UK: Historic ‘Little White Town’ Changes Signs After ‘Racism’ Complaints

The historic ‘Little White Town’ of Bideford in Devon, south-west England, is to change its signs over fears “the town council could be classed as a racist white supremacist [sic]”.

Bideford was dubbed “The Little White Town” by the Victorian author Charles Kingsley in the historical novel Westward Ho! more than 160 years ago, in reference to the many white buildings which give the town its character.

But town councillor and former town mayor Dermot McGeough complained that “The wording ‘Little White Town’ can be perceived as causing a racist slur and not politically correct” and should “be rectified immediately”. {snip}

{snip}

A survey on this supposedly contentious issue found that 69 per cent of Bideford residents were in favour of leaving the town sobriquet unchanged, compared to just 31 per cent who thought it should change — so naturally, councillors voted in favour of changing it.

The town council did offer a sop of sorts to traditionalists like councillor Doug Bushby, who said the proposal was “political correctness gone mad”, by not dropping Bideford’s identity as “The Little White Town” entirely. Instead, they decided that signs will now bear the rather clumsier moniker “Charles Kingsley’s ‘Little White Town’ (1855)” — to add “context”.

It has not been reported how much money will be squandered on the changes, but critics have questioned where the current mania for politically correct revisionism will end.

{snip}

{snip} A previous attempt by town councillors to scrap ‘The Little White Town’ name in 2008 had failed in the face of local protests.