Historian David Starkey SACKED by Cambridge University after race row over ‘so many damn blacks in Africa’ comments

TV HISTORIAN David Starkey has been sacked by Cambridge University after claiming “slavery was not genocide” because there are “so many damn blacks” still around.

The 75-year-old was forced to resign his fellowship after sparking a race row during a Black Lives Matter movement debate.

The university's Fitzwilliam College dropped him with immediate effect, saying it will “not tolerate racism” and adding that honorary fellows are expected to uphold the college’s values. 

Canterbury Christ Church University has also terminated Starkey’s role as visiting professor after his “completely unacceptable” comments.

Starkey sparked fury after making the remarks during an online interview with Brexit campaigner Darren Grimes for his YouTube channel Reasoned UK.

The historian denied slavery was genocide, adding if it was “there wouldn’t be so many damn blacks”.

He described BLM as “wholly and entirely a product of white colonisation” and its activists “not culturally black Africans”.

A Fitzwilliam College statement on Friday said: “The Master has accepted Dr David Starkey’s resignation of his honorary fellowship with immediate effect.

“Fitzwilliam prides itself in leading the way in Cambridge in opening access to higher education for under-represented groups. 

“Our student and academic bodies are diverse and welcoming to all. We do not tolerate racism.”

Professor Rama Thirunamachandran, vice-chancellor of Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent, has apologised to staff and students who have been offended and upset by the “appalling” comments.

He said: “Widely reported comments by historian David Starkey during a recent online interview are, in our view, completely unacceptable and do not reflect the values of our university and community.

“We have therefore terminated, with immediate effect, Dr Starkey’s visiting professorship.

“I would like to say sorry to colleagues and students who will have been offended and upset by such comments of this appalling nature, and in particular in these challenging and difficult times for us all.”

During the interview, Starkey said: “Slavery was not genocide, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many damn blacks in Africa or in Britain would there? An awful lot of them survived.

“And again there is no point in arguing against globalisation or Western civilisation - they are all products of it. We are all products of it.”

The Tudor expert appeared to argue slavery wasn’t ethnic cleansing as not all slaves died.

And he also seemed to link slavery to positive aspects of globalisation in an astonishing hour-long interview.

Cambridge-educated Starkey argued that the British Empire was “generally speaking, in most ways, actually fruitful”.

“There were downsides,” he belatedly added.

“As for the idea that slavery is this terrible disease that dare not speak its name.

“It only dare not speak its name because we settled it 200 years ago,” he said - referring to the abolition of slavery in 1833.

Starkey then appeared to argue that Roman Catholics had suffered just as much as black slaves.

“We don’t normally go on about the fact that Roman Catholics once upon a time didn’t have the vote and weren’t allowed to have their own churches, because we had Catholic emancipation,” he ranted.

“Do you know what, we had Catholic emancipation at pretty much the exact same time we got rid of slavery - in the 1830s - we don’t go on about that.”

He also went on a rant about the campaign to teach colonisation in schools, and said if black Brits moved back to Africa they would die.

Starkey raved: “We cannot decolonise the curriculum, because you Black Lives Matter are wholly and entirely a product of white colonisation.

“You are not culturally black Africans.

“You would die in seconds if you were dumped back in black Africa, you wouldn’t know how to cope.”

He tried to claim that the same white people who support the BLM movement were the people “who work themselves up into a lather about leaving the European Union”.

His “racist” comments were blasted by former Home Secretary Sajid Javid, who said they were a “reminder of the appalling views that still exist”.

Twitter users condemned Starkey as “repugnant” and “ill-informed”.

And Labour MP Karl Turner tweeted: “Dear GOD above. Please. This is just utterly awful from David Starkey.”

It is not the first time Dr Starkey has been accused of racism.

In 2015, the historian was removed from a promotional video at Cambridge University after complaints from students.

They cited a 2011 Newsnight interview in which he said: “A substantial amount of the chavs have become black.

“The whites have become black; a particular sort of violent destructive, nihilistic gangster culture has become the fashion.”

He also came under fire for comparing the NHS’s handling of coronavirus to the child abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic church.

He accused health bosses of working to “protect the institution not the patient” in an outspoken interview about the pandemic.

Dr Starkey has previously retorted: “I shall reserve the right to comment freely but without recrimination.”