Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch has accused the BBC of promoting critical race theory (CRT) after one of its headlines claimed that black women were “most likely to die” of the plague in medieval London.
CRT is a left-wing academic framework that originated in the United States, examining how race intersects with social structures and institutions.
Critics noted that the article’s claim was based on a tenuous study from the Museum of London, which used the 675-year-old remains of 49 individuals who succumbed to the Black Death, with only nine identified as “probably” black in ethnicity.
Despite over 35,000 deaths during the 14th century London outbreak, the study concluded the ethnicity of individuals as black women not through DNA analysis but by visually assessing the shape of their facial bones.
Ms. Badenoch took to X, formerly known as Twitter, both to voice her concerns over the headline and to take issue with the study itself.
“This study is unreliable and the headline inaccurate and alarmist,” she said. “The 675 year old remains of 49 people who died of the Black Death were analysed and 9 were found to be ‘probably’ black.
“The Black Death killed over half of London. Making it a racism issue is nonsensical,” she added.
Rebecca Redfern led the controversial research from the Museum of London, which suggests that “misogynoir,” a term used to describe discrimination against black women, heightened the risk of death by plague in 14th century England.
The authors of the study, after examining 145 sets of human remains from plague cemeteries used during the Black Death, claim to have revealed the supposed impact of structural racism during the historical epidemic, with 49 individuals succumbing to plague and 96 to other causes among the studied population.
Organisations Using ‘Misleading Statistics’ to Promote CRT
Speaking critically regarding recent cases of CRT appearing in mainstream media reports, Ms. Badenoch said: “Too many organisations (and news outlets) use misleading race statistics to alarm ethnic minorities and whip up tensions around history and racism.“This undermines social cohesion in our country. I’ve written to the Museum of London expressing my concerns.”
Ms. Badenoch has previously garnered support from Tory members by engaging in culture war critiques against Labour.
Positioning herself as an “anti-woke” politician, the rising Tory star has consistently voiced her stance on issues like CRT.
This fresh accusation comes on the heels of the BBC receiving numerous complaints in October for an article on its Newsround site titled “White privilege: What is it and how can it be used to help others?”
BBC in ‘Thrall’ to Ideology
Speaking to The Epoch Times, Professor Matthew Goodwin broke down what he termed as the BBC’s “thrall” to “divisive ideology.”“What the BBC coverage of this story shows, is just how far the corporation is in thrall to critical race theory, to the argument that every and any disparity in British society is due to institutional racism,” Mr. Goodwin said.
Agreeing with Ms. Badenoch’s stance, he added that she was “right to criticise the BBC.”
He said that given Ms. Badenoch’s “position of power,” she should be “dealing with the underlying drivers of this divisive ideology by rooting out existing legislation and laws, which have encouraged the BBC and other organisations to embrace it.”
The Epoch Times has contacted the BBC for comment.
