Playground tiff or racist attack?

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, MAY 15. When a white schoolboy, as young as 11, punches an Asian schoolmate or abuses him invoking his racial origin how should the incident be viewed - simply as a ``playground tiff''? Or as a racist attack? Is it carrying political correctness too far to drag the white child to a court for being racist, where a slap on the face and a stern warning would have sufficed? These are not hypothetical questions but arise out of what Reader's Digestwould call a ``true life'' incident involving a white boy - known only as ``Child H'' to protect his identity - and an Asian teenager whom he allegedly hit and called a ``Paki b...''. Both go to the same school, live in the same neighbourhood and have a ``history'' of spats. However, last September ``H'' was charged with aggravated racial assault after he and another boy first tripped the Asian child, and then taunted him for being a ``Paki.'' They claimed they were simply retaliating as the other child had been teasing ``H'', calling him names such as a ``fat teletubby.''

The case, which was thrown out by a court last week, has triggered a debate on the definition of ``racism'' and whether every conflict involving a white and a non-white should necessarily be treated as a racist issue. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) which had charged ``H'' with racial assault has been sharply criticised even by liberal voices for using a ``sledgehammer to crack a nut''. It is stated that the CPS overreacted to what was clearly a case of juvenile name-calling, and leg-pulling - a commonplace in school playgrounds.

``The schoolyard does not seem to be the schoolyard anymore,'' the defence counsel for ``H'' said. The boy himself is reported to be ``emotionally and psychologically devastated'' for having been treated like a hardened criminal. ``He is said to have threatened to run away or harm himself,'' The Guardian reported even as it quoted parents of the Asian child as being `` very happy'' that the race charge was dropped.

A commentator in The Times questioned the idea of trying to prosecute children for assault ``over a bit of push-and-shove in the playground'' and said: ``A silly child punching another and calling him Paki should not be put on a par with serious racist violence.'' He suggested that such over- reaction was a direct result of the Macpherson inquiry report on the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence which accused the police of ``institutional racism''. ``Of course, boys and girls need to be disciplined - but as children, not criminals,'' he said echoing the view that cases of this kind can distract attention from the real fight against racism.

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Section  : International
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