Barbara Ellen talks rubbish about gingerism

Remember Kevin and Barbara Chapman and their children? They've been forced to move home three times in Newcastle because of their ginger hair.

At each new place they had had their windows smashed, offensive graffiti sprayed on their property, and the children were been physically attacked.

One of their children even tried to kill himself.

Photographer Charlotte Rushton took pictures of 300 of the UK's redheads for a book, Ginger Snaps. Of those 300, only two have been spared bullying because of their hair, according to the BBC.

Now, given the history of abuse and worse delivered towards ginger people in Britain, you might expect an 11 year old boy who had been bullied at school for having ginger hair to be upset when he discovered that "ginger kid" had been written in place on his name on his receipt from Dominio's Pizza in Midsomer Norton.

However, Observer columnist Barbara Ellen doesn't.

In a piece worthy of a Daily Mail parody, she makes out the family are hyper-sensitive people and the event was a storm in a teacup.

The Domino's branch offered him a free pizza and apologised, saying "ginger kid" was just a reference for the person who took the order. Ross's parents are now demanding a full apology from Domino's head office. At which point, one can't help but think: if this situation were a pizza, would it come with extra toppings of victimhood and ginger self-hatred?

How funny, Barbara. If your column was a pizza, would it come with extra toppings of ignorance and smugness?

Barbara Ellen then tries to imply that gingerism is only an issue in popular culture and history, and ignores the examples I've given at the top of this post. She then indulges in a little gingerism herself:

One doesn't want to get into the idea of "ginger-whingers", but could it be that some red-haired people spend their lives looking for offence, where there is none?

Indeed, it feels weird to be asked to feel sorry for a group that includes Nicole Kidman and Damian Lewis

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How nice. Of course, all ginger people should be judged by the antics of two of their number.

And what have Nicole Kidman and Damian Lewis and Damian Lewis done to offend Barbara Ellen?

Barbara Ellen goes on to burble:

Likewise, while some red-haired kids get stick at school, so do the overweight, underweight, special needs kids, disabled kids, poor kids, kids with specs, kids in care, kids of different races. Anyone "different", basically.

I think bullying is a bit more than "stick".

Talk about using rhetoric to play down hate.

And if an overweight child received a receipt with "fat kid" on it, to take but one example, I would be just as angry.

On a wider level, is "gingerism" genuinely a sidebar of racism – did anyone ever get faeces stuffed through their letterbox because of their hair colour?

No, but Kevin and Barbara Chapman got their windows broken and abuse hurled by yobs.

Or does it only count when its excrement through the letterbox?

Maybe the red haired should be careful about when to react and when not to overreact. Certainly, in this context, the phrase "ginger kid" seems innocently descriptive rather than actively offensive.

With this in mind, Domino's has already apologised quite enough to the Wajtknecht family, without this non-issue going all the way to head office. I'm sorry Ross was upset, but perhaps his parents would do better to soothe his sense of victimhood rather than encourage it.

They should tell their son to scoff down his free pizza and accept that no malice was meant; above all, to feel smug that whatever else happened in life, just like my friend, he would always be memorable.

Yep, keep your mouths shut gingers, because someone in a well-paid, relatively pleasant job with no experience of gingerism says so.

And telling an eleven year old boy upset by being called "ginger kid" that he was full of "victimhood". Ugh.

Ross Wajgtknecht vs the McCanns: The Barbara Ellen treatment

It's interesting to compare this column with her one on Kate and Gerry McCann, people who recieve a lot of public sympathy and don't face verbal abuse.

Here, she takes a more understanding tone:

It is high time the McCann haters pushed off. I am all for free speech but they've had their say and, raking through innumerable online "wailing walls", most of what they've said is repetitive rubbish.

So there you have it. One law for the media-courting McCanns and another for a little boy who didn't want to be stigmatised when ordering pizza.

In summary:

I used to think Barbera Ellen's column appeared near the front of the Observer because she was regarded as important.

Now I think it's so readers can get it over and done with before moving onto someone worth reading like Nick Cohen.

It's the kind of ignorance that Barbera Ellen displays that makes antisocial behaviour and bullying go unchecked in this country.

She should apologise to the family and write a column pointing out her mistakes and highlighting the issue of gingerism.

Perhaps, as she enjoys sneering at certain groups and moaning about political correctness, she could then go and work for the Daily Mail. They'd like her.

I'm glad to see most commentators on the piece think the same as me about Barbara Ellen.

peeps99 says:

I'm sorry but the parents are right to support their son. If he is feeling as though he is being victimised, then why should he be told to just accept it (with a free pizza). Isn't that what those who are bullied told - just hit them back; stand up to them; get used to it - its life. No, that's not good enough.

Stiffkey says:

Ginger is a term of real abuse amongst school kids.

May not sound bad, but being ginger means that you will be picked on. So the references to being ginger can be quite threatening.

A female teacher I know is frequently called a ginger bitch or ginger minge. Do you think that this is acceptable?

Being ginger is a stupid reason to be picked on, but it is not trivial for those who have to suffer it.