Social media storm hits councillor in racism row
A DERBYSHIRE Dales District Councillor who has vehemently opposed the displaying of the controversial Black’s Head in Ashbourne has posted images of similar caricatures on her public social media page, it has been alleged.
Ashbourne Town councillor Ann Smith pointed out at a recent meeting that Councillor Claire Raw had previously displayed a profile picture on her Facebook page that appears to be overlaid with a simplified interpretation of the flag of Sardinia, where, Cllr Smith told members, Cllr Raw has a holiday home.
The nation’s flag, she pointed out, features four black heads that symbolise bandaged Moors which, on the original flag, bear a resemblance to Ashbourne’s controversial wooden carving that has stood on a gantry above St John Street for decades.
Cllr Smith said: “What’s the difference between that and ours? I’d like Councillor Raw to answer that.”
The town council had met to discuss demanding a formal apology from a handful of district councillors, including Cllr Raw, over comments they made about Ashbourne, and even branding it a racist town.
They unanimously agreed to write to Derbyshire Dales District Council and the Local Government Ombudsman, demanding a public apology in our sister paper, the Ashbourne News Telegraph, and on television.
The newspaper has also seen a copy of a letter reportedly being sent to Derbyshire Dales District Council’s chief executive and monitoring officer, appearing to make an official complaint over the image of the flag being posted on her social media page, describing the images of “decapitated and blindfolded black heads” as “grotesque and offensive”.
The letter, signed by district councillors Dermot Murphy and Stuart Lees alleges that Cllr Raw breached clause one of the Derbyshire Dales District Council and Local Government Association Model Councillor Code of Conduct by posting the image for a few days back in the summer.
The clause, they add in the letter, calls on councillors to treat members
of the public with respect. A passage in the letter reads: “It is very difficult indeed to think of anything more offensive, disrespectful and demanding to members of the black, Asian and minority ethnic communities within the Derbyshire Dales and beyond than the display of several blindfolded and severed black heads, the results of European colonial and racist violence, on social media, in this case Councillor Raw’s Facebook
What’s the difference between that design and our Head? I’d like Councillor Raw to answer that Cllr Ann Smith
page.”
The original flag of Sardinia does differ to the image posted on Councillor Raw’s Facebook page, in that the four heads that sit in the corners of the white flag, around a red cross, are characterised in a modern way, and do not feature the same detail of the modern flag.
Cllr Raw has been approached for a comment on the use of the flag on her social media page, but we have not received a response.