That's Ezra Levant's take on the riots in Britain. Mr. Levant is a columnist for Canada's QMI agency, and has been following the controversy over remarks made by London historian David Starkey. Perhaps he saw Walt's comments yesterday. Or perhaps great minds think alike. [Perhaps Mr. Levant is a little better known than Walt. Ed.]
Whatever... Mr. Levant has also read, or read someone's remarks on Enoch Powell's "Rivers of Blood Speech". Here is part of the column in which Levant puts the trouble down to white and South Asian kids emulating the black gangsta "culture" they see glorified in the media.
Perhaps Starkey could have been more careful; he said white had become black — and then immediately became more precise, meaning they had accepted a particular segment of black culture, namely gangsta rap. But his meaning was perfectly clear — to anyone who has listened to rap music, with its glorification of violence and material excess, and who has seen the glamourization of that lifestyle move from ghettos into the cultural mainstream.
What grown men wear hoodies in public? Or their underwear up high and their pants down low? Those aren’t crimes, of course — maybe fashion crimes. But far more serious is the set of values that has been swallowed along with the cultural touchstones of fashion and diction. [My emphasis. Walt.]
Gangsta culture calls women “hos” and “bitches,” a crude misogyny with an undercurrent of a threat of violence. It glamourizes fighting, shooting and even dying in gangland warfare. It holds that the point of wealth is to squander it on bling and champagne.
Levant's point is that being free to talk about the problems caused by this ignorant, violent, culture of the undersclass -- without being demonized as a racist -- is part of the solution. His column is worth reading in its entirety. Click here to do so.
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