Sunday, April 04, 2004
When the English football team plays abroad the British police liase with the force of whichever country the team is travelling to to keep an eye on known trouble makers, sometimes not allowing them into the country, sometimes monitoring their actions before and after a game. Now, not all of these are going to be white, but it's a fair bet that there's more white football hooligans and white people convicted of disorder offences around football matches than Muslims who have got involved with anti-US and UK activity, even if you work on the assumption that every British citizen arrested was guilty.
Yet, strangely, the white hooligans are called a bad example of the country, examples of the worst that UK has to offer. No one demands that white social and religious leaders have to denounce such activities and call on other white people to make clear denounciations of their activity. You don't get people writing into newspapers letters pages saying that these people should be shipped 'back' (a misnomer) to somewhere like Scandinavia, France or, at the most extreme, Africa.
So why the fuck should it be demanded of Muslims every week it seems? Why do we allow the racist idea that one man of Middle-Eastern ancestry can speak for any other? Why does this miserable pissant Government not stand up to the media, all too eager to shriek about Muslim fundamentalists but strangely quiet about the more unwholesome elements of their own constituency? Why won't the Government at least risk being seen as massively condescending and say "We see no reason why one section of the community of this country should be ask to defend themselves over something they aren't involved with"?
Yet, strangely, the white hooligans are called a bad example of the country, examples of the worst that UK has to offer. No one demands that white social and religious leaders have to denounce such activities and call on other white people to make clear denounciations of their activity. You don't get people writing into newspapers letters pages saying that these people should be shipped 'back' (a misnomer) to somewhere like Scandinavia, France or, at the most extreme, Africa.
So why the fuck should it be demanded of Muslims every week it seems? Why do we allow the racist idea that one man of Middle-Eastern ancestry can speak for any other? Why does this miserable pissant Government not stand up to the media, all too eager to shriek about Muslim fundamentalists but strangely quiet about the more unwholesome elements of their own constituency? Why won't the Government at least risk being seen as massively condescending and say "We see no reason why one section of the community of this country should be ask to defend themselves over something they aren't involved with"?
