Celebrity Big Brother - racism must stop!

We, the undersigned, believe that Channel 4 are trying to cover up the racism on the CBB programme.

1. Channel 4 deny the following 9 comments are racist -

a) Budden referred to Shilpa as the Indian.
b) Goody suggested that Shilpa wanted to be white and Lloyd called her a dog
c) Goody said to Shilpa, you need a day in the slums... fucking go in your community.
d) Lloyd about Shilpa: You do not know where those hands have been.
e) Goody may have said that Shilpa makes my skin crawl and that she wanted to head-butt Shilpa.
f) Lloyd stated to BB that I think [Shilpa] should fuck off back home.
g) Lloyd said that Shetty cannot even speak English properly.
h) Lloyd, OMeera and Goody mocked Shilpa accent and the way she cooked chicken.
i) Lloyd, OMeera and Goody repeatedly failed to get Shilpa name right

Do you agree? Tessa Jowell MP (who said CBB was presenting racism as entertainment), Jacqui Smith MP, Ken Livingstone and Trevor Phillips all believe it to be racism. Keith Vaz MP called on Channel 4, to take... action to remind housemates that racist behaviour is unacceptable

Andy Duncan Channel 4 said: To date there has been no overt racial abuse or racist behaviour directed against Shilpa Shetty within the Big Brother house.

2. Channel 4 bleeped out Tweed calling Shilpa either fucking Paki (most people saw the ee ending sound) or fucking cunt (according to Channel 4). Channel 4 said, Appropriate measures to reprimand individual behaviour would take place where necessary but Tweed was not evicted for his racist or sexist abuse of Shilpa.

3. Channel 4 lied to its viewers by stating that Shilpa herself has not voiced any concerns of racial slurs or bullying against her. She had. Cleo Rocos who said: I do not think there is anything racist in it. But Shetty said: It is. I am telling you.

4. Channel 4 continue to broadcast the programme and have not evicted the racists. Andy Duncan said We have been monitoring extremely carefully events in the house and have reached the view that we cannot with certainty say that the comments directed at Shilpa have been racially motivated. He said at a press conference it would not be pulling the programme.
Keith Vaz MP retorted: Channel 4 executives have not understood the seriousness of this issue. They have not made even a half-hearted apology for the distress caused. They need to consider their position.

Jack Straw has criticised Ofcom for not launching an immediate investigation into the allegations. He said it would be risible to only investigate once it had finished.Ken Livingstone said: To defend their right to broadcast the treatment of Shilpa, Channel 4 have sought to deny there is racism. This claim is irresponsible, self-serving and untrue. Their failure to take action to stop the racism on this show is an evasion of responsibilities.

5. Goody referred to Shilpa as Shilpa Poppadom and Shilpa fuckawhiler. Channel 4 spoke to Goody about this, who later said the whole world thought she was a racist bitch but they did not evict her though

6. We evicted Goody but we had to use our own money to do it. Channel 4 were laughing at us. We do not want to pay to evict Tweed, Lloyd and OMeara.

7. Goody asked for the outside crowd to be removed and Channel 4 removed them. They did what she wanted.

8. Shilpa was prevailed upon to drop the racism allegation, but she was not told of all the 9 racist initial remarks nor what was said later. It was a manipulation of the truth by Channel 4, preying on the kindness of Shilpa.

The newspapers have reported that seven Asians have asked their lawyers Equal Justice to sue Channel 4. We do not want to sue Channel 4, we should not have to achieve justice against racism.

We demand that Andy Duncan resign for lying to us, failing to punish the racists, coaching the racists to be nice, and for Channel 4 making money out of what many believe to be racism.

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If you want the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) to take action against Channel 4, please fill out the form at:

http://www.cre.gov.uk/legal/assistance.html

....and add the following statement and forward to the CRE. They have two months to decide whether to run your claim.

You may wish to include the following statements (please delete where appropriate) as part of the 'Statement of Case'.

I saw the Channel 4 broadcast of /did not see but read/heard about later/did not see or read/hear about later (1)) Budden referred to Shilpa as the Indian.

I saw the Channel 4 broadcast of /did not see but read/heard about later/did not see or hear about later (2) Goody/Lloyd suggested that Shilpa wanted to be white and Lloyd called her a dog

I saw the Channel 4 broadcast of /did not see but read/heard about later/did not see or hear about later (3) Goody said to Shilpa, you need a day in the slums... f***ing go in your community.

I saw the Channel 4 broadcast of /did not see but read/heard about later/did not see or hear about later (4) Lloyd about Shilpa: You do not know where those hands have been.

I saw the Channel 4 broadcast of /did not see but read/heard about later/did not see or hear about later (5) Goody on Shilpa - she makes my skin crawl

I saw the Channel 4 broadcast of /did not see but read/heard about later/did not see or hear about later (6) Lloyd stated that I think [Shilpa] should f*** off home.

I saw the Channel 4 broadcast of/ did not see but read/heard about later/did not see or hear about later (7) Lloyd said that Shetty cannot even speak English properly.

I saw the Channel 4 broadcast of /did not see but read/heard about later/did not see or hear about later (8) Lloyd, O'Meara and Goody mocked Shilpa accent and the way she cooked chicken.

I saw the Channel 4 broadcast of /did not see but read/heard about later/did not see or hear about later (9) Lloyd, O'Meara and Goody repeatedly failed to get Shilpa name right

I saw the Channel 4 broadcast of /did not see but read/heard about later/did not see or hear about later (10) Tweed calling Shilpa either f***ing P*** (most people saw the ee ending sound) or f***ing c***

I saw the Channel 4 broadcast of /did not see but read/heard about later/did not see or hear about later (11) Goody referred to Shilpa as Shilpa Poppadom

I saw the Channel 4 broadcast of /did not see but read/heard about later/did not see or hear about later (12) Goody referred to Shilpa as Shilpa F***awhalla

I also saw (add if anything)...

I was offended and distressed by the broadcasts I saw. I believe that they were offensive and racist in nature. Channel 4 made no attempt to warn viewers or apologise to viewers at the time and still have not admitted the remarks were racist.

Signed:

Dated:

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I wish to provide a response to the email from 'Claire' (see below):

>From: "claire "
>To: allan_ho@hotmail.com
>Subject: gopetition : message
>Date: Sat, 03 Mar 2007 14:31:24 -0600
>
>you talk about racism, what about when jamaine called the girls "white
>trailer trash" get your head out your arse, stop pulling a race card, there
>is too much political correctness in england these days and there is and
>still will be freedom of speech, just because muslims are not free to do so
>in their country of origin, this isn't it, this is england, and always will
>be. As long as there is british blood in my body, i would be fighting for
>freedom of speech, whether it be pointing out culture differences or
>anything else. All this uproar is pathetic and this is the crap that start
>arguments between different races, people like you. yes you have a right to
>speak but come on stop milking it.

My response is....

You say that you fight for freedom of speech, yet criticise us for exercising it. It seems that you only support freedom of speech when it suits your own agenda.

In Britain, apart from freedom of speech we have the law. The law states that people offended by what they perceive to be racism have a right to complain. If we are criticised for exercising that right, what is the point of having that right - or again, that may be your agenda.

Freedom of speech in Britain is qualified by the law. You cannot say defamatory things and claim it was your freedom of speech and you cannot say racist things and claim it was justified by your freedom of speech.

In Britain, we tend to respect people who uphold the law and criticise those that break it, whether they be a politician, a policeman or a judge. That is the British way. You hence criticise us for being British.

There is no such thing as British blood. There is only blood that has different types e.g. type A or O.

If you know your British history you will know that the original Brits were conquered by the Celts, then the Romans, then the Germans, then the Vikings and then the Normans. Hence, those people whop call themselves British are a mix of European, German, Scandinavian and French (the Normans were Scandinavians who settled in France). Anglo-Saxon means Angle (a German tribe) and Saxon (another German tribe). Britain itself was named by the Romans.

The uproar is what makes Britain great. Racism is the home of the prejudiced and the ignorant. Britain is the home of tolerance and fair play and for over 2,000 years a broad multicultural mix of peoples. Fighting ignorance and prejudice is the only way we have grown up in the past 200 years. Otherwise, most people would still be living in slums and we would not have the vote or, your favourite, freedom of speech.

In some ways, it does not matter what happens abroad, only what happens here. What happens here, our law, is our responsibility. We are just trying to make Britain a better place to live in, where our law is obeyed - where people are less ignorant. Where people understand that freedom of speech came from people exercising their right to complain about injustice.