Jimmy Hill Sticks Up For Big Ron



If you're like most of us, your probably thought Ron Atkinson's racist remarks a few weeks back were hateful and wrong. Jimmy Hill, however, tells an Independent reader that ain't so.

Was Ron Atkinson right to resign from ITV over his racist comments about a Chelsea footballer?
John Gates, by e-mail

I don't think Ron Atkinson is a racist. I've know him a long time. He has an awful lot of charm, and he doesn't mean to do any damage. I'm afraid, like most professional footballers, when they're in the company of other footballers, it's the language of the football field - they do swear. In that context, you wouldn't think that words like "nigger" were particularly insulting: it would be funny. Without meaning to insult any black men, it's us having fun. What about people who make jokes about my long chin? I mean, nigger is black - so we have jokes where we call them niggers because they're black. Why should that be any more of an offence than someone calling me chinny?




(Hill ruminates over days gone by when dudes with big chins were lynched for looking the wrong way at small chinned ladies, using the wrong drinking fountain, etc.)

Posted: Thu - May 13, 2004 at 05:48 PM      

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