David Starkey apologises and says 'I paid a heavy price' for racist claim that slavery was not genocide because 'so many damn blacks' survived

The British historian was dropped by multiple universities and book publishers following the interview with Darren Grimes
Ewan Somerville6 July 2020

David Starkey has apologised for making racist remarks during an interview in which he declared “slavery was not genocide” because “so many damn blacks" survived.

The TV historian was dropped by multiple universities and book publishers after the comments were met with a furious backlash.

In a lengthy statement, reported by the Mirror, the 75-year-old admitted his “bad mistake” has cost him “every distinction and honour acquired in a long career”.

Dr Starkey, a prolific author who has fronted a number of BBC documentaries, lashed out at the Black Lives Matter movement in an interview with Brexit activist Darren Grimes.

“Slavery was not genocide otherwise there wouldn’t be so many damn blacks in Africa or Britain, would there? An awful lot of them survived," he told a nodding Mr Grimes, who did not challenge the comments.

Dr David Starkey was roundly condemned for the remarks
PA

“The honest teaching of the British Empire is to say, quite simply, it is the first key stage of our globalisation. It is probably the most important moment in human history and it is still with us.”

Following the interview on Mr Grimes' new online politics platform, Reasoned UK, Dr Starkey was forced to resign his honorary fellowship at Cambridge University.

Canterbury Christ Church university also sacked him as a visiting professor, and Harper Collins UK said it would not publish any more of his books.

Breaking his silence in a statement released on Monday, Dr Starkey wrote: "On June 30, 2020, a podcast was broadcast in which I discussed the Black Lives Matter protest movement and the attempt by some of its supporters to delegitimise British history.

"It is a subject on which I feel strongly since I believe a nation’s history is the only basis for its present and future. Which is why I have devoted my whole career to studying and teaching it and trying to understand it better.

"During the interview, I used the phrase ‘so many damn blacks’. It was intended to emphasise - in hindsight with awful clumsiness - the numbers who survived the horrors of the slave trade.

"Instead, it came across as a term of racial abuse. This, in the present atmosphere, where passions are high and feelings raw, was deplorably inflammatory.

"It was a bad mistake. I am very sorry for it and I apologise unreservedly for the offence it caused. I have also paid a heavy price for one offensive word with the loss of every distinction and honour acquired in a long career."

Dr Starkey was roundly condemned for the remarks, while Mr Grimes also apologised for failing to challenge him.

Kent University said it had “triggered the honorary degrees revocation procedure” for the honours Dr Starkey was awarded in 2006, while Lancaster University said it was reviewing his honours. Buckingham University confirmed it was reviewing his status as a visiting fellow.

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