Morrissey: 'Everyone Ultimately Prefers Their Own Race'

morrissey

Morrissey has sparked new accusations of racism after voicing support for a controversial political party in his native Britain.

In an interview conducted in April by his nephew Sam Etsy Rayner, the 60-year-old singer said he hasn’t heard For Britain leader Anne Marie Waters say anything racist. (Waters has publicly denounced Muslim birthrates in Britain, referred to Muslims as "these f**kers" who "take it all," and called for a stop to Muslim immigration.)

“But if you call someone racist in modern Britain you are telling them that you have run out of words. You are shutting the debate down and running off,” said Morrissey. “The word is meaningless now. Everyone ultimately prefers their own race … does this make everyone racist?

“The people who reduce every conversation down to a matter of race could be said to be the most traditionally ‘racist’ because everything in life is NOT exclusively a question of race, so why make it so?”

Morrissey added that borders “bring order” and denied that he benefits from “white privilege.” 

“To even slur someone for white privilege is in itself a racist comment! It’s all reached such silly proportions now,” he said. “How will it stop?”

In 2010, Morrissey came under fire for suggesting "the Chinese are a subspecies" because of the treatment of animals in China. In a 1992 interview with Q Magazine, Morrissey said he didn’t believe “black people and white people will ever really get on or like each other.”

Asked by NME in 2007 if he would move back to London from Rome, he reportedly replied: "With the issue of immigration, it's very difficult because, although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears … England is a memory now. The gates are flooded and anybody can have access to England and join in.” (Morrissey took issue with the article, and issued a statement that said: "I abhor racism and oppression or cruelty of any kind and will not let this pass without being absolutely clear and emphatic … Racism is beyond common sense and has no place in our society."

In April, Morrissey postponed several Canadian tour dates due to an injury to his hand. Shows in Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Winnipeg were bumped to October.

“Many bands cancel and nothing is ever said about it,” the singer said in the interview. “The song and dance made about my cancellations is usually from people who wouldn’t go to the concert in the first place.”

When Rayner asked if he will play the new Canadian dates, Morrissey replied: “Yes.”