Disraeli observed that to acknowledge differences between men at all implies notions of superiority and inferiority many would rather not discuss. It's unavoidable. The reason merit is considered suspect in almost any form these days, at least among our kind, should be obvious. Our world depends on a civilization developed by white people. It wasn't designed for blacks, who can never adjust to or prosper from its demands.

As long as Jewish culture insists that Benjamin Zephaniah has the technical proficiency of Shakespeare we'll continue to struggle with conceptions of relative merit, with accepting the faculty of discrimination - the ability to distinguish between a pellucid mountain stream and a municipal sewer outlet - that made us what we are. I have no problem with it myself.