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Sophia Ankel
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Hip hop artist Akala has been praised, after he said that making knife crime a race issue is counter-productive on Good Morning Britain earlier today.
The British artist, whose real name is Kingslee James McLean Daley, said that the media's tendency to call knife crime "a black problem" is dangerous.
He compared it to the recent terror attack in New Zealand, saying that if the perpetrator would have been an Isis supporter, the reaction by many would have been to call it a "Muslim problem".
Akala, was responding to a question posed by Piers Morgan, who asked:
The perpetrators and victims appear to be almost exclusively young black men.
Do you think there is a racial element to that in terms of cultural issues, racial issues, or is it the same problem they had in Glasgow where they were white, and actually the race part of this is something where we look at the statistics, think it’s a black problem and actually it’s not?
To this Akala, who is also an author and poet, said very accurately:
There is one limited sense in which race may be important.
You could argue that only a very particular demographic of young black boys, only at a very particular stage in their lives, feel a degree of psychological self-hatred or contempt for themselves that they project on to other people.
Akala also added out that some of the “most horrendous” knife attacks have taken place outside of London over the past few years, and have also included victims and the perpetrators who were both white.
‘Black-on-black violence is used to give the public the ridiculous impression all black people are at an equal risk… https://t.co/w71zVxbLMx— Good Morning Britain (@Good Morning Britain) 1552896697
People were quick to applaud the musician for his powerful and articulate words, with some pointing out that it was the first time they saw Pier Morgan listen (a true rarity!).
@GMB @akalamusic I could watch him talk for hours.— Rachel Hawkins (@Rachel Hawkins) 1552896836
@GMB @akalamusic I don't know who #Akala is but listening to him is like music to the ears. He speaks a lot of sens… https://t.co/Tc7StD89ac— Bev (@Bev) 1552900716
I think this is a perfect example of when someone SHOULD be on telly talking, Akala knows what he is saying and Pie… https://t.co/eiM6EE9PrI— YinkDaddy (@YinkDaddy) 1552902018
@GMB @akalamusic I have to say that @akalamusic is singularly very impressive and speaks with cogent sense and clar… https://t.co/RNC1BJgdma— Neil Lancaster #TheBloodTide (@Neil Lancaster #TheBloodTide) 1552898202
#gmb Can someone set up a meeting between Akala and Sadiq Khan please, or maybe just make him mayor instead! We nee… https://t.co/x99dqUvxJd— Fi ☃️❄☃️ (@Fi ☃️❄☃️) 1552896101
Akala has clocked articulation!! The ability to translate and communicate to people who hold different ideologies… https://t.co/Wl0QjDamPY— Funk Butcher (@Funk Butcher) 1552899163
Piers Morgan seemed to agree, responding:
No, I felt like I would learn something important from him. And I did. https://t.co/UanSouJQCH— Piers Morgan (@Piers Morgan) 1552899675
Akala might have become the first person ever to leave Piers Morgan speechless.
More: Tory MP says every knife sold in UK should have a GPS tracker and the internet has some thoughts

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