0:00
So it was an average Latin lesson and I was whispering to my friend and I said, do you want to hear a joke
0:07
And I exclaimed the joke and after class, the teacher obviously heard me, I was held back and the head of classics came
0:16
and they both badgered me and bullied me into thinking and saying, do you know why the joke is racist
0:25
But I said that I don't know why the joke is racist, but they kept on badgering and bullying me and made me a victim
0:32
And you had no intention of telling a racist joke. You were just repeating something from a Raoul Dahl story
0:38
Yes, this one right here. So which one is that? Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, which I remember reading
0:43
not just reading to myself, but reading to my children. It's a really good book
0:47
It's a gripping story. Yes. And it was in the school library. Mm-hm, it was in the school library
0:53
and I think quite a lot of other people have drawn it, so other people have read it
0:58
And it's a well-read, popular book. Do you think... Did your schoolmasters know where this book had come from
1:04
where the joke had come from? No I don think they knew but yeah I don think they knew And then what happened So they had a go at you they criticised you they tried to persuade you this was a racist joke and then why did you get given the detention Was that for
1:21
telling the joke? That was for telling the joke and it was being racist, which it wasn't. But I didn't attend
1:28
the detention until they explained to me why the joke was racist. So in the end, I didn't
1:34
have to attend the lunchtime detention. Because they never explained. OK, they didn't explain
1:40
But it's actually quite hard to see why it is racist. It's a word play on Chinese names
1:47
In fact, I'm not sure there are many people in China called Wing, as it happens. I mean, there may be
1:51
But it seems a very odd... It's as if they were looking for trouble
1:56
Do you find at your school that people are looking for this type of disciplinary activity
2:03
to really say that things that are ordinary conversation are racist, Are they looking for equalities issues
2:09
Well, I could see that they kind of are, but they're kind of not too
2:14
Other people, other dads in the school, also their sons have been bullied and badgered
2:22
but they're just too scared to speak up and stand and fight against them
