Why isn’t it racist to call someone ‘stupid and white’?

13 February 2025 7:00am GMT Sam Kerr, the star striker for the Chelsea women’s football team, has been found not guilty of racially aggravated harassment, after she called a Metropolitan policeman “stupid and white”. In court, Ms Kerr – who is mixed race – did not deny saying those words. Indeed, there was video footage of her saying them, inside Twickenham police station after a drunken night out. She did, however, deny that she was being racist. And ultimately the jury agreed with her. I for one was fascinated by this verdict. Mainly because I can’t help wondering what would happen if the roles were reversed. Imagine a white professional footballer – a wealthy star striker, from a world-renowned Premier League club – were to be caught on film calling a policeman of Afro-Caribbean descent “stupid and black”. All of us, I feel sure, would agree that such a comment was blatantly racist. I can’t conceive of any possible defence for saying it. Yet calling a white policeman “stupid and white”, it would seem, is different, and can therefore be excused. Perhaps this story will be regarded as vindication by those on the progressive Left who have for years argued that there is no such thing as racism against white people. If I’ve followed their reasoning correctly, this is because racism is all about power and privilege. And so, because white people are more powerful and privileged than non-white people, the former can’t be victims of racism. Only the latter.