Yesterday, word came out about Prince Harry making another racist (or racially insensitive) remark, this time to Stephen K. Amos, an older black comedian. Amos revealed the remark Tuesday night. Prince Harry had said to Amos (seemingly in an attempt to make a joke), “You don’t sound like a black chap.”
The palace officials spent most of yesterday trying to cover up or deny Prince Harry’s latest mistake. Meanwhile, I think the Royal Army has had enough with it’s most famous enlistee. Word had come out that Harry has been ordered by his command to enroll and attend “equality and diversity lessons”. Is it just me, or does anyone else think that this will not end well? People has more:
Prince Harry has been ordered by his army bosses to enroll in equality and diversity lessons.
The sessions are the disciplinary actions assigned after the third in line to the crown was caught on video referring to a fellow solder as a “Paki,” PEOPLE has confirmed.
The news also comes a day after it was reported that Harry, 24, told a comedian, “You don’t sound like a black chap.”
On Thursday, comic Stephen K, Amos, the target of Harry’s “back chap” remark at Prince Charles’s 60th birthday party in November, said there were no hard feelings towards Harry and he (Amos) had not taken offense.
“As a comedian it is my job to find the funny. I was honored to be asked to perform at the 60th birthday comedy event for Prince Charles,” said Amos. “I do not believe Prince Harry was racist to me.”
He added, “I am more than happy to contribute to the debate surrounding race relations, but I will not allow comments taken out of context to obscure the real issues.”
The army course in diversity will take place soon, royal insiders tell PEOPLE. Harry is expected to attend the lessons over a period of days.
Thursday, Harry’s office at St. James’s Palace told PEOPLE, “Prince Harry has said he is sorry for his remarks. He has been subjected to the normal army disciplinary procedures.”
The Ministry of Defense added in a statement, “The Army has concluded its considerations in relation to this case.”
From People
It’s very interesting that Amos is now saying that Harry didn’t mean it as something hurtful or racist. I actually believe that – Harry is insensitive, dumb as a rock, and not very funny (as it turns out), but I don’t really think he’s a vicious young man. These things just come out of his mouth. It’s not an excuse, it’s just an explanation. He’s lived a very cloistered life, and I hope “sensitivity training” and some more knocks around the press cycle will be good for him. At the very least, he can learn to think very carefully before he speaks.
Prince Harry is shown at the Wellchild awards on 10/27/08. Credit: WENN
About time. Not that it’ll make any difference to how inbred his racist attitude is
“You don’t sound like a black chap” sounds like a statement my uncle would make. My 64 year old, backwoods uncle.
I am so tired of political correctness at times. The royals probably aren’t the brightest bulbs in the marquee, and I doubt that he meant anything by his statement. The fact is, black voices, particularly men’s, do sound different. They have a richness that you don’t find in caucasian voices. Also, I don’t know about Great Britain, but many of the blacks in the US have horrid grammar. So do many of the whites, but if someone calls me on the phone and says “Let me axe you something” I know he’s black. I’m not saying all black people speak that way, but yes, you can usually tell when a black person is speaking. It may be a little tactless to say it to them, as Harry did, but it’s not criminal and this just falls right in with the multi-billion dollar lawsuit against slant-eyed Miley as pure stupidity.
Just as you can recognize a Boston accent, a southern drawl or a southwestern twang, you can recognize some ethnicities. Pretending you can’t serves no purpose.
Whatever, its not going to matter he’ll continue to be an ignorant tool.
The picture you chose to accompany this headline was brilliant.
Skyo, I must take issue with your comment about “horrid grammar” comment. African American Vernacular (a.k.a. ‘ebonics’) is a widely accepted, valid dialect of English with its own grammar rules and structure.
Harry isn’t as dumb as a rock. He actually comes across as a very intelligent man on film. I guess he needs to think more about what he says because everything he says has the potential to be made public, but I think the racism issue is getting stupid. The black guy wasn’t offended, so why should anyone else be?
He’s speaking exactly how his father and grandfather speak…he’s just not bright enough to know when to keep it in. Whereas William is smart enough–good thing he’s the one in line to be King!
well then shannon, should harry have said to the man, you don’t sound like you are speaking ebonics?
the point is, syko’s a little bit right, because you can tell where a person is from or sometimes what ethnicity or race someone is, but you are supposed to have enough tact to not make dumb sentences about it to the person. its just idiotic to say to the guy “you dont sound…” whatever it is, whether chinese, or whatever, because it’s a silly generalization to think all black people sound one way or all asians sound another way, and then be dumbfounded when one doesnt live up to your unfounded expectations, and THEN be silly enough to mention it, like he was born yesterday or something.
he’s obviously too cloistered and spends all of his time with other upper crust ex-colonialists and privleged youth, afghanistan notwithstanding. his world view has been particularly narrowed by dint of his birth, which is a shame. i dont think he needs more stuffy elite education on diversity and sensitivity, however. I think he needs to quit being a spoilt partyboy and do something with himself that exposes him to other people and opens his eyes a little bit, so that sensitivity and understanding of diversity happens in a natural, lived context, instead of artificially, in a class, out of a book, etc.
he needs to live it and not read it is what I mean. that way it might truly sink in what a dumbass all these comments and costumes make him.
Thank you, Bros, you said what I was trying to say, but you said it better.
Stereotypes do not become stereotypes on their own. There’s always a little something true to back them up, then they are built upon and generalized to become stereotypes. The key is, like Bros said, to develop sensitivity to these diversities and avoid hurting someone’s feelings.
I know what Ebonics is, but did not think it was a recognized language with structure and grammar. The thing about language is, we use it to communicate. So why develop a form of speaking that shuts out half the world? Better to try to learn proper grammar in whatever language is the language of the region of the world you live in, so you can communicate with everyone.
I am trying desperately hard here not to sound racist – because I’m not racist. I’m just pointing out that there is a bit of truth in every generalization.
Stuck in you-know-what again. I knew R A C I S T was one of the magic words, but thought it might have changed since others above me used it.
Bros – agree with a lot of that but I think people are still missing the point here. Amos is well-spoken, no trace of any lilt, West Indian or otherwise, that’s what Harry was referring to. Harry’s not used to well-spoken black people. Harry has pre-conceptions. Harry is an ill-educated, ignorant, arrogant oik.
I saw a documentary once about the royals (his gparents mostly) and his g.father said just about the same thing when he was visting the british military in Afghanistan (sp?). Does it make it okay? No, but the next time you come across a nonracist WASP, you could say, wow, you are non judgemental of others?? – I kid, sorta.
Yeah, that remind me of one time a very nice but ignorant American woman who sat to me on the plane and asked if “my people” eat pork in Bali (I lived in Bali back then). My hubby (who is also an American) was seething and gritting his teeth all the way..honestly that doesnt bother me at all, it’s all about the context.
I agree that Ebonics is a valid dialect of English as is all colloquial speech.
It has its roots in the language of the slave and as we know it today, goes back at least 80 years in the jazz music scene and in the Black criminal class. It has bubbled up to the surface with the advent and popularity of Hip Hop culture. Many people think this is a “new” language born of rap, which it isn’t.
That being said, it continues to convey a certain social and/or poor educational status that many Black people strive to avoid. It has its place, but being taught in the public schools and being spoken in job interviews and the working world etc. isn’t it.
I don’t mind hearing it within context and when appropriate. Do I want to hear it from a salesperson in a store or a civil servant or the cable installer? No.
Plus, when people refer to Ebonics, they speak of Black Urban American slang. West Indian Blacks have their own patois. ‘Axe’ instead of ‘ask’ is universal to both. I think it’s just a pronunciation thing rather than a slang thing.
BTW, should anyone still be thinking Harry’s a Hewitt, not a Windsor, take a look at the main pic. The close set eyes, the nose, the grimace – pure undilted Charles.
*undiluted *sigh, edit button*
oh for f*cks sake. the british really need to get over their imperialist guilt or they are finished as a nation.
i agree with you geronimo. i havent ever heard amos, but i dont need to. it doesnt change the fact that harry is a twit to walk up to a black man and essentially tell him he doesnt conform to his stereotypes. you have to be real dense to not know that makes you look like an insensitive idiot twit.
and to syko, ebonics, yup, it is a language with syntax, grammar, lexicon, etc. and i have to point out that white english, or standard english, as it is called, has done its fair share of ‘shutting out’ huge groups of people, black, asian, indian, etc-pretty much everyone, so i would say it is more than fair for other languages to shut out standard english speakers. i dont think it pays to view one as default and the other as an abnormality. each is an abnormality depending on where you are sitting.
lol @ Geronimo’s original “pure undilted Charles” That’s the best made-up word for Charles ever. ZOMG UNDILTED!!!
Syko – you are such a a dumbass. I moved to the south and most people here, mostly white make me cringe, everytime they open their mouths. “Jeet” for “Did you eat” is all I hear everyday at noon. Look that one up in the dictionary.
Barack and Michelle Obama are not anomalies. I’m well educated, cultured, and speak proper English as do all of my friends who are mostly black.
Sounds like Syko needs to open his mind and world and realize generalizations in 2009 don’t work.
Harry should take a class called Living Without a Title and see how long he will be able to get by making those types of comments.
Kaiser – it is quite good, isn’t it, sort of a cross between unreconstructed + stilted + idiot. 😆
Syko, let’s play a game. Pretend you are sitting at home watching CMT. The phone rings. You pick it up. You say “hello”. The person on the other line says, “Eh, let me axe you something.” You assume the person on the other line is black.
You’re wrong. He’s from brooklyn. You lose.
I’ll reiterate what I said on the other comments board: If he says things like this out in the open, he’s saying them to his mates. But around a billion times worse. I’ve hung around more than a few groups of frat boys with huge senses of entitlement; imagine how it would be for someone who’s actually titled?
J Lin: I am not a “he”. And I know generalizations and stereotypes are not always true, but there is always something that causes them to become generalizations or stereotypes. I don’t appreciate being called a dumbass by someone who has no idea who I am or what I believe or what my experiences are. I am, at the least, a person who would not call someone a dumb ass for stating their opinion.
And Ling, what makes you assume I watch CMT? I know you are laughing at your cleverness, but you lose too – I don’t watch TV, I read books.
Fuck this place. I’m out of here.
Ling, if he was from Brooklyn, he’d say “Yo” not “Eh.” Eh?
🙂
Hey geronimo… that was the first thing I thought, too, when I saw that header pic… THAT is Charles’ son!!!
I guess I’m wrong, but when I first heard the comment I thought he meant the voice, not the way the guy spoke. Because, you know, he said “you don’t SOUND like” rather than “you don’t SPEAK like”…
Damn, the mods got me. Diva, it’s definitely accent. I’ve added a link where Amos himself talks about it.
The only thing I could think when I saw that picture in the header was: is he making fun of the little cancer kid?
LOL… I will wait patiently, geronimo, thanks!
@J-Lin “….I’m well educated, cultured….”
Yeah, dumbass, it shows.
Geronimo, Kaiser & Diva, absolutely agree about the resemblance to Charles, good lord!
Diva – edited version here since link went to the dark side:
His stock continues to rise at a staggering rate on the other side of the globe, where he has enjoyed sell-out tours in Adelaide and Melbourne.
“Do you know what I generally think it is,” he muses. “It’s because in Australia they don’t have a point of reference for a black British person.
“That’s why they are blown over by me. They can’t believe anyone who is black from England speaks like I do.
“That’s why I get on all the TV shows over there – they are like ‘Who the hell is this guy? They don’t have many black comics out there. So they are intrigued, but in a nice way.
The last time I was in Melbourne, a man stopped me in the street and said “Mate, I have to say, for an Aborigine, you’ve got a great English accent.”
“I was going to try and correct him, but I just tried to find the funny side of it.”
PS. Has a law degree and was going to become a barrister until a friend introduced him to stand-up.
Who says “fergetabaaaaardit!”?
“I moved to the south and most people here, mostly white make me cringe, everytime they open their mouths. “Jeet” for “Did you eat” is all I hear everyday at noon.”
“I’m well educated, cultured, and speak proper English as do all of my friends who are mostly black.
Sounds like Syko needs to open his mind and world and realize generalizations in 2009 don’t work.”
What did you major in, Contradictions 101?
^^^Previous message directed to J-Lin^^^
Sounds like we’ve got a whole lot of judgmentalism going on: Obviously the kid was not trying to be offensive. Above is a quote from the supposedly offended black comic who doesn’t seem to have a chip on his shoulder.
Folks, listen to yourselves. America is “this” close to forced sensitivity training camps…they call them classes at the moment.
Every communist dictatorship has them. Sounds like Harry will be attending the “unforced” version.
I hate the way this is going. I have to edit myself constantly when around strangers to make sure I don’t use the latest non p.c. terms. This is not “free speech”. “Free speech” means not having to go to school or camps because one errs verbally!
Sounds like we’ve got a whole lot of judgmentalism going on: Obviously the kid was not trying to be offensive. Above is a quote from the supposedly offended black comic who doesn’t seem to have a chip on his shoulder.
Folks, listen to yourselves. America is “this” close to forced sensitivity training camps…they call them classes at the moment.
Every communist dictatorship has them. Sounds like Harry will be attending the “unforced” version.
I hate the way this is going. I have to edit myself constantly when around strangers, like this forum, to make sure I don’t use the latest non p.c. terms. This is not “free speech”. “Free speech” means not having to go to school or camps because one errs verbally! Be careful what you hate.
Diva, aka Dumbass 2, please explain how I have contradicted myself?
“…mostly whites…” “…everytime they open their mouths…”
You’re a (leaves the word out so this isn’t deleted), J-Lin, who thinks calling people names and GENERALIZING about other people means something to anyone else because you call yourself educated and cultured.
There’s not a damn thing CULTURED about the way you treated Syko. There’s nothing “cultured” about anything you’ve said here, spouting off at the mouth about the generalizations you’ve made about other people then telling someone else that those things don’t fly in 2009. Get the F^ck over yourself.
How disppointed Dianna would have been with how Harry has turned out. I don’t imagine that Charles is bursting with pride over these antics either.
@Greta – missing the point. It’s him not realising how ignorant “You don’t sound like a black chap” comes across. That’s where the offense lies. Harry grew up in London, one of the most diverse capitals in th world, full of well-spoken people of every race, colour and creed. Issue is not Amos’ mature good nature, it’s Harry’s ignorance.
@J-Lin – A so-called ‘educated, cultured’ person would have disagreed intelligently with the opinion expressed by Syko, rather than ignorantly dismissing them as a dumbass.
J-Lin: Ragging on Syko for what you deem as “racist” remarks, and then making derogatory statements of your own about southerners? You’re the dumbass, I’m afraid.
Codzilla, are you on Celebitchy’s facebook?
daisy: Nope. I think I’m the last person on earth who’s not part of facebook/myspace. I should get with the times, I know!
There is a few of us on it, join us!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=8198&id=1625402549&saved=#/s.php?k=100000004&id=10546651478&gr=2&a=7&sid=286b5a8acae940aee9fedd902c4cd704
I’m wearing a tie dyed top, send me a message with your cb handle and I’ll accept you.
Thanks, Daisy! I’ll join for sure. Thanks so much for the invite.
Daisy: Not sure if you’ll be back on this thread, but if you happen to read this: I couldn’t seem to find anyone with a tie dyed top (I’m clueless, I know) — would you mind giving me another hint?
I’ll try and catch you on a more recent post, so I apologize if you get this message twice. Thanks!
@Codzilla, CB has 2 facebook accts. I am referring to the celebitchy acct. Not the katie at Celebitchy acct.
On the main page there is a members section, click ‘see all’. I am the blonde in the pink shirt 8th down on page 1 of 3.
I’m sorry if there was any confusion. I will write CB and have her give you my email just in case.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Great quality stuff.