Tinie Tempah says claims UK is less racist than US are the ‘height of ignorance’

‘It’s almost trying to smokescreen the fact that racism happens here,’ said the rapper

Tinie Tempah refuted claims that racism is "better" in the UK than the United States while discussing the death of George Floyd.

The rapper appeared on Sky News on Wednesday (3 June) to talk about Blackout Tuesday and the Black Lives Matter protests taking place across the US when he said that the UK was “not innocent” in the fight against racism.

“I’m even gonna go as far as to say, shame on you, whoever says that, shame on you. Because we all know that racism exists in the UK,” he said.

“Even for someone to say that officers aren’t armed, it’s almost excuses, almost trying to find a justification for why we are better or not.”

Tinie Tempah continued: “The fact is that racism is wrong. And if racism exists anywhere, on any level, it’s wrong. It’s inhumane. It’s evil.

“So for somebody to almost have the audacity to be like, ‘Oh, well, you know, our police officers aren’t armed and this wouldn’t happen in the UK,’ it’s the height of ignorance and it’s almost trying to smokescreen the fact that racism happens here.

“What are you trying to say? You’re trying to say that racism here is less harsh? Are you trying to say racism is better? Because none of these things are applicable to the word racism.”

The rapper echoed thoughts expressed by George The Poet on Monday’s Newsnight, with the podcaster describing “disturbing parallels between the Black British experience and the African American experience”.

“When you talk about the history of race relations, you have to consider the role of the British Empire on the African content and the political and economic consequences of that interaction,” George the Poet said.

“What is the situation that we’re dealing with today? This is very contemporary and I hope this is a learning point for many people who think along the lines that you just expressed, that this is an American and not a British issue.”