BBC whines again about Ashley Cole and the BNP

Once again the BBC misunderstands the law and logic.


Ashely Cole is not ethnically British.


His mother is ethnically British and his father is not.

Ashley Cole is British by birth.

The law states quite clearly that it is for the indigenous British people to define for themselves who is, and who is not ethnic British.

Check the race relations act case out Mandla V Lee here ;


http://www.hrcr.org/safrica/equality/Mandla_DowellLee.htm

" In my opinion, the word 'ethnic' still retains a racial flavour but it is used nowadays in an extended sense to include other characteristics which may be commonly thought of as being associated with common racial origin.

For a group to constitute an ethnic group in the sense of the 1976 Act, it must, in my opinion, regard itself, and be regarded by others, as a distinct community by virtue of certain characteristics. Some of these characteristics are essential others are not essential but one or more of them will commonly be found and will help to distinguish the group from the surrounding community. The conditions which appear to me to be essential are these: (1) a long shared history, of which the group is conscious as distinguishing it from other groups, and the memory of which it keeps alive (2) a cultural tradition of its own, including family and social customs and manners, often but not necessarily associated with religious observance. In addition to those two essential characteristics the following characteristics are, in my opinion, relevant: (3) either a common geographical origin, or descent from a small number of common ancestors (4) a common language, not necessarily peculiar to the group (5) a common literature peculiar to the group (6) a common religion different from that of neighbouring groups or from the general community surrounding it (7) being a minority or being an oppressed or a dominant group within a larger community, for example a conquered people (say, the inhabitants of England shortly after the Norman conquest) and their conquerors might both be ethnic groups. A group defined by reference to enough of these characteristics would be capable of including converts, for example, persons who marry into the group, and of excluding apostates. Provided a person who joins the group feels himself or herself to be a member of it, and is accepted by other members, then he is, for the purpose of the 1976 Act, a member. "


This is a recognised legal concept as defined by ;

1) Ethnic British - Jus Sanguinis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_sanguinis

2) Naturalised British - Jus Solis - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_soli


We do not believe that anyone who has one parent who is not an ethnic Briton, nor even a British citizen, is an ethnically British person.

The fact that Ashley Coles father Ron Callender, is from Barbados means he is not a British citizen nor ethnic British.

Ashely Cole though is of course a British citizen as defined by Jus Solis.




http://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/ecu/2010/01/100111_ecu_newsbeat_bnpinterview.shtml


ECU Ruling: Newsbeat, Radio 1, 30 September 2009 / Newsbeat website, bbc.co.uk, 1 October 2009
Publication date: 11 January 2010

Complaint

Two listeners complained that two interviewees had been introduced simply as "young guys who are members of the BNP", when in fact both had important roles in relation to the party. One of the listeners also complained that they had not been interviewed with sufficient rigour, and a visitor to the Newsbeat website made a similar complaint about the edited version of the interview which appeared there.

Outcome

At the time of the interview, one of the interviewees was the BNP's publicity director and the other ran the record label which promotes and sells BNP CDs. Information about their status was relevant to listeners' understanding of their contributions, and should have been included. Although not conducted in a confrontational style, the interview did include elements of challenge (in both the broadcast and the online version). However, the concept of British ethnicity, introduced by the interviewees in connection with the example of a black British-born footballer, was not tested in the way its controversial character called for.

Further action

The Newsbeat team were reminded of the need to ensure that listeners have enough information to assess the status and credentials of interviewees. The Editor of Newsbeat also discussed with the team the need for rigorous challenge within interviews of this kind.
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