The latest threat to global equality: infantile food racism

As sick and evil as the current European order is, I think that the following story, in the Telegraph, could not have come from any European country other than Britain. Only the Brits have taken depraved liberalism this far.

Toddlers who dislike spicy food “racist”
by Rosa Prince

Toddlers who turn their noses up at spicy food from overseas could be branded racists by a Government-sponsored agency.

The National Children’s Bureau, which receives £12 million a year, mainly from Government funded organisations, has issued guidance to play leaders and nursery teachers advising them to be alert for racist incidents among youngsters in their care.

This could include a child of as young as three who says “yuk” in response to being served unfamiliar foreign food.

The guidance by the NCB is designed to draw attention to potentially-racist attitudes in youngsters from a young age.

It alerts playgroup leaders that even babies can not be ignored in the drive to root out prejudice as they can “recognise different people in their lives.”

The 366-page guide for staff in charge of pre-school children, called Young Children and Racial Justice, warns: “Racist incidents among children in early years settings tend to be around name-calling, casual thoughtless comments and peer group relationships.”

It advises nursery teachers to be on the alert for childish abuse such as: “blackie,” “Pakis,” “those people” or “they smell.”

The guide goes on to warn that children might also “react negatively to a culinary tradition other than their own by saying “yuk”.”

Staff are told: “No racist incident should be ignored. When there is a clear racist incident, it is necessary to be specific in condemning the action.”

Warning that failing to pick children up on their racist attitudes could instil prejudice, the NCB adds that if children “reveal negative attitudes, the lack of censure may indicate to the child that there is nothing unacceptable about such attitudes.”

Nurseries are encouraged to report as many incidents as possible to their local council. The guide added: “Some people think that if a large number of racist incidents are reported, this will reflect badly on the institution. In fact, the opposite is the case.”

- end of Telegraph article -

Some will be tempted to write Britain off after a story like this, and so many similar stories before it, but there should be no complacency. The rest of the West is following not far behind. And, while I’m sure that “conservative” commentators on our side of the Pond are clucking at this “crazy” example of PC run amok, and various British columnists are anguishing about how mad their country has become, none of them has anything to say against the anti-discrimination ideology that underlies it, because they themselves subscribe to that ideology, or, at best, have no principled position with which to oppose it.

Thus when Britain’s Sexual Orientation Regulations were passed requiring Catholic adoption services to adopt to homosexual couples, Tory politicians and Melanie Phillips were outraged and horrified at this attack on basic liberty. But they were only outraged at the fact that the Government had refused to exempt Catholic adoption services from the reach of the Regulations. They had not a word to say against the Regulations themselves, which prohibit discrimination against homosexuals in the provision of goods and services throughout the Dead Island.

As for food racism, all I can say is it’s a good thing I’m not a small child today. When I was a kid, I was very fussy about food, rejecting anything that was not bland and familiar; and I think the same is true of many children. Imagine what’s in store for such kids today. They’re all racists, to be singled out for punishment and reprogramming. And if, on top of not liking spicy Indian food, a six year old boy pecks a girl on the cheek in the playground, that will be it for him.

- end of initial entry -

James P. writes:

A toddler has NO IDEA what country food comes from, or that some given type of food might be the typical fare of dark-skinned foreigners. They’re just as likely to say “yuck” about domestic food as foreign food. The government-funded idiots who came up with the “food racism” idea must be childless. For that, I should probably say “thank God”—if only they weren’t allowed to say anything about how other people raise their children.

I found the very idea of “racist incidents among children in early years settings” fascinating. So far as I know, my toddler has NO IDEA what “race” is, so how could he be a racist? He’s not going to know a thing about races and racism until his imbecile schoolteachers propagandize him about it, and I have no doubt he’ll quickly be taught to hate his own race.

“No racist incident should be ignored”—yes, children never say silly things that should be ignored, and it is never too early to begin their political indoctrination.

LA replies:

But for how many years, even in this country, have politicians and activists routinely said things like, “Discrimination has no place in America,” “A single incident of discrimination is too much,” etc., without being gainsaid by anyone?

“No racist incident should be ignored” as applied to small children is just a further application of the same idea. Anti-racism has no internal brake. Unless there is an articulate belief system that forthrightly states that discrimination is not the main evil in the world, the anti-racist madness will just keep tightening its grip on us.

H. Boswell writes:

Here is an excerpt from the book which, when quoted in its entirety, gives a much different picture.

“Indications of racial prejudice may not always be perceived as such. Indeed it is important always to pursue such indications with a view to ascertaining the reasons for them. For example, a child may react negatively to a culinary tradition other than her own by saying ‘Yuk’. This may mean a lack of familiarity with any food not seen or eaten before or, more seriously, a reaction to food associated with people from a particular ethnic or cultural community. Care is always needed in following up such reactions to differentiate very clearly between a child’s natural apprehension and racial prejudice.”

The assertion in the Telegraph article and the title of your entry that the report claims “Toddlers who dislike spicy food” are racist appears to be mistaken. Spicy food was not even mentioned in the guide; the Telegraph just added that themselves for sensationalism.

LA replied:

I think capturing the basic idea by use of a concrete example was not illegitimate on the part of the Telegraph. Obviously, spicy South Asian or Mideastern food would be precisely the kind of unfamiliar food the document is talking about.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at July 07, 2008 07:11 PM | Send