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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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 Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 10:59 pm Post subject: Is Islamophobia the acceptable face of racism? |
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I've been quite disturbed by the backlash against the ordinary muslim community since 911. I don't see any good coming of it either. And when I chat with some of the Arab women who are taking the same classes as me at the university, I feel so sorry when they tell me about some of their ugly experiences at the hands of Westerners these days. And one longterm resident Iranian woman told me how people were so nice to her when she first came, and immediately after 911, 'friends' stopped inviting her out and people shunned her. Some of the women are too frightened to wear the hijab now.
This scapegoating is rolling back the gains of anti-racism
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Of course, we must take terrorist threats seriously - but also the price we pay for these alarums. They magnify our sense of trepidation and persuade people the worst is about to happen: it is under the cloak of such fear that governments on both sides of the Atlantic have been able to impose swingeing restrictions on civil liberties. The fact remains, however, that deaths in the UK from Islamist terrorism have been far fewer than those perpetrated by the IRA. Meanwhile, the price for these constant security operations is paid, above all, by our Muslim communities. Every such operation tars them with the brush of terrorism, an intimation to rest of society that extremism lurks within their ranks.
The scapegoating of the Muslim community has become the stock in trade of politicians, the Conservatives recently accusing the Muslim Council of Britain of separatist tendencies, and New Labour all too frequently indulging in the same kind of refrain - notably during the most disgraceful period of its domestic rule last autumn, when cabinet ministers were falling over themselves to make disparaging remarks about the Muslim community.
The argument typically starts from the global terrorist threat and ends up by suggesting the Muslim community nurtures and sustains such a terrorist mentality by its failure to integrate. Jack Straw squirmed about the veil, Ruth Kelly inveighed against imams, Alan Johnson proposed that faith schools admit up to 25% not of the same faith (patently directed against the Muslim community), and John Reid warned a Muslim audience of "fanatics looking to groom and brainwash [your] children ... for suicide bombing". Amid this panic-inducing rhetoric, there was little acknowledgment that Muslims suffer more discrimination than any other section of society, no recognition that every attack on their community can only intensify that prejudice. Imagine what it feels like to be a Muslim, stalked by a constant sense of distrust and suspicion? As a society we may condemn racism, but when it comes to Muslims, it seems to be somehow acceptable, from the cabinet downwards.
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Antipathy towards Muslims, meanwhile, threatens to roll back hard-fought anti-racist gains, which, over the decades, have won a degree of respect for ethnic minorities and an acceptance of the principle of difference. These gains have always been fragile. Important ground is now being ceded as Islamophobia becomes the acceptable face of racism and the attack on multiculturalism finds important new recruits.
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fiveeagles
Joined: 19 May 2005
Location: Vancouver
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| Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:13 pm Post subject: |
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| I agree with what you are saying. I would say many people would have a difficult time understanding compassion in a world where ever thing is sensationalized. |
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sundubuman
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: seoul
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| Posted: Wed Feb 14, 2007 11:40 pm Post subject: |
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| and what race exactly is Islam? |
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Leslie Cheswyck
Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: University of Western Chile
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| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 12:02 am Post subject: |
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| No more racist than jihad. |
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postfundie
Joined: 28 May 2004
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| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 6:22 am Post subject: |
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| still trying to pin racism and Islamophobia together? Pathetic...You are a muslim by choice. So if some stupid westerners shun the local muslim girl then we should make up a term 'Islamophobia' that ends up being used against those who want to criticise Islam....When o when will you realize what a tool you are....? |
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manlyboy
Joined: 01 Aug 2004
Location: Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
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| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 4:36 pm Post subject: Re: Is Islamophobia the acceptable face of racism? |
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| Quote: |
| I've been quite disturbed by the backlash against the ordinary muslim community since 911. |
I've been quite disturbed by the absence of backlash from the ordinary Muslim community towards their radical cousins since 9/11. |
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Teufelswacht
Joined: 06 Sep 2004
Location: Land Of The Not Quite Right
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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| postfundie wrote: |
| You are a muslim by choice. |
Generally you are not. Usually you are indocrinated into your religion from birth. Whole ethnic groups often share the same religion, it's bound up in their ethnicity.
Sadly people don't only shun these gentle ladies, many are actively down right nasty to them. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:23 pm Post subject: Let me get this straight... |
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So anti-semitic is a misleading and divisive term, but Islamophobia is something that needs to be spoken out against?
I admit there are people on this forum who are prejudiced against Islam, but that doesn't require me to suscribe to this reverse fear of a storm of Islamophobia which seems to me as bogus as asserting that all Muslims are radicals. |
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wannago
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Big_Bird wrote: |
| postfundie wrote: |
| You are a muslim by choice. |
Generally you are not. Usually you are indocrinated into your religion from birth. Whole ethnic groups often share the same religion, it's bound up in their ethnicity.
Sadly people don't only shun these gentle ladies, many are actively down right nasty to them. |
Does that mean that since my family is Christian and I was "indoctrinated" as a Christian, people who spew anti-Christian crap are being racist against me?
I AM A VICTIM OF RACISM! |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:43 pm Post subject: Re: Let me get this straight... |
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| Kuros wrote: |
So anti-semitic is a misleading and divisive term, but Islamophobia is something that needs to be spoken out against?
I admit there are people on this forum who are prejudiced against Islam, but that doesn't require me to suscribe to this reverse fear of a storm of Islamophobia which seems to me as bogus as asserting that all Muslims are radicals. |
Sometimes for an intelligent man, you can act like an insufferable buffoon. Anti-semitism is a dislike or hatred of jews. When have I said different Kuros?
My beef is with people who like to conflate anti-semitism with criticism of the Israeli government. |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:49 pm Post subject: |
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| wannago wrote: |
| Big_Bird wrote: |
| postfundie wrote: |
| You are a muslim by choice. |
Generally you are not. Usually you are indocrinated into your religion from birth. Whole ethnic groups often share the same religion, it's bound up in their ethnicity.
Sadly people don't only shun these gentle ladies, many are actively down right nasty to them. |
Does that mean that since my family is Christian and I was "indoctrinated" as a Christian, people who spew anti-Christian crap are being racist against me?
I AM A VICTIM OF RACISM! |
I would say that depends on who is doing it. If it's another ethnic group that has got it in for you, and labels your group as Christian, or identifies your group by its religion, I'd say it's a form of racism. I've tried to argue with Israeli friends of mine that I am not a Christian because I don't believe that Jesus (whose teachings I much respect) is the son of God, and I don't really believe there is a God. They do not accept this, and say my ancestory is Christian, and therefore I am Christian. That's their way of seeing it.
If it's an atheist member of your common community then that's a different story.
Lastly, many biologists will argue that technically there is no such thing as race. Are we going to argue that there is no such thing as racism? Race is a social construct. We are treating the muslim community as another race. They generally are a different colour to us. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:51 pm Post subject: Re: Let me get this straight... |
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| Big_Bird wrote: |
| Kuros wrote: |
So anti-semitic is a misleading and divisive term, but Islamophobia is something that needs to be spoken out against?
I admit there are people on this forum who are prejudiced against Islam, but that doesn't require me to suscribe to this reverse fear of a storm of Islamophobia which seems to me as bogus as asserting that all Muslims are radicals. |
Sometimes for an intelligent man, you can act like an insufferable buffoon. Anti-semitism is a dislike or hatred of jews. When have I said different Kuros?
My beef is with people who like to conflate anti-semitism with criticism of the Israeli government. |
Okay. My mistake. But you realize that the same association of Islamophobia with criticism of Islamic doctrine / actions of Islamic radicals might apply. Again, I'm not saying there aren't people on this very chatboard who are prejudiced against all Islamics.
On a side-note, I wonder how much legitimate criticism there can be of European countries for accepting hordes of Muslim immigrants on 'multi-cultural' pretenses. European countries are not immigrant-built nations like the US or Canada or to some extent even Australia.
I guess the answer to that would be to look at the problems other immigrant ethnic groups may (or may not) be having in Europe. |
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Big_Bird
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: Sometimes here sometimes there...
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| Posted: Thu Feb 15, 2007 7:59 pm Post subject: Re: Let me get this straight... |
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| Kuros wrote: |
Okay. My mistake. But you realize that the same association of Islamophobia with criticism of Islamic doctrine / actions of Islamic radicals might apply.
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I don't see anything wrong with criticism of those things. I hear muslims themselves criticising them both. But you do get people on these boards saying things like 'the muzzies' which sounds very ugly to me, and discussing them as if they were one big identical mass.
I also get tired of this nonsense about how normal muslims are supposed to be out demonstrating and denouncing radical muslims. No-one expected Catholics to do this when the IRA was running its bombing campaigns in the UK. Anyway, most muslims I know do complain about radicals.
I also know Latin American friends who have been treated suspiciously since 911, and only when they explain they are not arabs or muslims do people relax around them! |
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Satori
Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Location: Above it all
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:22 am Post subject: |
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| Islamophobia is no more prevalent and no more of a problem than Christophobia is. Some people only like to focus on one side of the issue though. People like the OP who consistantly highlight one side, as if the exact same thing is not happening on the other side are sick and actually a significant part of the problem ... |
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