HarperCollins has dropped David Starkey as an author, saying that the racist views the bestselling historian expressed in a recent interview were “abhorrent”.
On Thursday, Starkey told the rightwing commentator Darren Grimes that “slavery was not genocide, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many damn blacks in Africa or in Britain would there? You know, an awful lot of them survived.”
Following widespread condemnation – former chancellor Sajid Javid described the comments as racist and “a reminder of the appalling views that still exist” in Britain, while the historian David Olusoga said they were “truly disgusting” – HarperCollins UK said it would not be publishing any further books by Starkey. Guardian.
Blogger: Oh how the Grauniad will have welcomed this!
