On Friday, I wrote that I almost felt sorry for Jason Arday. The next day, over a drink, I quoted myself to a friend. His eyes narrowed. 'It's hot.' 'Yes,' said I, puzzled. 'It's been very hot.' 'What are you trying to say? Why these distant glimpses of the obvious?' 'Are you sure that you haven't been sitting in the sun without a hat?'
Alas, it was time to drop the 'almost.' While we were chuckling and joshing and ordering more Pimm's, poor Arday was already dead. The disintegration of his personality had driven him to despair and suicide.
There was one predictable consequence. Within hours of the news breaking, the race relations industry rushed into action. A black man has suffered. He could not possibly have been guilty of anything. Some white must be to blame. Jason Arday has suffered martyrdom because of white racism and bigotry.
This is indeed true, though not in the way that the race lobbyists believe. One symptom of racism is discrimination. Jason Arday did indeed suffer from discrimination: positive discrimination and affirmative action, which elevated him to a status he could not sustain; to burdens which he could not bear.
What was the chap to think? He was being praised by prominent academics, promoted by others who ex officio must be deemed to be highly intelligent. Perhaps he was as good as they said. It is not difficult to succumb to praise, even when undeserved. Moreover, these friendly colleagues seemed happy to believe all the stories which he told about his hardships. It may be that he came to believe them himself.
The activists who are now protesting would no doubt insist that he would not have been treated in this way if he had been white. They are right. If he had been white, he would not have received anything like the promotions which ultimately overwhelmed him. He could and no doubt would have found a job that he could do, which would have been a route to happiness.
Then bigotry. Ex-Professor Arday was a victim of bigotry: the soft bigotry of low expectations. There must have been some academics who questioned his credentials. Even in a sociology department, the entire population cannot have been wholly naive. But it is a fair assumption that the doubters were told to keep quiet. Whether he was really that good, a senior black makes us look good - and Heaven forbid that we might be charged with racism. At the same time, the police weighed in to intimidate a journalist who was simply trying to do his job. He too was accused of racism. If they have not already apologised, those cops must be made to do so.
There is only one way to work towards good race relations in this country: colour blindness. Whether it be in employment, education or any other public service, discrimination must cease, to be replaced by as much equality of opportunity as possible. This should even be true in Cambridge University. That said, and I may be relying too much on anecdotes, I have the impression that in the private sector, many firms and businesses would be keen to employ young blacks, as long as they were good enough.
That is the key criterion: good enough. I also have the impression that in a lot of inner city schools, black children are taught that Britain's history is bloodstained by slavery while contemporary British society is scarred by racism. So what chance will a black kid have of succeeding?
There is an easy answer to that question: effort. If you want to succeed, work hard and pass exams. Prove that you are good enough. Above all, take no notice of Lucy Powell, who will tell you that this is all too stressful.
Role models are also useful, and for young blacks, there is one to hand: Kemi Badenoch. Who would have thought that a black woman could become the Leader of the Conservative Party? That tells us more about the state of modern Britain than the fate of Jason Arday.
What a sadness. He obviously did have some talent, but was tempted to foolishness. But he was not a martyr: merely a very naughty boy. Yet that said, he did suffer a version of martyrdom, at the hands of those who may claim otherwise, but who are merely promoting racism and bigotry, while trying to poison race relations and defaming this country.