Goodbye

It is with mixed feelings that I am leaving this forum. This will be my final post and I won’t be replying or engaging in online arguments. It is definitely the right time for me to go after selling my car but there are couple of things that need to be said beforehand. I should have published this a few weeks ago but I’ve been busy with work and changing cars, apologies for the delay.

It is unusual to introduce yourself when you are leaving but a little knowledge about me might put what I am about to say into perspective and explain why I feel qualified and justified to say what I do. I am 58 years old and have enjoyed three complementary careers. I was a police officer for 30 years, half of my career was as a PC and Sergeant in the Traffic Department. The RS ticked a box because back in the 80’s and 90’s we engaged in pursuits with RS Turbo’s, Sierra Cosworth’s and Subaru Impreza’s  etc., we were driving similar machinery. The RS was a nice way to relive those days. Immediately after retirement I completed my MSc then PhD by research in Criminology and had a great six years teaching at three universities. Upon retirement I maintained my driving skills with a test driving job, primarily at JLR and AML. I’m a car guy like all of you, that’s what attracted me to this forum having never owned a Ford before, let alone a fast one. The thing that maybe makes me approach what has been going on in this forum over the past months differently is that I have also had two careers in public service standing up for victims of various kinds of abuse. My experience of RS ownership has on the whole been great. I have met some outstanding automotive industry professionals who I have learnt a great deal from and made some really good friendships. I am deliberately keeping this impartial and depersonalised for good reason, I’m not naming any names because this is a message about the toxic direction the forum has taken at times, not about individuals. I’m surprised nobody has said anything about it before, although one or two replies have hinted at disapproval. I hate leaving this way and don’t want it to sound like sour grapes, my period of RS ownership has been a real privilege. It is only a tiny number of threads which are causing the damage, but they need to stop.

Back in 2016 when the Mk3 RS arrived amidst all the media hype I was one of the earlier owners. I joined forums in order to broaden my knowledge of the car. I was drawn in to some strange arguments but it is always worth trying to educate. I hope I gave helpful advice to the fellow owners who wanted to share what I had learnt. I stopped reading and contributing to the forum a year or two ago when it became less of a car forum and more of a personal platform for extreme political, racist and other bigoted opinions instigated and supported by a very small minority of members. I only started looking at forums again as I prepared to sell my car. It sold through this group’s Facebook site to a very impressive 22 year old young man so I am indebted to the group for facilitating such an easy sale. I also met some really friendly RS owners who bought the parts the buyer of my car didn’t want. During the selling process I noticed a couple of forum threads which really concerned me.

I believe it is my responsibility as a non-racist white man not to remain silent before leaving the forum. If I said nothing before leaving I would be condoning the racist views I have read. I can’t believe why they have any place appearing on a car forum. The thing which I hope will separate the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020 from other milestone events over the past decades, 400 years of black slavery, the rise of white supremacy and centuries of black achievement being written out of the history books; is the widespread realisation that it is no longer acceptable for the silent majority of reasonable non-racist white people to remain silent. This message needs to be heard and acted upon so more people feel empowered to stand up to the racism and other pernicious content which has hijacked the forum. There are plenty of other places where such racism resides amongst the people who choose to participate in it but there is no place for it here. I haven’t felt part of this community for a long time because of the racist and other bigoted views being shoved down my throat. I hope that once I have left, thanks to this message, the racism and bigotry stops. Should it rear its ugly head again, I hope this message encourages a culture where other members feel empowered to vocalise their disapproval and permanently eradicate inappropriate content.

Some members need to refresh themselves with the forum rules, so here are the relevant ones:

·       Please be nice to all users and members. Remember, the main aim of this club is to help provide info and resources [on the Mk3 Focus RS].
·       Removal of a thread is considered the absolute last resort.
·       The main reasons a thread or post would be deleted is if they fall into one of the following categories:

–      Offensive/Abusive
–      Promoting Illegal Activity
–      Potentially Libellous / Slanderous
–      Racist or other prejudice

Just for the avoidance of doubt, I asked Kenny to remove the Lewis Hamilton thread. It was a clear breach of all of the above. I checked with former police and academic colleagues who advised me it did not meet the CPS threshold test for inciting racial hatred but did recommend I should report it to a Hate Crime monitoring organisation who will escalate any future breaches which do satisfy the threshold.  That’s what I did. The clear and simple message on the halo of Lewis Hamilton’s car is “END RACISM”. That can never happen if the silent majority of non-racists remain silent. Why is the call to end racism even a debate in 2020?

The second issue is abuse of members on a personal level. This too is clearly not acceptable. If taken to the extreme, criminal offences of Harassment or worse could be committed. Civil redress could also be taken against individuals for libel. How have we got to this stage on what purports to be a car forum? This behaviour is akin to road rage, unacceptable and devoid of the normal social sanctions, why is this being tolerated?

The rules are not difficult to understand. Kenny has always taken the approach that he wants to encourage free speech and I appreciate that. Free speech ought to be a right but it is also a privilege which can and has been abused. The racism and personal attacks need to stop now. Members can either self-police, be banned by Kenny or face civil or criminal proceedings. If I leave any sort of legacy I hope it will be to encourage the individuals currently spoiling the forum to realise the damage they are doing and to adhere to the rules from now on.

I fully expect the stereotyping, incorrect assumptions about me, mocking and abuse because of my career history to start now. Please don’t waste your negative energy; I guarantee your assumptions will be inaccurate and I won’t be reading any of it so you will just be wasting your time. Instead of pouring your vitriol on me, why don’t you do something positive and get back to contributing to the RS community you joined by respecting what Kenny has achieved rather than ruining it? It is time to treat fellow members with the dignity they deserve. The world is a crazy, uncertain place right now and that is having a profound effect on many people’s mental health. Why are we fighting amongst ourselves on a forum where members come to escape the current pressures of life and seek solace amongst fellow petrolheads who share their passion for the RS? Have a laugh by all means, but making jokes about being racist whilst pretending not to be racist can never excuse your racism. Please stop bringing the forum into disrepute and stop trying to get your kicks hiding behind a keyboard at the personal expense of fellow members. Your posts just get removed so you will only be infamous for five minutes. Is this the contribution in life you really want to make?

I remember a sobering episode on this forum a couple of years ago when a former member recounted his story of serious personal illness prior to selling his RS. Without exception members showed genuine compassion at that time, it was heartwarming. I hope as a result of this message as a reunited group you can all rediscover that sense of common decency towards each other again. I don’t enjoy posting this as my leaving message, I just hope it eradicates the inappropriate nonsense we have all been subjected to and reminds people this is a car forum, not a personal platform.

Take care, stay safe and please be kind to one another, Keith.