Readers' letters

Your correspondents W. J. Drummond and Alan Hill have surely missed the point in their support for Douglas Craig's refusal to sign up to the Kick It Out campaign (March 31).

This isn't just about what happens or doesn't happen in York.

The club's stance sends out the message that York City Football Club and, by inference, the supporters, do not agree with the central tenet of the Kick It Out campaign - that racism has no place in football.

Whether that perception is true or not is not particularly relevant - that's how it looks. The campaign may be flawed as Alan Hill states; so why not join and work to improve it?

Keith Walwyn, as Mr Drummond rightly wrote, is one of City's most revered players. I would be interested to hear his views (and the private views of our current black players) on this matter; that the club which Big Keith served with such great heart, success and popularity cannot bring itself to put its name to a campaign whose avowed aim is to drive racism out of the game.

In the light of incidents such as the disgraceful treatment of Emile Heskey, it is my belief that any measure, flawed or not, which attempts to improve things can only be applauded.

Can Drummond and Hill really think that of the 92 senior football clubs ours is the only one which has the correct perspective on this subject ?

Alan Lowey,

Marshfield Avenue,

Goole.

...I have read and re-read, with ever increasing disbelief, the letter from the joint ethnic minority officers of the local Labour Party (April 4).

Can they really be totally oblivious to the stunning hypocrisy implicit in their view that groups such as The Association of Black Police Officers have a valuable role to play in ending discrimination and injustice?

How is it credible, even to a hardened fanatic within the race relations industry, that an association restricted to members of one racial group can promote racial equality and harmony?

Equally disturbing is the bile displayed against York City FC whose undisputed anti-racist policies and practices are deemed to be insufficient.

It is apparently necessary for them to sign up for any crackpot scheme dreamed up by would-be dictators of the nation's opinions to be considered politically correct.

I have no problem with black police officers, black lawyers or black candlestick-makers forming their own associations, if that is their wish.

I am, however, a little puzzled as to how such groups can be legal. The Association of White Candlestick-Makers would immediately be pursued by the full force of the law, with the joint ethnic minority officers and their ilk coming up behind in full cry.

It is plainly obvious to any thinking person, black or white, that genuine racial equality and harmony can only come from understanding and respect between the various groups. People cannot and will not be browbeaten into compliance.

Such arrogance and intolerance displayed by the above officers can only be counter-productive and set back the cause of true equality by years.

Mike Mitchell,

Haxby Road,

York.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.