Is the Countryside racist?

Spoiler alert - I live in the countryside. My neighbours are cows and sheep. All in all, I like the quietness of a rural setting and find it a pleasant enough environment. So I was somewhat alarmed to read that, according to Countryfile presenter John Craven, the countryside is racist! Yes, the TV presenter alleged that “people of colour” are made to feel unwelcome in the countryside, citing an academic report showing they are subjected to ‘staring, silence and laughter’

Has he been inhaling slurry fumes? There is absolutely NOTHING “Racist” about the people living in the British countryside and this race grifting from those Craven quotes really is..well, craven! I live in a country which is 97% white, so unsurprisingly, this is reflected in the people I see in the rural setting. If the 3% BAME community chooses to live in the countryside, I am certain they would be treated no differently to anyone else living here. If they choose to visit the countryside, again I have never seen people “laughing” at the or “staring”. Yes, it may seem a little unusual when the 97% see some of the 3% but in 2024, I am sure this is handled with our usual tolerance and friendliness.

I resent the way in which liberal academics set out to demean those of us who choose a countryside home. If BAME people want to come and see the beauty of our country, great. But I don’t like the way in which they seem to resent US just because we live here and they don’t. In some ways, the truth is that if White British people visit certain built up Urban areas, they are the ones to be stared at. Maybe Leeds University could do a study on that for John Craven to propagandise?