Mr Jasper, an equal rights campaigner and activist, said that while black
Britons may hold prejudiced views, they should not be described as racist.
The 53 year-old was forced to resign as senior policy adviser on equalities to
Mr Livingstone, who was then mayor of London, in March 2008 over allegations
of cronyism. Leaked emails showed that he had exchanged highly flirtatious
messages with a married mother of three, whose projects received £100,000
from City Hall on his recommendation.
In one email, he told the woman that he wanted to “whisk her away to a
deserted beach and honey-glaze her”. Mr Jasper, who is now the chairman of
the campaign group Black Activists Rising Against Cuts, took to Twitter
yesterday to complain about the number of black youths being jailed.
Using the hashtag “sackboris2012”, Mr Jasper asked: “Which mayor has seen the
number of black youth going to jail in London increase by 100 per cent
during his term?”
His comment prompted a bitter war of words on Twitter between him and Ahzaz
Chowdhury, a former adviser to the Conservatives in Tower Hamlets, east
London. Mr Jasper went on to say: “Institutional racism in the criminal
justice means black citizens face discrimination.”
He accused Mr Chowdhury of being “an apologist for the racism of the Tory
party”.
He said: “It’s you and the Tory party whose policies have seen levels of resurgent racism not seen since the war. Black people can’t be racist”.
Mr Chowdhury asked: “So you yourself could never be a racist?”
Mr Jasper answered: “Why is it African activists like me seem to attract public political criticism from Asian men? Don’t see Africans attacking Asian activists? You’re confused about the political reality and power dynamics of racism.
“No black person in the UK can be racist. Racism is prejudice plus power. Black people can be prejudiced but not racist.”
Mr Chowdhury later branded Mr Jasper’s views “vile”.
Mr Jasper has been outspoken in blaming the Government’s “economic violence” and failure to help underprivileged youths for last summer’s London riots.
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He said: “It’s you and the Tory party whose policies have seen levels of resurgent racism not seen since the war. Black people can’t be racist”.
Mr Chowdhury asked: “So you yourself could never be a racist?”
Mr Jasper answered: “Why is it African activists like me seem to attract public political criticism from Asian men? Don’t see Africans attacking Asian activists? You’re confused about the political reality and power dynamics of racism.
“No black person in the UK can be racist. Racism is prejudice plus power. Black people can be prejudiced but not racist.”
Mr Chowdhury later branded Mr Jasper’s views “vile”.
Mr Jasper has been outspoken in blaming the Government’s “economic violence” and failure to help underprivileged youths for last summer’s London riots.
Source
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