverse and
its image more appealing, especially in recruitment. How are Harry's
comments supposed to promote such diversity? Most important, how on
earth can one have a commanding officer who uses such racist terms so
freely within a diverse team, who clearly ingratiates himself to his
troops for acceptance and approval and so easily, in a cavalier manner,
crosses the line of maintaining discipline and respect? It is not just
the issue of racism here which is of major concern to service people in
this country, it was the clear threat to discipline through disrespect
that came out on the tape, in a force that depends on the troops
strictly obeying orders to protect their lives. Prince Harry was trying
desperately hard to be one of the lads from a position as team-leader
which would not have encouraged that and without the respect to enforce
his position. Such behaviour demeans the role of officer and puts
discipline at risk.
Make no mistake about it, Prince Harry has racist tendencies due to his
own ignorance. One act of racism (dressing up in a Nazi uniform) might
be excused as youthful mirth but calling a 'friend' a Paki, which is a
known derogatory and hate-filled word, then following it up with 'Raghead'
is no accident. That is someone with little regard and respect for
others. A Palace comment says the reference to Raghead refers to the
Taliban. That's even worse. It explains why we are not winning the war
in Afghanistan. Perhaps if we treated the Taliban with a bit more
respect, for who they are and are proud to be, we could get the upper
hand by being shown some respect ourselves.
Moreover, the language we use is not accidental. It defines who we are,
it shows how we see ourselves and we will only ever use words we are
completely comfortable with, the ones that come easily to us without
thinking; the ones our family and friends use; the ones that tell where
we are coming from and where we are going. So language is the essence of
our identity. If we keep using hate-filled words it tells others who we
are and how we perceive others. If a member of the BNP called someone a
Paki would we dismiss it so easily? Would we excuse their behaviour?
Would we blame it on 'pc'? Of course not. So why are people trying to
excuse it in Harry? The fact that Prince Harry seems to be comfortable
with racists words and acts is very disturbing and should not be
condoned by decent people who cherish their own traditions and heritage.
Respect is at the heart of how we treat others and we cannot say we
truly respect and value someone if we are not sensitive to how they
might feel, if we do not accept who they are and if we do not value
their heritage. Yet unless we value ourselves too and what we stand for
we cannot appreciate others or hope to get respect from them either.
Respect is nothing without sensitivity and if we are willing to use
hate-filled discriminatory words in our routine dealings with others,
what does that say about us?
Prince Harry needs to grow up. There are all kinds of ways of enjoying
one's self, but not at the expense of others, and not when one is in a
privileged position of authority to know better. From his drinking
binges to racist language, he needs to learn some responsibility and he
won't do that by people excusing his actions - yet again! This incident
is unacceptable in 21st century multicultural Britain, unacceptable to
members of the Commonwealth and, most important, unacceptable to the
army representing Britons and the inclusive message they are trying to
give, especially from a Royal Prince. He should be sacked forthwith.
Perhaps he might begin to appreciate just what his accident of birth
really means in exercising personal responsibility.
An apology, and business, as usual just won't do this time.
Elaine
Sihera is a writer and consultant in diversity management. Author of
"Managing the Diversity Maze" and founder of the British
Diversity Awards, Elaine is also a champion of growing older
disgracefully and a top writer/public speaker (over 800 articles and 6
books to her credit) on personal empowerment and diversity management.
News
Briefs
British
Queen Honours British Indians
Indarjit Singh, who heads the
London-based Network of Sikh Organizations, and Tarun Kapur, executive
headteacher, Ashton-on-Mersey and Broadoak Schools, Trafford, were both
awarded the CBE, one of the highest honors in British Queen's New Year's
Honors annual list.
Singh, a regular voice on BBC radio, was given the award for services to
religion and community, while Kapur was honored for services to education.
Other Indian-origin people who were honored with various other awards include
Anita Kumari Bhalla, editor of Public Space Broadcasting, BBC; Kuldip Kaur
Bharj, senior lecturer in midwifery, Leeds University; Uday Kumar Dholakia for
services to business in Leicestershire; Lakhbir Kaur and Lucky Dhillon for
services to the Asian media; Asha Khemka, principal of the West
Nottinghamshire College; Chitra Bharucha for services to the animal feed
industry; Parvin Bhatia, a general practitioner in Richmond, London; Pradip
Kumar Datta, founder, Wick Surgical Courses; Jagdish Dave for services to
education and to Asian people; and Shiv Pabary, a dentist at Newcastle and
Gateshead.
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