Who says prime time current affair programs on free-to-air TV channels are rubbish? I propose that they can be edifying.
In a recently aired one such TV program, a colleague apparently heard the phrase "ethnic enclaves" for the first time. In a low, conspiratorial whisper to another colleague, my colleague gingerly pronounced the word "enclaves" a few times like a jittery rugby fullback juggling a high ball before gathering it safely into his arms.
It was apparent that my thirty something colleague had never come across this phrase before, but thanks to the current affair program, my colleague had finally learned a new phrase and, with it, a new category of evils lurking in the suburbs.
This got me thinking. If my colleague had never heard the phrase "ethnic enclaves" before, what about associated words and phrases such as "ethnic cleansing", "pogroms", "dog whistling", "xenophobia", "yellow peril", "Asian horde", "concentration camps", "Lebensraum" and so on? Surely, the Balkan wars took place within the living memory of my colleague’s generation?
Please, explain!
To sum up, we need more dog-whistling current affair TV programs advocating ethnic cleansings, pogroms and concentration camps so that the suburbs can be ridden of undesirable ethnic enclaves and this fair Continent of carefree surfers and cricketers shielded from the imminent dangers posed by the yellow peril and swarthy hordes.
No comments:
Post a Comment