A campaign group comprising ethnic minority lawyers that claim to oppose racism has been criticized for awarding a fictional Negro Of The Year Award to conservative broadcaster Rev. Calvin Robinson who they regarded as a “black man who went over and above the call of duty in service to white supremacy.”
The African, Caribbean and Asian Lawyers (ACAL) for Justice group posted a graphic of Robinson on its X account, formerly Twitter, on Saturday.
The graphic stated that the award had been issued by the Negro White Appreciation Association U.K., for Robinson’s “contribution to the world-wide embarrassment of black people.”
And we have a winner! There was plenty of stiff competition, but we are delighted the award goes to a black man who went over and above the call of duty in service to white supremacy. #NWA pic.twitter.com/rZ6q8vBaQ3
— African, Caribbean and Asian Lawyers For Justice (@BameFor) September 30, 2023On the campaign group’s Facebook page, it describes itself as “an umbrella coalitional campaign challenging Windrush injustices and the Government’s hostile environment.”
Its X account enjoys a considerable following of 12,400 people, including a number of high-profile lawyers and U.K. lawmakers.
The post was reported by dozens of social media users who vilified the account for its perceived racism.
“Opposing racism by being racist is a bold gambit, I’ll give you that much,” wrote one user in response, while another added: “That is utterly racist and offensive. Have you any idea how bad this looks? Shame on you.”
“Okay, so racism is okay as long as you are doing it but if others do it’s a bad thing right?” asked a third.
Responding to one accusation of racism in the post, the account replied: “What qualifies you to make that determination?”
One reporter of the post revealed that their protestation to X had been rejected, as the content didn’t violate the social media platform’s rules.
Calvin Robinson, a deacon at the Free Church of England, has often been criticized by members of the Black community who accuse him of working against the campaign for social justice due to his political beliefs.
Robinson opposed the Black Lives Matter movement, which he claimed was increasing racial tensions, and was chastised by clergymen within the Church of England for insisting that the church is not “institutionally racist.”
This led to his ordination into the institution being blocked and Robinson joining a breakaway conservative Anglican movement called the Free Church of England.
Robinson, who had been a presenter on the fledgling GB News, was suspended last week by the broadcaster’s management after refusing to appear on a talk show usually hosted by Dan Wootton, another presenter who was suspended alongside Laurence Fox for alleged misogynistic comments made on-air about a female journalist.
