Happy Warrior

IT was a good start to the year for Sgt. Leslie Turner, who was awarded 30,000 pounds in an out-of-court settlement after suing Scotland Yard. Sergeant Turner was the first black officer in London’s Metropolitan Police to be made a royal bodyguard. It was his job to guard HRH the Duchess of Cornwall-that’s Camilla, the Prince of Wales’ new missus, though in some sort of Britannic Teresa Heinz-type arrangement she doesn’t use the moniker “Princess of Wales.” Anyway, Sergeant Turner ceased being a royal bodyguard last spring and subsequently brought his suit for “racial discrimination.” Here’s the wrinkle: He claims he was over-promoted only because he was black.

If he’d been a white copper, he’d have been given a job commensurate with his abilities and he’d have done it fine and been happy in his work. Instead, because he had the misfortune to be a black copper, his politically correct superiors singled him out for a job for which he was unqualified, thus leading to misery and dissatisfaction. In discriminating in favor of him because he was black, they in effect discriminated against him, also because he was black. That, at any rate, is what his lawyer argued, and it worked.

About the Author

Mark Steyn

Mark Steyn is an international bestselling author, a Top 41 recording artist, and a leading Canadian human-rights activist.

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IT was a good start to the year for Sgt. Leslie Turner, who was awarded 30,000 pounds in an out-of-court settlement after suing Scotland Yard. Sergeant Turner was the first black officer in London’s Metropolitan Police to be made a royal bodyguard. It was his job to guard HRH the Duchess of Cornwall-that’s Camilla, the Prince of Wales’ new missus, though in some sort of Britannic Teresa Heinz-type arrangement she doesn’t use the moniker “Princess of Wales.” Anyway, Sergeant Turner ceased being a royal bodyguard last spring and subsequently brought his suit for “racial discrimination.” Here’s the wrinkle: He claims he was over-promoted only because he was black.

If he’d been a white copper, he’d have been given a job commensurate with his abilities and he’d have done it fine and been happy in his work. Instead, because he had the misfortune to be a black copper, his politically correct superiors singled him out for a job for which he was unqualified, thus leading to misery and dissatisfaction. In discriminating in favor of him because he was black, they in effect discriminated against him, also because he was black. That, at any rate, is what his lawyer argued, and it worked.