The Music Marathon
Gold, 27 May 2019, 12:45
The Music Marathon is a music programme on Gold which is broadcast on AM radio in Manchester, London, Derby and Nottingham and nationally on DAB. The licences for these services are
held by Global Radio Limited.
Ofcom received a complaint about offensive language (“yellow Chinkies”) in the music track Melting Pot, a song from 1969 by Blue Mink . No introduction to the track was broadcast, or any
other content discussing it. The track included the following lyrics:
“Take a pinch of white man,
Wrap him up in black skin,
Add a touch of blue blood,
And a little bitty bit of Red Indian boy.
Oh,
Curly Latin kinkies,
Mixed with yellow Chinkies,
If you lump it all together
And you got a recipe for a get along scene;
Oh what a beautiful dream
If it could only come true, you know, you know.
What we need is
a great big melting pot,
Big enough to take the world and all it’s got
And keep it stirring for a hundred years or more
And turn out coffee-coloured people by the score”.
We considered that references in
the lyrics (including “yellow Chinkies”, “Red Indian boy”, “curly Latin kinkies” and “coffee-coloured people”) raised potential issues under Rule 2.3 of the Code:
Rule 2.3: “In applying generally accepted standards
broadcasters must ensure that material which may cause offence is justified by the context...Such material may include, but is not limited to, offensive language…discriminatory treatment or language (for example on the grounds of…race…) Appropriate
information should also be broadcast where it would assist in avoiding or minimising offence”.
Global Radio said that it understood some of the lyrics in this song had the potential to cause offence but said that the
other lyrics and the context of the time it was written and released mitigated the potential for offence. It said that the offensive language was not intended to be used in a derogatory fashion in the song. It said that the term yellow Chinkies was not used as an insulting term directed at a person of Chinese origin. The Licensee said that it is clear from the lyrics of the song that the message of the song is racial harmony, inclusivity and equality
The Licensee said that following the complaint notification from Ofcom, it had permanently removed the track from Gold's playlist.
Ofcom decision: Resolved
We considered that the
use of the term yellow was a derogatory reference to the skin colour of Chinese people. We therefore considered that the phrase yellow Chinkies had the potential to be highly offensive.
Ofcom's research does not provide
direct evidence for the offensiveness of the terms Red Indian boy , curly Latin kinkies and coffee-coloured people . However, Ofcom considered that Red Indian is generally understood to be a pejorative term in modern speech
and is frequently replaced with Native American . Although the terms curly Latin kinkies and coffee-coloured people are not widely understood to be racial slurs in modern society, unlike the terms Chinky and Red Indian , we considered that they had the potential to cause offence because they could also be considered derogatory references to particular ethnic groups.
In our view, the potential offence caused by these lyrics may have been heightened by the cumulative effect of the repeated use of this language during the verse and chorus
In considering the context of the
broadcast, Ofcom took into account that Melting Pot was released in 1969 by Blue Mink, and reached number three in the UK Singles chart and number 11 in Ireland in 1970. We considered that, although this song was popular at the time, the passage of time
(nearly 40 years) may have not made it sufficiently well-known today to mitigate the potential for offence.
Ofcom also considered Global's argument that any offence was mitigated in this case by the positive intention of the song,
which was a message of racial harmony.
We did not agree that this provided sufficient context to mitigate the potential for offence. The title Melting Pot, which may have provided an indication of the track's overall message, was
not broadcast, nor was the song introduced with any contextual information that would have highlighted its overall message to listeners. There was also no other context provided to justify the broadcast of the offensive language.
For all of the reasons above, Ofcom's Decision is that this potentially offensive material was not justified by the context.
However, we took into account the steps taken by the Licensee following notification of the complaint from Ofcom. We acknowledged that it said it had removed the track permanently from Gold's playlist.
Our
Decision therefore, is that this case is resolved.
Content from previous decades can be broadcast under the Code. However generally accepted standards clearly change significantly over time, and audience expectations of older
content may not be sufficient to justify its broadcast. Where older material contains content, such as language, which has the potential to cause offence to today's audiences, broadcasters should consider carefully how to provide sufficient context to
comply with Rule 2.3 of the Code.
Update: Please leave it alone. I just think it's ridiculous
13th September 2019. See
article from dailystar.co.uk
Sixties band Blue Mink has blasted a radio station's decision to drop their racial harmony promoting song Melting Pot from its playlist.
TV censor Ofcom made a politically correct decision to ban the song after one listener complained
about the lyrics when the song was played on Gold.
African-American lead singer Madeline Bell said:
It took years to suddenly decide in this politically correct time that we live in that it was an offensive and
racist record. We're worrying about the lyrics of a protest song about making coffee-coloured people. The song is 50 years old. Please leave it alone. I just think it's ridiculous.
Bell, ho performs Blue Mink songs as part of her
solo routine, has vowed to continue performing Melting Pot.
