The BBC has been accused of racism after it posted a video online asking “Black people and fried chicken – is there any truth in it?”
The corporation put the video on Newsbeat’s Twitter feed, on the last day of Black History Month, to promote a documentary about racism faced by black people in today’s Britain.
A tagline, “Black people and fried chicken – is there any truth in it?”, which accompanied the clip was later removed.
The video was later reposted with a change in accompanying text, stating: “We’re talking about being black and British, the stereotypes you might face, like this one?”
In the film, which asks “Is it true all black people like chicken?” a black girl states: “It’s not the only food that we eat.”
A white girl says: “Apparently it makes your bum bigger so a lot of black girls that I know, they are always like, yeah, ‘you know, I eat loads of chicken because it makes your bum bigger’.”
And a white man adds: “Certain cartoons and films and things like that, they have played on that stereotype a little bit.”
The video drew criticism on Twitter, even after the headline was changed.
@BBCNewsbeat Are you going to apologize for your previous headlines? It’s not edgy or provocative; it’s wrong.
— Ellen (@tuplandia) October 31, 2016
@BBCNewsbeat So with all things going on, whether or not we like fried chicken is your go to topic?? Tasteless bullshit
— Massa Bruce (@KwesSRC) October 31, 2016
.@BBCNewsbeat This is incredibly offensive and racist. Please delete it.
— Susan (@susan1878) November 1, 2016
@BBCNewsbeat you ought to be ashamed. This is the best you could come up with for black history month AND someone signed off on it???
— Guyanné Saul (@GEHSaul) October 31, 2016
The short films still remain on Twitter and Newsbeat’s social media accounts.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “These short films show young people from various backgrounds discussing their experiences of dealing with different stereotypes, which accompanies a wider documentary looking at racism in the UK.”
The tweet linked to a documentary posted on the BBC iPlayer, in which reporter Nesta McGregor examines the Black Lives Matter movement.
