Poll shows that people who are a bit racist don’t find Boris Johnson racist

Boris Johnson staring up


Support us and go ad-free

It’s perfectly possible to criticise face veils without being racist. But instead of doing that, Boris Johnson decided to say the women wearing them look like ‘bank robbers’ and “letter boxes”. People thought this was racist because:

  • It was said by a man with a history of making racist comments.
  • It was said at a time when Muslim women are being harassed and assaulted in the streets.
  • It was said in a country where the idea that Muslim women look like “letter boxes” is literally a far-right meme:

Still though, why explain the nuance of this when we can just do a poll and see what the famously well-informed British public think?

Poll in it together

A poll found that 60% of those asked didn’t think Johnson’s comments were racist. This is the very same British public who – on more than one occasion – voted for Boris Johnson to be in a position of power.

We spoke to a guy from the polling company to find out the purpose of polls:

Nobody knows about everything. Even a genius like Einstein probably knew nothing about bowling shoes or acorns. Despite that, people feel encouraged to have a strong opinion about everything.

This means you can use polls as a counterpoint to things like reason, logic, and evidence. This allows the media to give a more balanced picture. A balance between people who know what they’re talking about and everybody else.

Benefits

Of course, there is a counter argument for this sort of polling. It comes from a poll I conducted myself in which 70% of the five people I asked said their opinions are dynamite and deserve to be listened to.

So there we have it.

Get Involved!

– For more satirical news, you can also follow Off The Perch on Facebook and Twitter.

– Join The Canary, so we can keep holding the powerful to account.

Featured image via Mohammad Hassanzadeh – Wikimedia [IMAGE WAS ALTERED]

Support us and go ad-free

We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support

The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.

The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.

So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.

Support us

Comments are closed