Deborah Orr: Racism won't go away if we merely make examples of a few individuals

It's a very fine thing to live in a nation that does not tolerate racism, especially one that gets the precious opportunity to advertise its lack of toleration of racism so very, very frequently. Yet it's an altogether more curious thing that the only people left in Britain who seem relaxed about failing to toe the blanket-condemnation line (not that I notice skin colour myself) are black.

Leroy Hutchinson, who served as a corporal under Patrick Mercer, the former Conservative homeland security spokesman, went on Newsnight to defend his former boss, even though his former boss seemed certain himself that his remarks about racism in the Army had been indefensible.

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Darcus Howe, the journalist and broadcaster, took up the cudgels for Jade Goody in the New Statesman during the Big Brother racial bullying row, suggesting that the sort of remarks she had made before the camera were commonplace. Again, Ms Goody, when the enormous reaction to her misdemeanours was revealed to her, begged to differ with him.

Toni Comer, the 19-year-old who was filmed taking five punches from a police officer, has gone as far as to defend her abuser herself, declaring: "He's telling the truth. I've been a complete twat." Now it's being alleged that her complaint against the police has been cultivated by a black activist who has himself been convicted for racially aggravated assault.

Ron Atkinson, of course, having used unquestionably racist language during what he thought was off-air commentary, attracted the support of an unbeatable five-a-side team of the black former footballers he had managed over the years, but failed to sway the massed ranks of what I feel more and more are racism-deniers as much as they are anti-racists.

It's positive that people feel passionately that racist language, racist bullying and racist attitudes are offensive. But there's still cause to worry that such hardline censure of the individuals who for one reason or another are caught with their heads above the parapet is kneejerk enough to stifle reasoned debate.

Interestingly, one of the remarks made by Mercer that were most flamboyantly reported was more often than not inadequately contextualised. His comments about poor soldiers hiding behind accusations of racism were made as part of his response to the disclosure that Commonwealth soldiers were forming a trade union amid accusations of racism and abuse.

Unlike Mercer, I'm certain that such an organisation would happen upon plenty of cases worth fighting. I'm amazed, post-Deepcut, that an MP can be so casual not just about racism but about the other forms of bullying in the Army. But again that has echoes of Big Brother. Being a bully is one thing, but using racial epithets in the mix is a crime of quite a different order.

I'm also perfectly aware that the possible existence of casual or ad hominem accusations of racism is an issue that is worth discussing, if only so that we can merrily ascertain that such heinous allegations never occur, or are never taken seriously.

Accusing someone of racism has become such a freighted matter that lives can be ruined when even a whiff of inadequate personal enlightenment is introduced. I believe that reason why black people are the ones brave enough to question the level of excoriation is because they are best placed to understand that it is not helpful to behave as though this is a problem simple enough to be dealt with by making examples of a few individuals. The worry is that such condemnatory grandstanding confirms both mainstream complacency about the issue, and the deep-seated and pathological racism that continues to thrive, and is often expressed in different terms.

The closest thing to the heightened repulsion society now expresses about racism I can think of is the enormous stigma that now surrounds accusations of rape. As all that appears to have led to is a frightening rise in reported crimes and a stunningly low conviction rate, it is not a happy comparison.

Let's leave gay rights out of it

Poor old John Inman, harried beyond the grave by gay rights activists unhappy with his youthful portrayal of homosexual stereotypes. Or so we're told. Actually, I think that hampered as he was by the prejudices of the time, his portrayal of his own sexual identity was fairly brave. So what if he wasn't Quentin Crisp, and continued to hide his private life long after he might have been safe to be more relaxed about it?

For those of us who'd never even heard of gay rights, the camp portrayals of men such as Inman, Larry Grayson and Kenneth Williams really did help to create a climate of affection that contributed in some respects to later political gains. The last, poor sod, spent his whole life in a lather of self-hatred, but still managed to offer at least an approximation of the person he wanted to be.

It's sad that so many people spent such a long period being told that they were evil because of their sexual preferences. It's sad that many didn't even get out as far as Inman, by playing gay on the telly, and living with his lover, quietly, in real life. But it's sad too that Inman attracted opprobrium from the people he might have expected to understand best the pressures he felt.

Stop this sentimentality over grey squirrels

I'm afraid the whole global warming thing is beginning to get on my nerves. Exhorted this week to feel pleased that a baby grey squirrel had been rescued from an untimely death due to unseasonably early birthing, I can only wonder what the hell these do-gooding sentimentalists thought they were up to. They're not gardeners, that's for sure, or they'd be running round with a machete trying to slice the deep-digging, chicken- wire-tossing, bulb-munching little buggers down the middle. People say grey squirrels are like rats. But actually they are much worse. Rats have the good sense to keep well hidden most of the time, and mind their own business. Grey squirrels, on the other hand, have no sense of shame. If global warming's going to kill them off, I say bring it on.

Which perhaps is why I find myself rather cheered by the contents of The Great Climate Change Swindle, which offered some slender hope that the whole climate change is The Sun's fault (like paedophiles and Tony Blair). Yes, I know that only Dominic Lawson is really allowed to say that sort of thing in The Independent, but it must be admitted that it would be nice to wake up one morning and find that the whole thing is a bit of a storm in a teacup. Obviously, a little more care about use of resources, recycling of waste, eating organic and so on is quite a good thing in itself, and obviously one is attached to one's self-righteous hobbies. But as my excitable and sometimes slightly green friend said on the phone on Thursday night, having watched the programme and called in a froth of apostasy: "Isn't it great? We can industrialise Africa now!" I had to explain that I got only five weeks holiday a year, and didn't think I'd be able to find the time.

* The TV quiz line row is one of those stories that one ignores for a few days, then realises is actually quite important. A bit like when it turned out that some of the Jerry Springer rip-off shows were punting fake guests. Now I'm on to it, I've learnt a lot. Like that there is a premium-rate phoneline regulator and that no matter how much its head, Sir Alastair Graham, huffs and puffs, one can't help wondering whether it has been as vigilant as it could have been. Especially since the latest rogue production company, broadcast on Five, glories in the title Cheetah Television (a subsidiary of Endemol, one notes).

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