Does the Decibel Award Discriminate Against Whites?

That’s the charge leveled by the Commission for Racial Equality, which takes issue with the Decibel Awards because it is open to ethnic minorities and by definition, excludes white authors. The Evening Standard reports that watchdog has threatened legal action against the organizers of the Decibel Penguin Prize, which celebrates the best short stories by British writers from an Asian, African or Caribbean background, if they fail to call a halt to the contest.

Agnes Namoh, from the Commission, said yesterday: “Should the same competition run again, it is highly likely the Commission would commence legal proceedings against Penguin Books and the Arts Council.” And Tory MP Philip Davies urged Culture Minister David Lammy, the award’s patron, to apologize. “The Decibel Prize is a prime example of the kind of political correctness that builds up resentment. We should celebrate the best of British literature, irrespective of the author’s racial heritage.”

The comments in the Evening Standard story are particularly indicative of what underlies the so-called controversy. “What about the Orange Prize then, which discriminates against men? or the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, which discriminates against those over 35? Or the Costas, which discriminate against citizens who live abroad. Almost all competitions contain some arbitrary elements of inclusion and ineligibility, otherwise they would all be the same,” wrote author Jonathan Trigell. And Jean Mead wonders “if the competitions that require a writer to be of a certain age, i.e. under 35 will soon be seen as discriminatory.”

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