Casual Racism - Well, I'll be a Chinaman!

I have looked high and low to find one of my 'favourite' clips ever from a british television programme, but it doesn't appear to be 'out there'. I really wanted to share it with you. The sketch in question is from a show featuring 'Little & Large', a supposed comedy duo who were bafflingly given air time on the BBC between 1978 and 1991. The casual racism displayed in the sketch would make most people curl up in a ball and vomit. And I mean barf until they could barf no more.

Syd Little & Eddie Large - Interestingly, they are no longer talking to each other

The sketch I am referring to, sadly, involved an group of indian musicians - a bhangra group - along with the rather unwelcome intrusion of our comic heroes to mock every last aspect of indian culture. Eddie Large conversed with the band leader, referring to him as 'Poppadom', and every line consisted of casually racist remarks sprinkled liberally with references to items from an indian takeaway. I remember watching it and wishing that these painfully embarrassing relics of a different age would spontaneously combust.

Mind you, Little & Large were not alone. Back in the 70s, casual (and not so casual) racism formed the basis of a number of 'comedy' shows. The following came from two of the best examples - Mind Your Language and Love Thy Neighbour. Mind Your Language was probably marketed as 'evening class teaching a diverse group of racial stereotypes how to speak English with hilarious results' whilst Love Thy Neighbour probably went with 'working class white couple are horrified to realise their new neighbours are actually black'.

Casual racism still exists. Obviously it is not as bad as full-on Ku Klux Klan neck-stretching type racism, but it still rears its ugly head every so often, especially amongst the more elderly members of our society. I mean, Prince Phillip is 90 this year, after all. His collection of racist remarks would be the envy of many a Grand Wizard. He is 'forgiven' by those who suggest that his attitudes spring from a more innocent age - one without the benefit of our more enlightened and modern views.

Whilst this sort of thing has all but disappeared from our screens, there are a few recent gems that pop up from time to time. I don't know if this business owner in the States thought that he would be winning people over with this display of bizarre casual racism, but it is worth watching just to savour the execution of this truly awful advert. I even love the way he throws in a little animal cruelty as well. And no, this isn't a comedy sketch. This is the real thing. Keep watching to the end - you never know when spontaneous combustion might occur...