morrissey as racist, an explanation
the media (and others) took things morrissey said, combined with he did, and the skinhead imagery he chose for the backdrop, and made it into much more than it was.
in the past, he'd been labelled 'racist' because of things like such as his "all reggae is vile" comment, and another comment he made years later saying he didn't think black people and white people would ever really get along. some even tried to say "burn down the disco" was targted at black music, as if only black people make dance music - which is ridiculous and racist itself. then you throw in "bengali in platforms" ("life is hard enough when you belong here," implying that the bengali in question doesn't belong in the UK).
so...that brings us round to "your arsenal," with "the national front disco" (for those who don't know, the national front is a racist political movement) and "we'll let you know" (which glorifies football hooligans, who are often characterised as racists, perhaps rightly so).
on stage during the tour, one of the tour backdrops was two skinhead gals.
then we come to waving the union jack (which, like the ameriKKKan flag, is seized upon by racist elements as belonging to them) in front of an audience full of madness fans (they continue to have some skinhead followers despite not sharing those views themselves).
morrissey was definitely showing poor judgment, and by the NME was painted as a racist, or at the very least as someone who was "flirting" with the racist imagery and symbolism. unfortunately it spread through the media, and morrissey, instead of addressing it, remained silent on the matter. another bit of bad judgment on his part.
that's basically what happened...
