From The Mind of Merc - Skin Colour

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today I was thinking about skin colour.

To be clear – I don’t mean about the difference between black and white but the actual concept of ‘skin colour’.

For starters, why is it called ‘skin colour’?

Anything ‘skin colour’ is generally either peach or, at the very least, beige. Yet given the possible variations in the part of a person’s genetic code that determines the colour of the skin – not to mention the other factors that can affect it during a person’s lifetime – there is potentially a limitless number of possible ‘skin colours’. There are 6 ‘skin types’ alone (fair, dark and everything in between). So how can there be one ‘skin colour’?

The main culprit of promoting this idea seems to be the fashion industry. When you’re buying clothes, you’re most likely to see something listed as ‘skin colour’ or ‘nude’ – which always refers only to ‘white’ skin colour and you have to wonder what kind of message is that sending? That ‘this is the only skin colour that’s acceptable’? That ‘this is the only skin colour’ they’ll cater for’? How wrong is that? If ‘skin colour’ refers solely to ‘white’ skin colour then surely that is implying it to be the only/dominant/prevalent skin colour. To me, that is all types of wrong. Technically it could also be said to mean that the entire fashion industry is condoning racism.

Given the number of names for colours, surely it can’t be difficult to come up with an alternative name for it. For example, let’s look at ‘blood red’ which (somewhat ironically) proves my point even further. Blood is always red (regardless of skin colour) but even this can have other names (69 according to a quick Google search). Ones that have been used in various products include: cherry, reddish, scarlet, crimson, carmine, ruby, vermilion, cardinal, claret, rust, brown-red and carnelian. Yet ‘skin colour’ can only refer to white people? Surely ‘skin colour’ should effectively mean transparent so it shows all skin types. (Maybe that would be a better use for the term.)

When the message is that white is the only acceptable colour for skin then all sorts of unpleasantness occurs. When the message is that white is the only ‘real’ colour for skin then, at least subliminally, this implies a superiority of one skin colour over another. A superiority which does not exist.

Maybe it’s time to end this clearly outdated, massively incorrect and undeniably biased and unfair term. Perhaps doing so could be a step in the right direction towards ending racial discrimination. This might sound bizarre or extreme but by no longer effectively stating that people with ‘white’ skin colour are preferable or (consequently) better or (even) the only skin colour then such a simple change could have a significant and/or dramatic effect on people’s perceptions of what is ‘acceptable’/’normal’/exists. The message this sends would be phenomenal. And from such a simple change. Surely it’s worth – and needs – to be done.

After all, if the make-up industry can (even attempt to) accommodate the multiple variations (with foundations coming in shades such as ‘porcelain’, ‘ivory’, ‘amber’, ‘bronze’, ‘truffle’ and ‘mocha’), how hard can it be?

An MP Can Be A Crook - !!!NEW!!!

Listening to my favourite song from Mary Poppins Returns and the beginnings of these lyrics started forming in my head... so I thought I'd let them develop.

A Cover Is Not The Book An MP Can Be A Crook not from Mary Poppins Returns
We have so much at our fingertips
That we can access quick and how
And yet we still do not make the most of it
If we ever needed info
Then my friends that time is now
As rather than trust the media then we need to research it
Because an-

MP can be a crook
So please always take a second look
'Cause if you peer closer past the poster
You might find you were mistook
Please don’t ignore the warning signs
Take care to read between the lines
And what you find it might just leave you shook
For an MP’s your man
Unless your MP’s a crook

It’s-true-to-day, it’s all true so far!
It’s-true-to-day, it’s all true so far!

Excuse me Miss, could you give us an example?
Certainly!

Boris the Johnson it seemed was good
But what could not be seen was though
His outward show was honest
Well, his past was far from clean
So if someone chose to look what was buried down deep inside
They would find he’s not so nice
Yet he still won by a landslide!

Which proves
An MP can be a crook
So please always take a second look
'Cause if you peer closer past the poster
You might find you were mistook
Please don’t ignore the warning signs
Take care to read between the lines
And what you find it might just leave you shook
For an MP’s your man
Unless your MP’s a crook

Should we do the one about the tricky Tory?

Oh, by all means!

People love that one

Well, go on then!

Mr Dominic Cummings
His wife was not feeling so fit

So he put her in a car

Drove to Durham for a bit

Yet the country’s in lockdown
Which you’d think would cause a hitch

But if you're rich and make the rules

Then are the rules meant for the rich?

Oh, an MP can be a crook
So please always take a second look

'Cause if you peer closer past the poster
You might find you were mistook
It’s-true-to-day, it’s true so far!
It’s-true-to-day, all above par!

And what you find it might just leave you shook
For an MP’s your man
Unless your MP’s a crook

Oh, give us the one about the brainless bossman, why don't ya?

Isn't that one a bit long?

Well, the quicker you're into it, the quicker you're out of it

Once upon a time
(Not) In a nursery rhyme
There was a white house with a man
With an orange tan
Who seemed to think there was no-one that he was less than

He had fans and followers
Who hung on his ev’ry word
But despite his being the chief
Good grief!
It seemed he had a poor choice of what he should best do
A poor choice of words

Like his hands were not immense
His brain was smaller than a bird's
So the vice-man of the nation
Made a censored proclamation
"We do not need him understood
He needs to look good

Just like any premier should
His bright orange skin not withstood”

And they searched for the brightest
And they searched for the best
Who would endorse

All his recourse
Bring worth to what he did attest
But the man was a buffoon
So each professor quit their job
They did not want to be involved
With such a racist slob
It makes you sob
You start to wonder why it is
He’s so beloved by the mob

But then suddenly one day
The people realised a thing
They said, "If he cannot change then
It makes sense that we change him"
And the man’s team’s fears all grew

For they knew that this was true
That it was not hopeless
There was a way out of the mess

Cause to have a happy land
And to enjoy the world you've got
You should never let yourselves
Be ruled over by a bigot
So they sang and they cheered
They had found a way to end
The control of this despot who was
Surely not their friend

So the moral is you mustn't let
The media be the guide
For it's possible they lied
You need to make your own mind up
Don’t be hypnotised, you decide!
‘Cause the truth can't be denied
And we will not be defied
We can vote to change the world and
We won’t let the cheaters hide

That is it!

Oh, an MP can be a crook
So please always take a second look

'Cause if you peer closer past the poster
You might find you were mistook
So please listen to what we've said

And please never let yourself be led

So one more time before we get the hook

Please sing along!

An MP’s your man

Please take our advice!

An MP’s your man

Or you'll pay the price!

An MP’s your man

Unless your MP is a crook

It’s-true-to-day, it’s so true by far!
It’s-true-to-day, it’s so true by far!
It’s-true-to-day, it’s so true by far! Hurrah!

(Author's note: I'm not saying these are the only examples but they are certainly the most notable at the moment)

4000 Mile Flight - !!!NEW!!!

There's a very unpleasant poem that seems to be doing the rounds atm and is (quite rightly) causing a lot of upset, distress and anger. So I thought I'd fix it by removing the dominant racist element. (If only it was this easy to fix all racist things)

4,000 Mile Flight (My version)

I will kneel with the masses,
But I won’t be told my fate,
By people who hijack tragedy,
To perpetuate their hate.

Don’t you shout Black Lives Matter,
Whilst running through the streets,
When your people are burning Foot Locker,
Stealing Nikes for their feet.

Don’t dance on The Cenotaph,
Like it’s Carnival or Mardi Gras,
That sacred granite edifice,
Marks people who died in war.

How dare you besiege Number 10,
This isn’t even your fight,
If you want to cause such damage,
Get a 4,000 mile flight.

Social distancing flouted,
Police punched in the face,
Missiles hurled at Downing Street.,
That isn’t about race.

It’s rent-a-mob and anarchists,
Versus police who just want peace,
They agree with the protest,
But want violence to cease

We see America’s burning,
It’s a tragedy we all agree,
That George Floyd lost his life,
For all the world to see.

Justice must take its course,
The cop has lost his job,
Now he faces twelve good and true,
Not a braying mob.

So Monday I will be kneeling,
And I sure will bow my head,
Because someone I don’t even know,
Should not be dead.

Although (a) robber and a felon,
In and out of jail,
Not a model citizen,
Yet his death was a fail.

I’ll weep for whom I choose to,
I’ll say where and when,
Like if anyone black or white was,
Murdered in the end.

I don’t condone the officers,
They rightly face the wrath,
But ask me to agree with the looting?
Don’t make me laugh.

You can keep your racist diatribes,
Your dismantling of our state,
It’s not BLM but anarchists,
They’re peddling the hate.

From The Mind of Merc - Overdue Correction

Sometimes I find my mind wandering over various eclectic topics and occasionally I am inspired to write some of them down. Today I was thinking about a correction I've been thinking about making for some time now:

I finally fixed Trump's hat: