Black Country flag ‘offensive and insensitive' says leading racism campaigner



The Black country is a part of the English Midlands that was central to England's coal-based industrial revolution.  So much coal was burnt in its foundries and furnaces that the whole area  was black with soot -- hence the name.  There are also important differences in language, with Black Country speech harking back to Old English in some ways.  So people there are proud of their history, region, people and culture.  Attacking all of that is therefore deeply offensive to them.  But they reply with English moderation.  Nobody risks physical attack


The ignorant critic

The Black Country flag is offensive, says a leading racism campaigner who complains that chains made in the area were used to shackle slaves.

Political activist Patrick Vernon OBE described the flag as ‘offensive and insensitive’ and said its chains were a ‘disturbing’ image of an industry that profited from the transatlantic slave trade and colonial rule in Africa.

His comments - today dismissed as ‘political correctness garbage’ - came as thousands of people celebrated the region’s history over the weekend in The Black Country Festival and Cradley Heath’s Women’s Chainmakers’ Festival.

Mr Vernon, who grew up in All Saints, Wolverhampton, and is a former London Labour councillor, said the Black Country had shied away from addressing the role its industries played in slavery and that community leaders were trying to ‘pretend it never happened’.

“The chain being used as a symbol in the flag is insensitive,” he said. “Shackles and manacles that were made by chainmakers in the Black Country were used to incarcerate slaves in North America, on plantations and in colonial Africa.

The flag itself was designed by a 12-year-old schoolgirl, linking together our region’s proud glass-making heritage as well as its heavy industry and foundries, illustrated by the chains.

The colours signify the ‘black by day, red by night’ nature of our town’s during the industrial revolution.

The flag has been adopted by hundreds of thousands of people as a proud symbol of this area, popping up all over the world at football matches, cricket tests and even the Glastonbury Festival.

One of the many great things about the Black Country is that it is a beacon for integration, racial and religious tolerance that we believe is unmatched anywhere in Britain.

The flag is a symbol of pride in our region and its industrial heritage – but also one of multi-cultural integration so natural that people round here don’t really feel the need to talk about it.

Mr Vernon’s comments have caused outrage among MPs and top councillors on the eve of Black Country Day tomorrow.

Dudley North Labour MP Ian Austin said: “This is ridiculous nonsense. The Black Country Festival brings everyone from our diverse communities together. If he had come to Stone Street Square this weekend he would have seen people off all races and backgrounds enjoying the fun. It was an example of what makes our society something to celebrate.

SOURCE