Words used to insult – whether racist, classist or sexist – can change meaning over time, morphing from hateful to silly and vice versa
Racist language evolves like every other kind. Modern racists have the added pressure of being forced to use code words, to avoid being obvious and unpopular, and so their language is perhaps mutating at an accelerated pace. You’ll notice this if you watch the chilling video The Guardian just put up of an undercover journey into some meetings of the English Defence League (EDL), an anti-Muslim hate group. They use the word “paki” a lot, but it seems to mean any Muslim, not just Pakistani. Similarly “Asian” seems to mean, to them, Muslim, and is similarly considered an insult.
Another thing you’ll notice is a new use of the verb “sort,” as in, “we’ll get them sorted.” This has been a common idiom in Britain for many years, and its meaning is flexible but generally friendly: “Sorted?” means “Did you get what you needed?” or simply “Are you okay?” It obviously derives from “sorted out.” But it also has an association with drugs: If you’re on your way to a dance club, and you say you’re sorted, it means you have connected with a dealer and you are in possession of some pills or herbs. “Did he sort you?” is the British equivalent of the American expression “Did he hook you up?” By extension, “I’m sorted” has come to mean I’m high on drugs, particularly ecstasy. And, by general extension for all of that, sorted can be used to mean generally good or cool or sexy, as in, “That bird’s sorted, she is.”
But when the skinheads of the EDL promise to “sort” the inhabitants of a council estate in Bradford, they do not intend anything so pleasurable. They are talking about giving out beatings. The Guardian video includes a recording of hysterical telephone threats made against an anti-racist activist that promise, “You come to Birmingham, mate, you are going to get sorted.”
It seems strange at first that the verb has gone through such a 180-degree rotation in meaning, from helping to assaulting, but it can be explained by the fact that the thugs think that they are, by administering violence, setting things right – sorting – in some way.
There’s a bright side, an optimist might say, to changes in distasteful language: Sometimes it shifts the other way, from hateful to silly. As the neutral word Asian has come to take on, in fascist parlance, a negative connotation, so inversely do some hateful racist terms become diluted.
The most recent example of this came from last year’s best actress, YouTube one-hit wonder Clare Werbeloff, also known as Clare the King’s Cross Bogan. In case you missed this troubling piece of improvisation on Australian TV news (and subsequently all over the Web), this 19-year-old model/actress was interviewed by a TV crew moments after a shooting in the red-light district of Sydney. She claimed to have seen it all happen, and famously described the altercation as being between “a fat wog and a skinny wog.” She then went on to imitate the accents of the quarrelers as she recounted their exchange: “Oi bru, you slept with my cousin, eh? And the other one goes, ‘No man I didn’t for shit eh?’ The other one goes, ‘I will call on my fully sick boys!’ And then they pulled out a gun, and just went chk-chk, boom!”
She became famous largely because her story was entirely made up, and because her impersonations were so colourful, but also because her use of a notorious racist term shocked the rest of the world. Australian commentators had to explain – and argue and argue about – what she meant by “wog.” It turns out that in Australia the word doesn’t mean dark-skinned person, but a person of Eastern or Southern European descent – it means Romanians, Balkans, Turks, Greeks and Middle-Easterners. And it is commonly used there, even in TV comedy, and even by self-parodying European immigrants themselves (google Australian videos with the word in it and you’ll see what I mean). Werbeloff herself insisted there was nothing racist about it.
That doesn’t make the word any less offensive here, of course, or even in Australia, where many people were still disgusted by it, but the general public seemed to shruggingly accept that, offensive as it may be, it’s less offensive when used toward white people, and at any rate it has entered everyday vocabulary and probably cannot be eliminated at this point.
Paradoxically, Werbeloff’s most furious detractors made a point of calling her a bogan – Australian slang for brash working-class person, similar to the British chav. This is a classist term, which is undoubtedly hurtful too. And, predictably, anonymous YouTube scribes triumphantly point out that her name is Jewish, too, proving that the miasma of racist name-calling is a deep, dark, confusing and inescapable one, a sort of shifting fog that we all hope to avoid falling into.
The Globe and Mail
Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up
Showing posts with label Asian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Asian. Show all posts
June 04, 2010
April 23, 2008
Role of honour
The history that black and Asian service people in the British armed forces is a long and rich one, as Joy Persaud reports
Corporal Bharminder Singh Osahan, 27, grew up in Kenya. A member of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), he has been attached to 4 Regiment in the Army Air Corps for the past eight years. He believes that a British serviceperson is a symbol of the nation’s and its people’s sovereignty.
"I am very proud to be in the REME, and above all the armed forces," he says. "In my unit, each individual has a role regardless of their ethnic origin, but there is a variety of backgrounds from all parts of the world – Indian, Zimbabwean and South African."
The notion that his race or religion could be an issue in the forces is one that Corporal Osahan finds hard to comprehend. "I find it a complete misunderstanding," he says. "People may have encountered personality clashes or arguments with their peers, and this may have been flaunted as a racism case. On the contrary there may be some cases of racism, but I haven’t heard of any while I’ve been serving."
He maintains that there are no conflicts between his religion – Sikhism – and his job, and has found that while some people are curious about his beliefs in a politely inquisitive manner, others don’t seem to notice.
"I personally choose not to wear a kirpan (ceremonial sword), as I have not been baptised yet. However I do wear a turban all the time. I wear a patka, which is a smaller turban when at work, or when I need to wear a helmet, as this doesn’t compromise my safety.
"People may have different approaches and be slightly aware of the difference in me, not knowing how to converse, what to expect, but after the initial barrier is broken, life’s plain sailing."
Such positive talk would likely be music to the ears of those at the Ministry of Defence, which has admitted that it is falling short of its recruitment targets among ethnic minorities.
The percentage of UK forces from ethnic minority backgrounds has risen only slightly recently; as of 1 January 2008, ethnic minorities accounted for 6% of the armed forces compared with 5.8 % at the same point last year.
The MoD stresses that it regards education and awareness of diversity and equality issues as a high priority. It says that annual equality and diversity training, at a level appropriate to rank and responsibility, is mandatory for all members of the armed forces. In addition, the Joint Equality and Diversity Training Centre at Shrivenham delivers a five-day course to unit equality and diversity advisers and a one-day seminar, which is mandatory for senior officers.
The MoD says that is has made ‘great strides’ in improving its record in equal opportunities. It’s hard to argue. After all, it’s within living memory that non-whites couldn’t join the army. They were categorised as ‘aliens’ and fears abounded that they would be ‘too conspicuous on the battlefield’. While such notions were, incredibly, held by 20th century minds, they would shock all but a minority today, which is testament to how attitudes have evolved.
Yet there has never been a shortage of black and Asian people volunteering to fight. During World War I, two out of every 10 service people were volunteers from the Indian Subcontinent, the Caribbean and Africa. In World War II, the figure rose to three out of 10 – this included nearly three million people from the Indian Subcontinent – the largest volunteer army in history.
In fact, more World War I soldiers came from India than from Scotland, Ireland and Wales put together. This commitment has been acknowledged of late. In 2002, the Queen opened the Memorial Gates across Constitution Hill at Hyde Park Corner in London to honour the millions from the Caribbean, Indian subcontinent and Africa who contributed so significantly in World Wars I and II. Without their sacrifices, the world may have been very different today.
As well as the Gates, regional war museums and education services have held exhibitions and published literature that tells the stories of those who eagerly left their sunny homelands and families to fight for Britain, many never to return. And there were, of course, the many service personnel from minority ethnic backgrounds, born within the British Isles.
The Ministry of Defence’s website includes a section entitled ‘We Were There’. It details the personal commitment and professionalism of Britain’s minority ethnic service men and women, aiming to promote understanding by showing how those from all over the world fought alongside British forces. It acknowledges that while it is a positive story, "it should be remembered that over many years some of those who served did experience racial prejudice. Despite this they continued to offer their services to help Britain."
Some accounts of bravery and service have inevitably been lost for good, but others are still celebrated. For example, the story of the first black officer of the British Army – Lieutenant Walter Tull – was unheard until relatively recently.
Tull’s father was the son of slave who arrived in England from Barbados in 1876, marrying a local girl. When his mother died, Walter was just seven, and he and one brother were sent to an orphanage when their father’s new wife couldn’t cope with the large family. Tull went on to be one of Britain’s first black professional footballers. He played for both Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town. When the World War I was declared, Tull, like many players, joined the Football Battalion.
He was promoted quickly to Sergeant, and in 1916, he fought in the major Somme offensive. Although he developed trench fever and had to return to England, Tull had so impressed his senior officers that they sent him to Scotland for further training and, despite rules stating that no "negro or person of colour" could exercise "actual command" as officers, he was commissioned in 1917.
The 29-year-old and his men returned to France but, on 25 March 1918, in no-man’s land near Favreuil, a German bullet hit Tull in the head. His body was never recovered, despite the efforts of several of his men, who risked heavy machine gun fire to retrieve him.
Another life that is celebrated is that of Subadar Khudadad Khan. He was the first Indian to receive the Victoria Cross. Khan was a 26-year-old Sepoy in the 129th Duke of Connaught’s Own Baluchis, British Indian Army, during World War I. On 31 October 1914 at the front line in France, Khan was in charge of one of two machine guns. The British officer in charge was wounded and the other gun was put out of action by a shell, but Sepoy Khan, although badly hurt, continued to operate his gun after the other five men of the detachment had been killed. Eventually, he was left for dead, but was able to crawl back to his unit. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery in helping to prevent the German Army reach crucial ports.
Such accounts can be found, if you look, but they can’t negate the bad press that surrounds the treatment of some servicemen and women. At the time of writing, the struggle of the Gurkhas is in the headlines (See News, page 57). Many have handed back hard-won medals and honours to the Government to highlight the fact that pension allowances are less than those of British-born soldiers, as well as that veterans can’t stay in the country for which they helped to secure freedom.
The plight of the Gurkha veterans, who have been awarded an unparalleled 26 Victoria Crosses, has touched many who were previously unaware of the disparity in the way these soldiers are being treated. But while members of the public at least instantly recognise Britain’s strong connections with the Gurkhas – past and present – the same cannot always be said for Indian, African and Caribbean forces.
Hav Major Rajindar Singh Dhatt, 85, (pictured, right) who holds a Burma Star, is a member of the Undivided Indian Ex-Services Association. He says that until recently television coverage never mentioned the Indian Army – instead they would talk about America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. "They ignored us. So, we decided to fight for our recognition and acknowledgement. In 2002, when the memorial was built, it was the best day of all of our lives. What we were struggling for we achieved. We were happy to get that in our lifetime."
While Major Dhatt acknowledges that British officers have "done a lot to help us get these Memorial Gates", he laughs gently as he recalls the differences between the way the Indians and the white British were treated. He doesn’t complain, he simply recounts the disparities in a factual manner. "We played hockey, football, volleyball and basketball and when we mixed with them, we were just like them. But there were differences between our uniforms, living standards and living quarters. We were living in mud-baked huts, and they were in very nice pukka barracks, they had ceiling fans and we had windows – the wind coming through was meant to be enough for us. "Rations were not bad but it was inferior to what the British were getting. So, sometimes we did feel the differences, but at that time they were ruling us."
He also acknowledges that the British officers were "happy if you did mix with them and they were trained in how to behave and about the religions and languages. They were prepared and were trained to do the right thing when they went to India."
Another ex-serviceman is West Indian AC1 Airman First Class RAF, Arthur Leigh, who joined up from Jamaica. He says that things have changed enormously since his days in the forces. The 85-year-old member of the West Indian Ex-Servicemen’s/Ex-Servicewomen’s Association UK (Wiesa) says he doesn’t see the point of dwelling on the negative experiences that some may have had more than 60 years ago.
"There were good times and bad – but we came through. I’ve listened to men giving their version of what happened to them during the war, in the Army, Navy and RAF, and they tend to highlight the negatives of the past. In those days you were put into a flight squadron and told to get on with the job.
"I have no regrets – that’s why I am here in England. If I had any regrets, I wouldn’t be here. I don’t agree with those who have come back and are living here comfortably and are griping about the experiences they had in 1945."
Unsurprisingly, Leigh says he would encourage young people to go into the services, saying that they would gain "discipline and straightening out", adding that the forces offer opportunities in various fields.
Major Dhatt echoes this. He and members of his association visit schools and Sikh temples to tell young people about the war. He describes them as being "very attentive" and curious about their treatment and daily lives.
"When we are interviewed or asked, we always say to the young boys that this is their country, they have to live here and where they live, they have to defend that country. You should join the Army or police. We say they should not just become doctors, lawyers or engineers – don’t miss out the armed forces.
"Some people say there is too much discipline in the Army or discrimination – but we tell them that all these things you have to face. Keep high-spirited and you can be successful.
"We used to go and see [lots of people] but now some of us are housebound and we can’t afford transport. We would like to carry on this duty so that if someone calls us, we can tell them about this country and encourage young people to join the Army."
Corporal Osahan agrees. "I would encourage strongly anyone who wishes to experience a lifestyle out of the ordinary, which is testing day to day, to join the forces," he says.
"If I did ever encounter racism, then the immediate point of contact is my chain of command. If that fails there is an equal opportunities officer I could report to. I am confident that if any such incidents occurred then they would be dealt with appropriately."
But maybe the fact that there needs to be training programmes and specific recruitment drives to attract black and Asian people indicates that this is still an area of concern. Perhaps in the future all service men and women will be able to echo veteran Arthur Leigh, who says: "Of course there were problems but there is absolutely no point in me repeating them. They were the problems of the day and they were resolved."
And perhaps those who remain ignorant will realise that the major conflicts of the last century were – in every sense – world wars and will happily acknowledge the sacrifices made by the millions who came running from distant lands when the mother country called.
Legion Magazine
Corporal Bharminder Singh Osahan, 27, grew up in Kenya. A member of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), he has been attached to 4 Regiment in the Army Air Corps for the past eight years. He believes that a British serviceperson is a symbol of the nation’s and its people’s sovereignty.
"I am very proud to be in the REME, and above all the armed forces," he says. "In my unit, each individual has a role regardless of their ethnic origin, but there is a variety of backgrounds from all parts of the world – Indian, Zimbabwean and South African."
The notion that his race or religion could be an issue in the forces is one that Corporal Osahan finds hard to comprehend. "I find it a complete misunderstanding," he says. "People may have encountered personality clashes or arguments with their peers, and this may have been flaunted as a racism case. On the contrary there may be some cases of racism, but I haven’t heard of any while I’ve been serving."
He maintains that there are no conflicts between his religion – Sikhism – and his job, and has found that while some people are curious about his beliefs in a politely inquisitive manner, others don’t seem to notice.
"I personally choose not to wear a kirpan (ceremonial sword), as I have not been baptised yet. However I do wear a turban all the time. I wear a patka, which is a smaller turban when at work, or when I need to wear a helmet, as this doesn’t compromise my safety.
"People may have different approaches and be slightly aware of the difference in me, not knowing how to converse, what to expect, but after the initial barrier is broken, life’s plain sailing."
Such positive talk would likely be music to the ears of those at the Ministry of Defence, which has admitted that it is falling short of its recruitment targets among ethnic minorities.
The percentage of UK forces from ethnic minority backgrounds has risen only slightly recently; as of 1 January 2008, ethnic minorities accounted for 6% of the armed forces compared with 5.8 % at the same point last year.
The MoD stresses that it regards education and awareness of diversity and equality issues as a high priority. It says that annual equality and diversity training, at a level appropriate to rank and responsibility, is mandatory for all members of the armed forces. In addition, the Joint Equality and Diversity Training Centre at Shrivenham delivers a five-day course to unit equality and diversity advisers and a one-day seminar, which is mandatory for senior officers.
The MoD says that is has made ‘great strides’ in improving its record in equal opportunities. It’s hard to argue. After all, it’s within living memory that non-whites couldn’t join the army. They were categorised as ‘aliens’ and fears abounded that they would be ‘too conspicuous on the battlefield’. While such notions were, incredibly, held by 20th century minds, they would shock all but a minority today, which is testament to how attitudes have evolved.
Yet there has never been a shortage of black and Asian people volunteering to fight. During World War I, two out of every 10 service people were volunteers from the Indian Subcontinent, the Caribbean and Africa. In World War II, the figure rose to three out of 10 – this included nearly three million people from the Indian Subcontinent – the largest volunteer army in history.
In fact, more World War I soldiers came from India than from Scotland, Ireland and Wales put together. This commitment has been acknowledged of late. In 2002, the Queen opened the Memorial Gates across Constitution Hill at Hyde Park Corner in London to honour the millions from the Caribbean, Indian subcontinent and Africa who contributed so significantly in World Wars I and II. Without their sacrifices, the world may have been very different today.
As well as the Gates, regional war museums and education services have held exhibitions and published literature that tells the stories of those who eagerly left their sunny homelands and families to fight for Britain, many never to return. And there were, of course, the many service personnel from minority ethnic backgrounds, born within the British Isles.
The Ministry of Defence’s website includes a section entitled ‘We Were There’. It details the personal commitment and professionalism of Britain’s minority ethnic service men and women, aiming to promote understanding by showing how those from all over the world fought alongside British forces. It acknowledges that while it is a positive story, "it should be remembered that over many years some of those who served did experience racial prejudice. Despite this they continued to offer their services to help Britain."
Some accounts of bravery and service have inevitably been lost for good, but others are still celebrated. For example, the story of the first black officer of the British Army – Lieutenant Walter Tull – was unheard until relatively recently.
Tull’s father was the son of slave who arrived in England from Barbados in 1876, marrying a local girl. When his mother died, Walter was just seven, and he and one brother were sent to an orphanage when their father’s new wife couldn’t cope with the large family. Tull went on to be one of Britain’s first black professional footballers. He played for both Tottenham Hotspur and Northampton Town. When the World War I was declared, Tull, like many players, joined the Football Battalion.
He was promoted quickly to Sergeant, and in 1916, he fought in the major Somme offensive. Although he developed trench fever and had to return to England, Tull had so impressed his senior officers that they sent him to Scotland for further training and, despite rules stating that no "negro or person of colour" could exercise "actual command" as officers, he was commissioned in 1917.
The 29-year-old and his men returned to France but, on 25 March 1918, in no-man’s land near Favreuil, a German bullet hit Tull in the head. His body was never recovered, despite the efforts of several of his men, who risked heavy machine gun fire to retrieve him.
Another life that is celebrated is that of Subadar Khudadad Khan. He was the first Indian to receive the Victoria Cross. Khan was a 26-year-old Sepoy in the 129th Duke of Connaught’s Own Baluchis, British Indian Army, during World War I. On 31 October 1914 at the front line in France, Khan was in charge of one of two machine guns. The British officer in charge was wounded and the other gun was put out of action by a shell, but Sepoy Khan, although badly hurt, continued to operate his gun after the other five men of the detachment had been killed. Eventually, he was left for dead, but was able to crawl back to his unit. He was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery in helping to prevent the German Army reach crucial ports.
Such accounts can be found, if you look, but they can’t negate the bad press that surrounds the treatment of some servicemen and women. At the time of writing, the struggle of the Gurkhas is in the headlines (See News, page 57). Many have handed back hard-won medals and honours to the Government to highlight the fact that pension allowances are less than those of British-born soldiers, as well as that veterans can’t stay in the country for which they helped to secure freedom.
The plight of the Gurkha veterans, who have been awarded an unparalleled 26 Victoria Crosses, has touched many who were previously unaware of the disparity in the way these soldiers are being treated. But while members of the public at least instantly recognise Britain’s strong connections with the Gurkhas – past and present – the same cannot always be said for Indian, African and Caribbean forces.
Hav Major Rajindar Singh Dhatt, 85, (pictured, right) who holds a Burma Star, is a member of the Undivided Indian Ex-Services Association. He says that until recently television coverage never mentioned the Indian Army – instead they would talk about America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. "They ignored us. So, we decided to fight for our recognition and acknowledgement. In 2002, when the memorial was built, it was the best day of all of our lives. What we were struggling for we achieved. We were happy to get that in our lifetime."
While Major Dhatt acknowledges that British officers have "done a lot to help us get these Memorial Gates", he laughs gently as he recalls the differences between the way the Indians and the white British were treated. He doesn’t complain, he simply recounts the disparities in a factual manner. "We played hockey, football, volleyball and basketball and when we mixed with them, we were just like them. But there were differences between our uniforms, living standards and living quarters. We were living in mud-baked huts, and they were in very nice pukka barracks, they had ceiling fans and we had windows – the wind coming through was meant to be enough for us. "Rations were not bad but it was inferior to what the British were getting. So, sometimes we did feel the differences, but at that time they were ruling us."
He also acknowledges that the British officers were "happy if you did mix with them and they were trained in how to behave and about the religions and languages. They were prepared and were trained to do the right thing when they went to India."
Another ex-serviceman is West Indian AC1 Airman First Class RAF, Arthur Leigh, who joined up from Jamaica. He says that things have changed enormously since his days in the forces. The 85-year-old member of the West Indian Ex-Servicemen’s/Ex-Servicewomen’s Association UK (Wiesa) says he doesn’t see the point of dwelling on the negative experiences that some may have had more than 60 years ago.
"There were good times and bad – but we came through. I’ve listened to men giving their version of what happened to them during the war, in the Army, Navy and RAF, and they tend to highlight the negatives of the past. In those days you were put into a flight squadron and told to get on with the job.
"I have no regrets – that’s why I am here in England. If I had any regrets, I wouldn’t be here. I don’t agree with those who have come back and are living here comfortably and are griping about the experiences they had in 1945."
Unsurprisingly, Leigh says he would encourage young people to go into the services, saying that they would gain "discipline and straightening out", adding that the forces offer opportunities in various fields.
Major Dhatt echoes this. He and members of his association visit schools and Sikh temples to tell young people about the war. He describes them as being "very attentive" and curious about their treatment and daily lives.
"When we are interviewed or asked, we always say to the young boys that this is their country, they have to live here and where they live, they have to defend that country. You should join the Army or police. We say they should not just become doctors, lawyers or engineers – don’t miss out the armed forces.
"Some people say there is too much discipline in the Army or discrimination – but we tell them that all these things you have to face. Keep high-spirited and you can be successful.
"We used to go and see [lots of people] but now some of us are housebound and we can’t afford transport. We would like to carry on this duty so that if someone calls us, we can tell them about this country and encourage young people to join the Army."
Corporal Osahan agrees. "I would encourage strongly anyone who wishes to experience a lifestyle out of the ordinary, which is testing day to day, to join the forces," he says.
"If I did ever encounter racism, then the immediate point of contact is my chain of command. If that fails there is an equal opportunities officer I could report to. I am confident that if any such incidents occurred then they would be dealt with appropriately."
But maybe the fact that there needs to be training programmes and specific recruitment drives to attract black and Asian people indicates that this is still an area of concern. Perhaps in the future all service men and women will be able to echo veteran Arthur Leigh, who says: "Of course there were problems but there is absolutely no point in me repeating them. They were the problems of the day and they were resolved."
And perhaps those who remain ignorant will realise that the major conflicts of the last century were – in every sense – world wars and will happily acknowledge the sacrifices made by the millions who came running from distant lands when the mother country called.
Legion Magazine
Labels:
Armed Forces,
Asian,
Black,
Sikhism
August 11, 2007
Beaten and abused, but with an unshakeable belief in Britain
The first Muslim to become a government minister still feels aggrieved about how the police treated him during the 2001 race riots
It was in that overheated summer of 2001, when race riots broke out across the North, that a grainy police video showed a young Asian man walking from a group of youths towards a police line in Burnley with his hands in the air; the next moment he was on the ground.
That man was Shahid Malik, who was appointed this summer as Britain’s first Muslim minister. His account of what happened deviates substantially from that of the police.
“I walked up to this officer and said to him, ‘Listen, everything’s going to be OK. I’m going to move this lot and there’ll be no trouble whatsoever’,” Mr Malik said. “But when I looked into his eyes I could see that he couldn’t really hear what I was saying, because his eyes were kind of a bit zombied, he was all adrenalined up. Within seconds he had lifted his shield and started to smash it in my face. And then the batons came out and I was knocked unconscious.”
Mr Malik’s formal complaint, it has to be said, was dismissed by Lancashire police after an investigation that was overseen by the Police Complaints Authority. It concluded that there was insufficient evidence of an unprovoked attack. Six years later the officers are still in their posts, and Mr Malik, 39, is a junior minister in the Department for International Development.
He still harbours a grievance about the alleged incident. Mr Malik said that it remained one of the turning points “that formed the person that I am”. As he spoke about his life, a distinct pattern emerged: Mr Malik’s path to this comfortable Whitehall sofa has been marked, from an early age, by learning how to respond to hostility – often racist, and on many occasions violent.
His father came to Burnley in 1965, a time and place that Mr Malik described as “probably the most racist environment anybody could ever be brought up in”. He had been tempted from his post as headmaster of a large school in Pakistan by an offer from someone at the British Embassy, who said that Britain was looking for teachers. They lived in one of the poorest wards in the country, said Mr Malik, who was sometimes the only nonwhite boy in his class. “That sometimes used to feel like thirty against one,” he said. “This concept of Paki-bashing was something that was in vogue and a few times a week it would take place. Teachers were oblivious. Completely disinterested in it.”
Was he “Paki-bashed”? “I certainly was,” he said, reeling off incidents that ranged from being beaten “pretty badly” by four skinheads in his first week at secondary school, to being stabbed in the leg with a chisel during woodwork after an argument about race. He had to go to hospital to get stitches. “But again nothing was done – quite incredibly.”
The reaction – or lack of it – from the school authorities was “a real kind of eye-opener”, but so, interestingly, was the reaction of Mr Malik. “You just accepted it, and looking back on it I don’t bear any grudges towards any of those people. The truth is that they were ignorant. And so really it wasn’t their fault, they were just children.”
Did he ever wish that he could live in Pakistan instead? “Never. No, I always thought of myself as very much British, very much that this is my country . . . I still say it’s the best country in the world to live.”
It is obviously important for Mr Malik to show that he remains determinedly positive, that he tries to tolerate and understand – or at least not to generalise about – those who are against him. The day after he left hospital, during the unrest in 2001, he was out patrolling the streets with the police “to show that the police aren’t bad”.
This was despite the shock of what happened. “It was shocking to me at first. You can imagine, I was a commissioner on the Commission for Racial Equality, I was the only ever British commissioner to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. I was on Labour’s National Executive Committee sitting with Tony Blair and others. And I’d been commended for my work in calming the situation for the last two days, and here I’d been knocked unconscious, my face was soaked in blood, I had cuts to my chest and arms.
“I remember a white woman stopping in a car and saying, ‘Leave him alone, we can see what you’re doing’. And that was very heartening. It was surreal because I still had handcuffs on me when I was in the hospital bed. It was just a bit unbelievable.”
In the years that followed, he struggled to find a seat. During this time he was the victim of a hit-and-run incident in a Burnley petrol station, his parent’s family car was firebombed and, while walking the street, he was surrounded by 20 members of the extreme-right group Combat 18, who said that they were going to kill him.
Although his father was once Mayor of Burnley and was appointed, in the late 1960s, on to what was then the Race Relations Board (a precursor of the Commission for Racial Equality), his parents wanted him to give up politics.
“They think it’s thankless. In the autumn of 2003, the family were just saying to me, ‘Listen, you’ve been through quite a lot, just stop it. You’re not going to get a seat.’ And I just thought, ‘These people are mad. Of course I’m going to get there’.”
Now, as one of the most powerful Muslims in the country, he faces attack from radical Islamists as well as racists. “There are extremists who think of themselves as Muslims . . . who see me as a hate figure, as the enemy.”
To say that his Dewsbury constituency is divided is something of an understatement. It has the highest British National Party vote in the country and was also the home of the leading suicide bomber from July 7, 2005, Mohammad Sidique Khan. “It doesn’t matter what I do, I’m going to annoy somebody,” he said. “I have just got to do what I believe is right on these big issues, these issues of extremism and morality.”
Once he made it to the Commons, was there an end to his racist encounters? Not quite. He described one incident at Westminster. “We’re on the terrace, there was me and there were two female colleagues, white. And one of the security guys ignored both of them and came up to me and said, ‘Sir, have you got any ID?’ I think you learn through experience to just be very patient and just be very relaxed about these things . . .”
He has been “disappointed” by the language of a few “unreconstructed Tories”, but the thing that annoyed him the most, he said, was still being confused, after two years in Parliament, with his fellow Muslim Labour MP, Sadiq Khan. “Everybody has got our names wrong – the Speaker has got us confused, the Deputy Speaker has got us confused. MPs get us confused constantly.”
After two years tt was “a bit unforgivable,” he said. “There’s about a foot difference in height. He’s a Cockney – I certainly am not,” he said, with a laugh. “And you just think, ‘Wow, how can you keep getting this wrong?’ And I just ignore it, because it’s deeply embarrassing for people when they realise that they’ve got the name wrong.”
We asked whether it was annoying, too, that his post (along with nine other ministerial appointments) was unpaid: did Mr Malik think that there was a touch of tokenism in his promotion? No, he insisted, it just proved that “the Government actually isn’t trying to be overly politically correct. It’s an unpaid role, he happens to be Muslim, so what? Big deal. It shouldn’t send out any messages.” Later, he added suddenly: “Forget about being paid, I would pay to do this job.”
He hopes to use his role at the department to shine a light on how the Government works to help the Muslim world, as part of the “hearts and minds” campaign that Gordon Brown has described.
“I think something like 40 per cent of our development assistance actually goes to Muslims and Muslim countries across the world. It’s very, very significant. We haven’t been good at talking it up, and that’s something we need to do.”
Was the overwhelming emphasis towards Africa, from Mr Brown downwards, a little skewed?
“You’re right about Africa in the sense that there are approximately a billion people in this world who live on less than a dollar a day. And 650 million of them actually are in Asia. And actually a lot of our resources and energy does go into Asia. We’ve got a massive programme in India, in Nepal, in Bangladesh, in Pakistan. I think that what we don’t do is talk that up enough.”
Mr Malik also wants to persuade the wealthy Gulf states to spread their aid beyond the Muslim world. “It cuts both ways in that sense. I think they concentrate their aid on Muslim countries in the same way as you get some organisations which might be Christian that concentrate their efforts on Christian communities.”
Many Westminster insiders described Mr Malik to us as overly ambitious, a self-promoter, whereas we found him to be thoughtful and interesting. Perhaps their reaction was another little piece of racism; was what they called self-promotion simply a necessary determination to overcome prejudice?
“I don’t mind if people say that I’m here because I’m a Muslim in the same way that women have had to endure [discrimination] for years,” he said. “Women have to cross hurdles to get here that men don’t have to. The same is true of black and ethnic minority parliamentarians. And in that sense I believe this to be true: if you’re a woman or if you are black or ethnic minority, you necessarily have to be much better than your white male counterpart to achieve.”
The British body politic might have admitted Mr Malik, but it is still a long, long way from being colour-blind.
Times Online
It was in that overheated summer of 2001, when race riots broke out across the North, that a grainy police video showed a young Asian man walking from a group of youths towards a police line in Burnley with his hands in the air; the next moment he was on the ground.
That man was Shahid Malik, who was appointed this summer as Britain’s first Muslim minister. His account of what happened deviates substantially from that of the police.
“I walked up to this officer and said to him, ‘Listen, everything’s going to be OK. I’m going to move this lot and there’ll be no trouble whatsoever’,” Mr Malik said. “But when I looked into his eyes I could see that he couldn’t really hear what I was saying, because his eyes were kind of a bit zombied, he was all adrenalined up. Within seconds he had lifted his shield and started to smash it in my face. And then the batons came out and I was knocked unconscious.”
Mr Malik’s formal complaint, it has to be said, was dismissed by Lancashire police after an investigation that was overseen by the Police Complaints Authority. It concluded that there was insufficient evidence of an unprovoked attack. Six years later the officers are still in their posts, and Mr Malik, 39, is a junior minister in the Department for International Development.
He still harbours a grievance about the alleged incident. Mr Malik said that it remained one of the turning points “that formed the person that I am”. As he spoke about his life, a distinct pattern emerged: Mr Malik’s path to this comfortable Whitehall sofa has been marked, from an early age, by learning how to respond to hostility – often racist, and on many occasions violent.
His father came to Burnley in 1965, a time and place that Mr Malik described as “probably the most racist environment anybody could ever be brought up in”. He had been tempted from his post as headmaster of a large school in Pakistan by an offer from someone at the British Embassy, who said that Britain was looking for teachers. They lived in one of the poorest wards in the country, said Mr Malik, who was sometimes the only nonwhite boy in his class. “That sometimes used to feel like thirty against one,” he said. “This concept of Paki-bashing was something that was in vogue and a few times a week it would take place. Teachers were oblivious. Completely disinterested in it.”
Was he “Paki-bashed”? “I certainly was,” he said, reeling off incidents that ranged from being beaten “pretty badly” by four skinheads in his first week at secondary school, to being stabbed in the leg with a chisel during woodwork after an argument about race. He had to go to hospital to get stitches. “But again nothing was done – quite incredibly.”
The reaction – or lack of it – from the school authorities was “a real kind of eye-opener”, but so, interestingly, was the reaction of Mr Malik. “You just accepted it, and looking back on it I don’t bear any grudges towards any of those people. The truth is that they were ignorant. And so really it wasn’t their fault, they were just children.”
Did he ever wish that he could live in Pakistan instead? “Never. No, I always thought of myself as very much British, very much that this is my country . . . I still say it’s the best country in the world to live.”
It is obviously important for Mr Malik to show that he remains determinedly positive, that he tries to tolerate and understand – or at least not to generalise about – those who are against him. The day after he left hospital, during the unrest in 2001, he was out patrolling the streets with the police “to show that the police aren’t bad”.
This was despite the shock of what happened. “It was shocking to me at first. You can imagine, I was a commissioner on the Commission for Racial Equality, I was the only ever British commissioner to the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. I was on Labour’s National Executive Committee sitting with Tony Blair and others. And I’d been commended for my work in calming the situation for the last two days, and here I’d been knocked unconscious, my face was soaked in blood, I had cuts to my chest and arms.
“I remember a white woman stopping in a car and saying, ‘Leave him alone, we can see what you’re doing’. And that was very heartening. It was surreal because I still had handcuffs on me when I was in the hospital bed. It was just a bit unbelievable.”
In the years that followed, he struggled to find a seat. During this time he was the victim of a hit-and-run incident in a Burnley petrol station, his parent’s family car was firebombed and, while walking the street, he was surrounded by 20 members of the extreme-right group Combat 18, who said that they were going to kill him.
Although his father was once Mayor of Burnley and was appointed, in the late 1960s, on to what was then the Race Relations Board (a precursor of the Commission for Racial Equality), his parents wanted him to give up politics.
“They think it’s thankless. In the autumn of 2003, the family were just saying to me, ‘Listen, you’ve been through quite a lot, just stop it. You’re not going to get a seat.’ And I just thought, ‘These people are mad. Of course I’m going to get there’.”
Now, as one of the most powerful Muslims in the country, he faces attack from radical Islamists as well as racists. “There are extremists who think of themselves as Muslims . . . who see me as a hate figure, as the enemy.”
To say that his Dewsbury constituency is divided is something of an understatement. It has the highest British National Party vote in the country and was also the home of the leading suicide bomber from July 7, 2005, Mohammad Sidique Khan. “It doesn’t matter what I do, I’m going to annoy somebody,” he said. “I have just got to do what I believe is right on these big issues, these issues of extremism and morality.”
Once he made it to the Commons, was there an end to his racist encounters? Not quite. He described one incident at Westminster. “We’re on the terrace, there was me and there were two female colleagues, white. And one of the security guys ignored both of them and came up to me and said, ‘Sir, have you got any ID?’ I think you learn through experience to just be very patient and just be very relaxed about these things . . .”
He has been “disappointed” by the language of a few “unreconstructed Tories”, but the thing that annoyed him the most, he said, was still being confused, after two years in Parliament, with his fellow Muslim Labour MP, Sadiq Khan. “Everybody has got our names wrong – the Speaker has got us confused, the Deputy Speaker has got us confused. MPs get us confused constantly.”
After two years tt was “a bit unforgivable,” he said. “There’s about a foot difference in height. He’s a Cockney – I certainly am not,” he said, with a laugh. “And you just think, ‘Wow, how can you keep getting this wrong?’ And I just ignore it, because it’s deeply embarrassing for people when they realise that they’ve got the name wrong.”
We asked whether it was annoying, too, that his post (along with nine other ministerial appointments) was unpaid: did Mr Malik think that there was a touch of tokenism in his promotion? No, he insisted, it just proved that “the Government actually isn’t trying to be overly politically correct. It’s an unpaid role, he happens to be Muslim, so what? Big deal. It shouldn’t send out any messages.” Later, he added suddenly: “Forget about being paid, I would pay to do this job.”
He hopes to use his role at the department to shine a light on how the Government works to help the Muslim world, as part of the “hearts and minds” campaign that Gordon Brown has described.
“I think something like 40 per cent of our development assistance actually goes to Muslims and Muslim countries across the world. It’s very, very significant. We haven’t been good at talking it up, and that’s something we need to do.”
Was the overwhelming emphasis towards Africa, from Mr Brown downwards, a little skewed?
“You’re right about Africa in the sense that there are approximately a billion people in this world who live on less than a dollar a day. And 650 million of them actually are in Asia. And actually a lot of our resources and energy does go into Asia. We’ve got a massive programme in India, in Nepal, in Bangladesh, in Pakistan. I think that what we don’t do is talk that up enough.”
Mr Malik also wants to persuade the wealthy Gulf states to spread their aid beyond the Muslim world. “It cuts both ways in that sense. I think they concentrate their aid on Muslim countries in the same way as you get some organisations which might be Christian that concentrate their efforts on Christian communities.”
Many Westminster insiders described Mr Malik to us as overly ambitious, a self-promoter, whereas we found him to be thoughtful and interesting. Perhaps their reaction was another little piece of racism; was what they called self-promotion simply a necessary determination to overcome prejudice?
“I don’t mind if people say that I’m here because I’m a Muslim in the same way that women have had to endure [discrimination] for years,” he said. “Women have to cross hurdles to get here that men don’t have to. The same is true of black and ethnic minority parliamentarians. And in that sense I believe this to be true: if you’re a woman or if you are black or ethnic minority, you necessarily have to be much better than your white male counterpart to achieve.”
The British body politic might have admitted Mr Malik, but it is still a long, long way from being colour-blind.
Times Online
June 16, 2007
Hate-mail BNP's Wainwright's new shop
A champion pie-making butchers in Halifax has been sold – and it's been bought by a former BNP candidate who sent hate mail to Calderdale's first Asian councillor.
Brian Wainwright – who admitted sending offensive and threatening posters to Coun Mohammed Najib, to a Halifax mosque and to an anti-fascism campaigner – has bought J and P Cryer butchers in Ovenden.
Owners Jim and Pat Cryer have retired after 40 years – and they have passed on their secret pork-pie recipe to Mr Wainwright and his wife, Lorraine. For 30 years Jim and Pat have been making the pork pies and each morning they perfect their pastry and prime the meat before adding their own, very secret, ingredient.
It is the same ingredient that helped them secure fourth place at last year's unofficial world pork-pie championships at the Old Bridge Inn, Ripponden, making them the best pork pie-makers in Calderdale.
Jim took over the business from his father in 1966, transforming it into the award-winning establishment it has now become. He said: "When my dad worked there we just sold meat and sausages and I wanted to take the business further."
By the time Pat started working there the pies were a big success. She said: "It is the reputation of the pies that brings people back. Customers travel from Elland, Brighouse, Skipton and further afield."
The couple have two daughters, Jayne Greenwood, 40, and Sally Patefield, 38, and four grandchildren. They will spend their retirement globetrotting and visiting friends across the country.
The hate-mail charges against Mr Wainwright were later dropped because he was not charged within the six-month time limit for summary offences.
Mrs Cryer said: "We knew Brian had some sort of past with the BNP but we were not sure what it was about. We did not see how it would affect him taking over the business. As far as we are concerned it is something that is in his past."
Mr Wainwright would not comment when asked if he thought his court case would affect his trade.
Halifax Evening Courier
Brian Wainwright – who admitted sending offensive and threatening posters to Coun Mohammed Najib, to a Halifax mosque and to an anti-fascism campaigner – has bought J and P Cryer butchers in Ovenden.
Owners Jim and Pat Cryer have retired after 40 years – and they have passed on their secret pork-pie recipe to Mr Wainwright and his wife, Lorraine. For 30 years Jim and Pat have been making the pork pies and each morning they perfect their pastry and prime the meat before adding their own, very secret, ingredient.
It is the same ingredient that helped them secure fourth place at last year's unofficial world pork-pie championships at the Old Bridge Inn, Ripponden, making them the best pork pie-makers in Calderdale.
Jim took over the business from his father in 1966, transforming it into the award-winning establishment it has now become. He said: "When my dad worked there we just sold meat and sausages and I wanted to take the business further."
By the time Pat started working there the pies were a big success. She said: "It is the reputation of the pies that brings people back. Customers travel from Elland, Brighouse, Skipton and further afield."
The couple have two daughters, Jayne Greenwood, 40, and Sally Patefield, 38, and four grandchildren. They will spend their retirement globetrotting and visiting friends across the country.
The hate-mail charges against Mr Wainwright were later dropped because he was not charged within the six-month time limit for summary offences.
Mrs Cryer said: "We knew Brian had some sort of past with the BNP but we were not sure what it was about. We did not see how it would affect him taking over the business. As far as we are concerned it is something that is in his past."
Mr Wainwright would not comment when asked if he thought his court case would affect his trade.
Halifax Evening Courier
Labels:
anti-fascist,
Asian,
Brian Wainwright,
Halifax,
hate mail,
Mohammed Najib,
mosque
June 02, 2007
BNP attacked over Lord mayor voting
Stoke-on-Trent BNP councillors have been branded a "disgrace" for opposing the city's new Lord Mayor. And they have been accused of racism when they voted against Asian councillor Bagh Ali becoming the city's first citizen.
At the council's annual meeting last week, the six members of the far right party were the only ones to vote against Mr Ali. Now some of Mr Ali's Labour colleagues are demanding an apology from the BNP.
Burslem North councillor Joy Garner said: "What other reason did they vote against Bagh Ali other than racism? They voted en masse against Bagh Ali, but voted en masse for Derek Capey as deputy Lord Mayor. What is the difference except one is white? It is meant to be a joyous occasion. It incensed me and I think they should apologise."
Mike Tappin, leader of the Labour group, added: "It was an absolute disgrace. Here we have an excellent candidate who had been deputy Lord Mayor for over a year and the BNP vented their spleen on what had been until that time an agreed and unanimous decision. I think they are a disgrace to the council."
Traditionally, the annual council meeting is seen as a celebration of the achievements of the former Lord Mayor and an official welcome for the incoming dignitary. Voting is usually unanimous and councillors are expected to avoid controversial debate. The meeting is followed by a banquet in honour of the outgoing and incoming Lord Mayors.
Sheila Pitt, Labour councillor for Berryhill and Hanley East, said: "I think they were just making their own comment that they don't like people from ethnic minorities. Whatever they say, they are a racist party. I think we should ask them for an apology. It is supposed to be a happy day to celebrate the new Lord Mayor. He is so proud to be elected as the mayor of this city and we all want these occasions to flow in a proper manner, but for me this put a blight on the day."
But councillor Alby Walker, leader of the BNP Group on the council, denied they opposed Mr Ali because he was Asian or that their party was racist.
He said: "I resent the fact that Labour councillors are making these accusations and if they make them publicly I will report each and every one of them to the Standards Board for England. We made a group decision not to vote for Bagh Ali. We judged him as a person and didn't think he was suitable. It is the Labour party which is playing the racial card themselves.
"I believe they have promoted him just because he is an Asian. I suspect many of them know he is not suitable to chair meetings of the full council, which is one of the Lord Mayor's key responsibilities."
Mr Ali, who has represented the Longton South ward for 11 years, was playing down the controversy.
He said: "I was proposed as Lord Mayor to represent everyone and that is what I will do. It would have been better for the city if the BNP had got behind that and voted for me, but it's in their nature to do things like this."
The Sentinel
At the council's annual meeting last week, the six members of the far right party were the only ones to vote against Mr Ali. Now some of Mr Ali's Labour colleagues are demanding an apology from the BNP.
Burslem North councillor Joy Garner said: "What other reason did they vote against Bagh Ali other than racism? They voted en masse against Bagh Ali, but voted en masse for Derek Capey as deputy Lord Mayor. What is the difference except one is white? It is meant to be a joyous occasion. It incensed me and I think they should apologise."
Mike Tappin, leader of the Labour group, added: "It was an absolute disgrace. Here we have an excellent candidate who had been deputy Lord Mayor for over a year and the BNP vented their spleen on what had been until that time an agreed and unanimous decision. I think they are a disgrace to the council."
Traditionally, the annual council meeting is seen as a celebration of the achievements of the former Lord Mayor and an official welcome for the incoming dignitary. Voting is usually unanimous and councillors are expected to avoid controversial debate. The meeting is followed by a banquet in honour of the outgoing and incoming Lord Mayors.
Sheila Pitt, Labour councillor for Berryhill and Hanley East, said: "I think they were just making their own comment that they don't like people from ethnic minorities. Whatever they say, they are a racist party. I think we should ask them for an apology. It is supposed to be a happy day to celebrate the new Lord Mayor. He is so proud to be elected as the mayor of this city and we all want these occasions to flow in a proper manner, but for me this put a blight on the day."
But councillor Alby Walker, leader of the BNP Group on the council, denied they opposed Mr Ali because he was Asian or that their party was racist.
He said: "I resent the fact that Labour councillors are making these accusations and if they make them publicly I will report each and every one of them to the Standards Board for England. We made a group decision not to vote for Bagh Ali. We judged him as a person and didn't think he was suitable. It is the Labour party which is playing the racial card themselves.
"I believe they have promoted him just because he is an Asian. I suspect many of them know he is not suitable to chair meetings of the full council, which is one of the Lord Mayor's key responsibilities."
Mr Ali, who has represented the Longton South ward for 11 years, was playing down the controversy.
He said: "I was proposed as Lord Mayor to represent everyone and that is what I will do. It would have been better for the city if the BNP had got behind that and voted for me, but it's in their nature to do things like this."
The Sentinel
Labels:
Asian,
Bagh Ali,
BNP,
racism,
racist,
Standards Board,
Stoke-on-Trent
May 11, 2007
BNP man found guilty of racially abusing police officer
A Morden man, alleged to be a member of the British National Party, has been convicted of screaming racist abuse at a police officer after being arrested for his part in a drunken punch-up. Jamie Sedgewick, 40, of Wolsey Crescent, subjected the Asian officer to a tirade of obscenities and racial abuse after he broke up a fight at the Hideaway Bar in Kingston Road, Wimbledon, in March last year.
Sedgewick, who was alleged by the arresting officer to have been carrying a BNP membership card in his wallet, but would not comment on the issue during police interview, was also found guilty of actual bodily harm at Kingston Crown Court yesterday.
Summing up, Recorder Plaschkes spoke of how Sedgewick had become embroiled in an argument over a stolen beanie hat in the early hours of March 19 last year. Sedgewick had been leaving the bar with family and friends when one of the party was accused by a drinker of having taken his hat. The drinker said that as he restrained and remonstrated with Sedgewick's friend, an unseen attacker jumped on him from behind and rained blows on him, leaving him with a severely bruised face.
Sedgewick had admitted hitting the man but said he was acting in defence of his friend who he feared was about to be stabbed in the face with a dart.
When Sedgewick was later arrested by police outside the pub and bundled into a van, he subjected one of the officers to a sustained volley of racist abuse. Officers said Sedgewick had repeatedly screamed racial insults and right wing slogans while headbutting and kicking the door. Sedgewick denied this and said racist language was "not in his nature".
The jury acquitted Sedgewick of affray over an accusation that he had shoved a police officer in the chest. His co-defendant and friend Martin Yaxley, 43, was cleared of charges of assault and affray.
Sedgewick will be sentenced on June 7.
Stop the BNP
Sedgewick, who was alleged by the arresting officer to have been carrying a BNP membership card in his wallet, but would not comment on the issue during police interview, was also found guilty of actual bodily harm at Kingston Crown Court yesterday.
Summing up, Recorder Plaschkes spoke of how Sedgewick had become embroiled in an argument over a stolen beanie hat in the early hours of March 19 last year. Sedgewick had been leaving the bar with family and friends when one of the party was accused by a drinker of having taken his hat. The drinker said that as he restrained and remonstrated with Sedgewick's friend, an unseen attacker jumped on him from behind and rained blows on him, leaving him with a severely bruised face.
Sedgewick had admitted hitting the man but said he was acting in defence of his friend who he feared was about to be stabbed in the face with a dart.
When Sedgewick was later arrested by police outside the pub and bundled into a van, he subjected one of the officers to a sustained volley of racist abuse. Officers said Sedgewick had repeatedly screamed racial insults and right wing slogans while headbutting and kicking the door. Sedgewick denied this and said racist language was "not in his nature".
The jury acquitted Sedgewick of affray over an accusation that he had shoved a police officer in the chest. His co-defendant and friend Martin Yaxley, 43, was cleared of charges of assault and affray.
Sedgewick will be sentenced on June 7.
Stop the BNP
Labels:
actual bodily harm,
Asian,
BNP,
Morden,
racist,
right-wing slogans,
Sedgewick
March 29, 2007
18 race crimes every 24 hours in Scotland
Shocking figures have revealed a rising tide of racist crime in Scotland. Police recorded 6439 racist crimes last year - that's 18 a day. The figure was up sharply from 5732 the previous year and 4556 in 2004. More than half of all the victims were of Asian origin.
Offences ranged from "racially aggravated conduct" - usually verbal abuse - to vandalism, fire-raising and serious assault.
The figures were set out in the first Scotland-wide report into racist crime, published by the Executive. Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson admitted that more action was needed to tackle the "sickening" trend. She said: "Crime in Scotland is falling but there remain key issues we need to tackle. Today's figures show that racist crime is one of them.
"All crimes are an affront to the values we hold dear, but crimes committed against someone because of the colour of their skin or their country of origin are particularly sickening."
The main target was Scotland's 32,000 Pakistanis, the biggest ethnic minority. There were more than 1500 racist crimes against Pakistani Scots last year. But there were also more than 1000 racist crimes committed against "white British" people.
Most incidents took place in the street or in a shop. But more than 800 people suffered abuse or attack in their own homes.
There were also 451 incidents in takeaways, 185 in pubs, 71 in schools and colleges, 61 in hospitals or surgeries and 29 at places of worship.
Incidents peaked on Friday and Saturday nights, suggesting some were fuelled by alcohol. The racists were usually male and more than half were under 20. The rising trend did not indicate an "explosion" in racism in Scotland, officials said.
Police have become more rigorous in recording racist crime since new laws came in in 2004. Ethnic minorities have also become more confident about reporting incidents.
But Bashir Mann, president of the Muslim Council in Scotland, said: "I think racism is on the increase in this country and in the UK as a whole. There has been a rise in Islamophobia and this has been aggravated by the anti-terrorism legislation introduced by the Government. There is not much the Muslim community can do about it because we do not have the resources."
Daily Record
Offences ranged from "racially aggravated conduct" - usually verbal abuse - to vandalism, fire-raising and serious assault.
The figures were set out in the first Scotland-wide report into racist crime, published by the Executive. Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson admitted that more action was needed to tackle the "sickening" trend. She said: "Crime in Scotland is falling but there remain key issues we need to tackle. Today's figures show that racist crime is one of them.
"All crimes are an affront to the values we hold dear, but crimes committed against someone because of the colour of their skin or their country of origin are particularly sickening."
The main target was Scotland's 32,000 Pakistanis, the biggest ethnic minority. There were more than 1500 racist crimes against Pakistani Scots last year. But there were also more than 1000 racist crimes committed against "white British" people.
Most incidents took place in the street or in a shop. But more than 800 people suffered abuse or attack in their own homes.
There were also 451 incidents in takeaways, 185 in pubs, 71 in schools and colleges, 61 in hospitals or surgeries and 29 at places of worship.
Incidents peaked on Friday and Saturday nights, suggesting some were fuelled by alcohol. The racists were usually male and more than half were under 20. The rising trend did not indicate an "explosion" in racism in Scotland, officials said.
Police have become more rigorous in recording racist crime since new laws came in in 2004. Ethnic minorities have also become more confident about reporting incidents.
But Bashir Mann, president of the Muslim Council in Scotland, said: "I think racism is on the increase in this country and in the UK as a whole. There has been a rise in Islamophobia and this has been aggravated by the anti-terrorism legislation introduced by the Government. There is not much the Muslim community can do about it because we do not have the resources."
Daily Record
Labels:
alcohol,
Asian,
Islamophobia,
Muslim,
Pakistani,
racism,
racist crime,
Scotland
March 22, 2007
MP Linda lobbies for change in law
Halifax MP Linda Riordan will lobby the Government for a change in the law after a BNP activist who sent racist hate-mail escaped punishment.
The Labour MP will write to Gerry Sutcliffe, Under-Secretary for Justice, to ask him to amend the time limit within which someone must be charged for sending malicious communication. Mrs Riordan decided on the action after she met the West Yorkshire Crown Prosecution Service to discuss the blunder that allowed Brian Wainwright's case to be dismissed.
In January Mr Wainwright, 38, of Lee Mount Road, Halifax, admitted sending threatening and offensive posters to Calderdale's first Asian councillor Mohammed Najib, anti-fascist campaigner Paul Sutcliffe and a Halifax mosque. But last month he walked free from Calderdale Magistrates' Court because he was not charged within the six-month time limit for summary offences.
Fingerprints and DNA did not link Mr Wainwright to the crime until seven months after he sent the last letter.
CPS head Neil Franklin admitted the mistake, which was not spotted until the eleventh hour when magistrates were considering sentence, but blamed "a gap in the law", which he said the Government should move to plug. Mrs Riordan will ask for the clock to start running after evidence linking a suspect to the crime comes to light, instead of from when the offence is reported. This is the case with some summary offences such as taking a vehicle without consent.
She said: "Justice has not been done. Mr Wainwright admitted sending the letters. It is scandalous he was not prosecuted," Mrs Riordan said.
Mr Wainwright, who stood for election for Calderdale Council and Parliament, sent the posters between February and April 2005. They featured skulls, crossbones, swastikas and threats to spill Muslim blood and incite a race war.
Halifax Evening Courier
The Labour MP will write to Gerry Sutcliffe, Under-Secretary for Justice, to ask him to amend the time limit within which someone must be charged for sending malicious communication. Mrs Riordan decided on the action after she met the West Yorkshire Crown Prosecution Service to discuss the blunder that allowed Brian Wainwright's case to be dismissed.
In January Mr Wainwright, 38, of Lee Mount Road, Halifax, admitted sending threatening and offensive posters to Calderdale's first Asian councillor Mohammed Najib, anti-fascist campaigner Paul Sutcliffe and a Halifax mosque. But last month he walked free from Calderdale Magistrates' Court because he was not charged within the six-month time limit for summary offences.
Fingerprints and DNA did not link Mr Wainwright to the crime until seven months after he sent the last letter.
CPS head Neil Franklin admitted the mistake, which was not spotted until the eleventh hour when magistrates were considering sentence, but blamed "a gap in the law", which he said the Government should move to plug. Mrs Riordan will ask for the clock to start running after evidence linking a suspect to the crime comes to light, instead of from when the offence is reported. This is the case with some summary offences such as taking a vehicle without consent.
She said: "Justice has not been done. Mr Wainwright admitted sending the letters. It is scandalous he was not prosecuted," Mrs Riordan said.
Mr Wainwright, who stood for election for Calderdale Council and Parliament, sent the posters between February and April 2005. They featured skulls, crossbones, swastikas and threats to spill Muslim blood and incite a race war.
Halifax Evening Courier
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anti-fascist,
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This nation of tolerance
This is a country of unparalleled tolerance, the envy of many other European countries.A nation built on difference, where people of all colours and religions rub along together day by day. That’s why today, we are launching the Daily Mirror Hope Not Hate campaign – to celebrate modern Britain.
Over the next fortnight our red double decker bus will be coming to you – bringing a message of Hope to communities across the country.
Travelling from London to Glasgow via Dagenham, Thurrock, Northampton, Leicester, Nottingham, Lincoln, Sheffield, Oldham, Manchester, Liverpool, Wrexham, Dudley, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Blackburn, Burnley, Keighley, Bradford, Leeds, Sunderland and Newcastle – this is a celebration of the Britain we live in.
Just look at the restaurants on any high street – Indian, Chinese and Bengali, Turkish and Thai, fish and chip shops, bagel bakeries, pubs and pie shops, cafes and takeaways. Just look at our vibrant cities – great melting pots of cultures, where you can hear a dozen languages on any street corner.
Look at our schools, where children grow up together unaware of the colour of each other’s skins. Look at our army where black, Asian and white soldiers fight together on the frontlines.
What would London be without the Notting Hill Carnival, Brick Lane’s world class restaurants or Chinatown? Where would Leicester be without it’s Golden Mile or Birmingham without its Baltis?
Imagine Arsenal without Thierry Henry, cricket without Monty Panesar, rugby union without Jason Robinson and British boxing without Amir Khan, Frank Bruno and Errol Bomber Graham. Imagine British high streets without Marks and Spencers
Everything about Britain – our soap operas, our pop charts, our novelists and actors, the men and women who read the news – shows the diversity of our nation. This is the Britain admired by people overseas – a draw for tourists and a huge part of what won our country the Olympics.
We hear a lot about the ways in which multicultural Britain isn’t working – often from extremists who have a vested interest in replacing tolerance with prejudice and violence. At last year’s council elections the BNP doubled the number of council seats it holds by telling carefully placed lies, hiding their message of hate behind a ‘respectable’ veneer.
This May, let’s kick them back out again.
Because the everyday reality is that our multicultural society does actually work. We all know that, because whether we’re looking out of the window or talking to a colleague, eating our dinner or listening to the radio, supporting our favourite football team or watching Coronation Street, we can see it working every day of our lives.
This month sees the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery, the moment when the MP for Hull William Wilberforce led parliament to end a deplorable chapter in our history. Two centuries on, our commemorations of that moment should also include a determination to kick racism out of Britain wherever it raises its ugly head. And at the same time, let’s celebrate just how far we have come.
Mirror
Hope not Hate
More items from Mirror's Hope not Hate supplement
Murders that still haunt Rio
Loyal to the flag
Cheering our great Britons
Future face of Britain
The stars speak out
Footie got kids on side
Way to go
COME along and climb aboard as our Hope Not Hate bus spreads its message of goodwill across the nation. Setting off from Dagenham on Saturday, March 23, it will criss-cross the country until it reaches Glasgow on Good Friday, April 6.
At each stop celebs will be out to show their support and we’ll be holding food festivals, staging concerts and giving out T-shirts, mugs, rosettes and postcards.
Check the newspaper and website every day for details of where we’ll be and bring your friends and family. Look in the paper tomorrow for details of day one in Dagenham and Thurrock and Leicester on Sunday. Thank you for your support.
Bus Tour dates
Saturday, March 24 - Dagenham & Thurrock
Sunday, March 25 - Northampton & Leicester
Monday, March 26 - Nottingham & Lincoln
Tuesday, March 27 - Sheffield
Wednesday, March 28 - Oldham & Manchester
Thursday, March 29 - Liverpool & North Wales
Friday, March 30 - Dudley & Birmingham
Saturday, March 31 - Stoke-on-Trent
Sunday, April 1 - Sandwell
Monday, April 2 - Blackburn & Burnley
Tuesday, April 3 - Keighley, Bradford and Batley
Wednesday, April 4 - Leeds & surrounding area
Thursday, April 5 - Sunderland & Newcastle
Friday, April 6 - Glasgow
The Daily Mirror backs HOPE not hate campaign
We are pleased to announce that the Daily Mirror is supporting the HOPE not Hate campaign. Today's edition carries an 8pp supplement celebrating modern diverse Britain and opposing the politics of hate.
On Saturday a HOPE not Hate bus, organised by Searchlight and the Daily Mirror, will begin a 14-day journey across the country. It will start in Dagenham on Saturday morning and end in Glasgow on Friday 6 April. Along the route we shall be joined by national celebrities and visit local community groups at the forefront of offering a positive alternative to the BNP. Click here to see the route map.
The campaign is being backed by X-Factor winner Leona Lewis, boxer Amir Khan and The Apprentice's Alan Sugar.
You will be able to follow the tour via our Hope not Hate bus tour blog and picture gallery.
Jon Cruddas, MP for Dagenham and joint secretary of the Anti-Fascist Fortnight steering committee, told Searchlight: "This is really exciting news. The support of the Daily Mirror takes our campaign onto a new level. I would urge everyone to get involved."
HOPE not Hate literature
Searchlight has produced a range of HOPE not Hate literature which local groups and unions can distribute. These include newspapers, leaflets, postcards, posters, balloons and badges. View the merchandise here.
Anti-Fascist Fortnight
Over the next two weeks there will be anti-BNP activities across the country. It is really important that we translate opposition to the racist views of the BNP to positive action. If we are going to prevent the BNP from winning council seats then we need to get anti-BNP literature out through doors. Please do you best to spare some time to help out. You can view the activities here.
£8,000 to defeat the BNP: Please support Searchlight
Searchlight still needs to raise £8,000 to fund its campaign. Every penny raised will go straight to our campaign fund. The more money we raise, the more we can do. The more we can do, the more we can stop the BNP. The more we can stop the BNP, the better life will be. It's that simple.
We would like to thank those who have already given generously and we would urge others, especially those who are unable to attend our activities, to support the campaign through a donation.
To donate to the campaign click here
You can download a fundraising leaflet here
Get involved If you would like to get involved in the campaign or want to know what is happening in your area email me at nick@stoprthebnp.org.uk
TOGETHER WE CAN BEAT THE BNP
Hope not Hate
March 21, 2007
Braindead in cyberspace
Anybody who has ever posted to an internet forum will be aware that these are prime targets for manipulation by the Braindead Neanderthal Party (BNP). In some cases this can be subtle, in most cases it's as subtle as a sledgehammer. BNP members routinely flood forums with threads on race and immigration, then support themselves with a multiplicity of sock puppets.
Sock puppets are operated in a variety of ways. There is usually an attempt to pretend that more BNP members exist on a forum than is really the case. Some sock puppets are deployed as "ordinary members of the public" who invariably support the BNP line. Some are deployed to hunt with the hounds and run with the foxes. Some will appear to mildly question the BNP and its policies - the questions posed in an easily rebutted manner, as was the intention.
Many BNP posters adopt a tone of sweet reason, and are capable of dressing up their vile propaganda in some handsome clothes. But most of them will simply post with a link to a news story - so long as the story is crime-related and has a picture of a black or Asian face, they're satisfied. Then the sock puppets come in to do their duty.
The majority of BNP posters being notably unintelligent, they frequently revert to gutter language and have few inhibitions about making personal attacks on other posters. This frequently leads to them being banned - but they always come back.
What is remarkable to many is that abusive BNP posters fail to understand that for every person posting on a forum there are many more "lurkers" - people who simply like to browse forums but who do not feel inclined to contribute. Members of other political parties might have a care for what these unseen lurkers make of them, but the braindead BNP rarely do.
Illustrative of this is the curious case of the Oxfordshire and Brighton Argus forums.
For some years the Brighton Argus forum has been targetted by various BNP supporters, who, true to form, began thread after thread on their favourite subject and got on with the business of abusing their gainsayers. This led to a pattern of bannings and reincarnations that has continued to this day.
Somewhere along the line, the Argus BNP contingent discovered the Oxfordshire forum, where they began their familiar pattern. Though moderation of the Argus forum is at best feeble, at the Oxfordshire forum it is virtually non-existent. Very quickly the language and the abuse reached new depths, and what was by all accounts once a very active and lively forum began a steady decline as regulars deserted, tired at the endless immigration threads and the certainty that questioning or opposing the BNP supporters would bring a shower of foul-mouthed abuse raining down upon them.
Today the Oxfordshire forum is a sterile, inert place, populated only by the braindead BNP, the odd die hard-regular, and an anti-BNP campaigner.
Back at the Argus, they have adopted a new tactic. This involves blocking threads started by people they detest, or where the balance of posting has gone against them (as it always does), or where they have been shown to be liars, or - uniquely, where they have started a thread so that they can block it themselves and blame "the lefties".
Thread blocking apparently works by posting huge amounts of data into a reply box. The effect is to cause something akin to server time-outs. The posts can only be viewed after several minutes of rendering (if at all), cannot be added to, and also have the effect of making the site run slowly.
For some time these idiots have run riot, blocking entire pages of threads. They schizophrenically admit to thread blocking one day (in the name of "free speech", as one of them claimed), and the next blame "the lefties". And they sit in their empty haven of the Oxfordshire forum to crow to one another about how well they have done.
Of course, it has never yet occurred to them that they are doing the party they support the biggest disservice possible - but I don't call them braindead for nothing!
Things have lately become so serious on the Argus forum that one of their own, posting on the Nazi Stormfront site, took them to task:
'Well you and your buddies have screwed up big time. Now nobody can post to either forum and there are likely to be legal consequences and bad publicity that are going to reflect badly on all Nationalists. Thank you. Thank you very much.... You swamped the forum with race-based posts that had nothing to say but just contained links to news stories. It was all you did, and not surprisingly other posters got fed up with it. You wouldn't leave threads that had nothing to do with race alone and other posters got fed up with that too. When they complained to you, you and your cronies immediately stooped to personal abuse. You even abused people who had a BNP mindset... You also did the same thing on the Oxford forums. You made that forum a joke and even when one of our own people came on to fire a warning shot across your bows you ignored him. You caused disruption every day on the Argus forum and used the Oxford forum to boast about it. Very clever... You went there and behaved like trolls so you got treated like trolls.'
Those are excerpts from the first of a series of Stormfront posts. The response of the Braindeads was predictable - they ignored what any rational person would have seen to be sound advice. Unable to believe that one of their own could seriously question their disruption of the two forums they concluded that the Stormfront poster must be an imposter!
BNP antics on two obscure internet forums might not seem to carry much importance (and on these two forums at least, the BNPs are their own worst enemies), but multiply that by several hundred active forums and you have thousands and thousands of people daily exposed to their message - no matter how badly or unintelligently it is posed.
Several things have become very clear to me, after browsing several dozen BNP-infested forums. That is their ability to brazenly lie, to avoid difficult questions (usually by coming back with a question), to query their opponents' bona fides, to attribute to their opponents things they have never said or done, to take statistics and quotes and to mangle them until they fit in with the BNP purpose, and to deflect almost any topic, no matter how innocent, into anti-immigrant propaganda.
There is also a strange propensity for dredging up posts by opponents that were made years before - as if these creepy creatures were keeping databases of who said what and when. Now why would they want to do that?
The BNP encourage and pursue cyber-activism with a vengeance. They realise, even if their opponents do not, that the Internet is an increasingly vital tool in the war of ideas and propaganda, and that the internet forum is one of the strategic fronts in that war. They have taken the initiative, meeting little real opposition away from the larger forums - and though, thanks to their own incompetence and stupidity, they frequently do themselves more harm than good, we should remember that often a post containing nothing more than a link to a crime story with ethnic minority involvement is all that is needed for them to get their racist message across.
Though it isn't my wish to either deny or denigrate the anti-racist stalwarts who do oppose the BNP on many forums, I think we can do so much more. They have many small local newspaper forums to themselves - forums which do have quite a wide local readership. We should be on these forums, not only challenging their views, but exposing their organisation for what it really is.
And the BNP make it so easy!
A thread on crime? Respond by posting of criminality among the BNP membership themselves - there are more than enough links to such stories. Or remind them of the missing money promised to Sharon Ebanks, collected from among their own ranks. Why do none of them ever question what happened to it?
Fastest growing party? Remind them that in 2005 (a great year for racism) the BNP had a net gain of less than 150 members, according to their own accounts as submitted to the Electoral Commission.
Corrupt local government? BNP supporter "EN Ronn" composed an article named 'Unsettling Accounts', reposted on Stormfront several times. Make good use of it! In fact, take a good look at Stormfront, including the back threads - there is so much to use concerning the corrupt internal workings of the BNP that you can counter them on almost anything and throw them completely off balance. And, of course, keep checking the regular anti-racist websites that contain tasty little tit-bits you can store away for future use.
Nick Griffin the best thing since sliced bread? Apart from anti-Griffin posting on Stormfront and similar sites, the best demolition of his reputation to date was penned by the man he deposed, the late John Tyndall. His magazine Spearhead may thankfully be defunct, but its website still exists, and contains many articles full of useful information and quotes. If it's there, you may as well use it.
We're Nationalists? Are they? Ask the majority of them to explain their "nationalist philosophy" and watch them squirm. On two forums they were asked this, and on both avoided giving any answer - in fact their response was to demand that we explain it (they always come back with a question when they have no answers, remember?). Eventually there was some desultory quoting from Wikipedia, and even the OED definition, but nothing in their own words. Which allowed us to show them up as the bone-headed bigots they really are, obsessed with one issue alone, and utterly clueless about the ideology they profess to follow.
We're patriots? So much to choose from to shoot that one down in flames - Mark Collett's "Churchill was a ****ing ***t" tirade is always good.
Undermining the BNP with facts about their own party's doings seems to me the best course of action in the current climate. They cannot dispute provable facts, and their general response when presented with them is a sort of embarrassed prevarication, and sometimes an abusive retort. It doesn't matter which - you have succeeded in undermining their credibility, and can be seen to have done so.
You may not win many converts to the cause of anti-racism but you will cause people to think more deeply about the organisation they may have been tempted to support or vote for. And mostly you can do it simply by posting the facts, the unavoidable, incontrovertible facts!
Article supplied by DG
Sock puppets are operated in a variety of ways. There is usually an attempt to pretend that more BNP members exist on a forum than is really the case. Some sock puppets are deployed as "ordinary members of the public" who invariably support the BNP line. Some are deployed to hunt with the hounds and run with the foxes. Some will appear to mildly question the BNP and its policies - the questions posed in an easily rebutted manner, as was the intention.
Many BNP posters adopt a tone of sweet reason, and are capable of dressing up their vile propaganda in some handsome clothes. But most of them will simply post with a link to a news story - so long as the story is crime-related and has a picture of a black or Asian face, they're satisfied. Then the sock puppets come in to do their duty.
The majority of BNP posters being notably unintelligent, they frequently revert to gutter language and have few inhibitions about making personal attacks on other posters. This frequently leads to them being banned - but they always come back.
What is remarkable to many is that abusive BNP posters fail to understand that for every person posting on a forum there are many more "lurkers" - people who simply like to browse forums but who do not feel inclined to contribute. Members of other political parties might have a care for what these unseen lurkers make of them, but the braindead BNP rarely do.
Illustrative of this is the curious case of the Oxfordshire and Brighton Argus forums.
For some years the Brighton Argus forum has been targetted by various BNP supporters, who, true to form, began thread after thread on their favourite subject and got on with the business of abusing their gainsayers. This led to a pattern of bannings and reincarnations that has continued to this day.
Somewhere along the line, the Argus BNP contingent discovered the Oxfordshire forum, where they began their familiar pattern. Though moderation of the Argus forum is at best feeble, at the Oxfordshire forum it is virtually non-existent. Very quickly the language and the abuse reached new depths, and what was by all accounts once a very active and lively forum began a steady decline as regulars deserted, tired at the endless immigration threads and the certainty that questioning or opposing the BNP supporters would bring a shower of foul-mouthed abuse raining down upon them.
Today the Oxfordshire forum is a sterile, inert place, populated only by the braindead BNP, the odd die hard-regular, and an anti-BNP campaigner.
Back at the Argus, they have adopted a new tactic. This involves blocking threads started by people they detest, or where the balance of posting has gone against them (as it always does), or where they have been shown to be liars, or - uniquely, where they have started a thread so that they can block it themselves and blame "the lefties".
Thread blocking apparently works by posting huge amounts of data into a reply box. The effect is to cause something akin to server time-outs. The posts can only be viewed after several minutes of rendering (if at all), cannot be added to, and also have the effect of making the site run slowly.
For some time these idiots have run riot, blocking entire pages of threads. They schizophrenically admit to thread blocking one day (in the name of "free speech", as one of them claimed), and the next blame "the lefties". And they sit in their empty haven of the Oxfordshire forum to crow to one another about how well they have done.
Of course, it has never yet occurred to them that they are doing the party they support the biggest disservice possible - but I don't call them braindead for nothing!
Things have lately become so serious on the Argus forum that one of their own, posting on the Nazi Stormfront site, took them to task:
'Well you and your buddies have screwed up big time. Now nobody can post to either forum and there are likely to be legal consequences and bad publicity that are going to reflect badly on all Nationalists. Thank you. Thank you very much.... You swamped the forum with race-based posts that had nothing to say but just contained links to news stories. It was all you did, and not surprisingly other posters got fed up with it. You wouldn't leave threads that had nothing to do with race alone and other posters got fed up with that too. When they complained to you, you and your cronies immediately stooped to personal abuse. You even abused people who had a BNP mindset... You also did the same thing on the Oxford forums. You made that forum a joke and even when one of our own people came on to fire a warning shot across your bows you ignored him. You caused disruption every day on the Argus forum and used the Oxford forum to boast about it. Very clever... You went there and behaved like trolls so you got treated like trolls.'
Those are excerpts from the first of a series of Stormfront posts. The response of the Braindeads was predictable - they ignored what any rational person would have seen to be sound advice. Unable to believe that one of their own could seriously question their disruption of the two forums they concluded that the Stormfront poster must be an imposter!
BNP antics on two obscure internet forums might not seem to carry much importance (and on these two forums at least, the BNPs are their own worst enemies), but multiply that by several hundred active forums and you have thousands and thousands of people daily exposed to their message - no matter how badly or unintelligently it is posed.
Several things have become very clear to me, after browsing several dozen BNP-infested forums. That is their ability to brazenly lie, to avoid difficult questions (usually by coming back with a question), to query their opponents' bona fides, to attribute to their opponents things they have never said or done, to take statistics and quotes and to mangle them until they fit in with the BNP purpose, and to deflect almost any topic, no matter how innocent, into anti-immigrant propaganda.
There is also a strange propensity for dredging up posts by opponents that were made years before - as if these creepy creatures were keeping databases of who said what and when. Now why would they want to do that?
The BNP encourage and pursue cyber-activism with a vengeance. They realise, even if their opponents do not, that the Internet is an increasingly vital tool in the war of ideas and propaganda, and that the internet forum is one of the strategic fronts in that war. They have taken the initiative, meeting little real opposition away from the larger forums - and though, thanks to their own incompetence and stupidity, they frequently do themselves more harm than good, we should remember that often a post containing nothing more than a link to a crime story with ethnic minority involvement is all that is needed for them to get their racist message across.
Though it isn't my wish to either deny or denigrate the anti-racist stalwarts who do oppose the BNP on many forums, I think we can do so much more. They have many small local newspaper forums to themselves - forums which do have quite a wide local readership. We should be on these forums, not only challenging their views, but exposing their organisation for what it really is.
And the BNP make it so easy!
A thread on crime? Respond by posting of criminality among the BNP membership themselves - there are more than enough links to such stories. Or remind them of the missing money promised to Sharon Ebanks, collected from among their own ranks. Why do none of them ever question what happened to it?
Fastest growing party? Remind them that in 2005 (a great year for racism) the BNP had a net gain of less than 150 members, according to their own accounts as submitted to the Electoral Commission.
Corrupt local government? BNP supporter "EN Ronn" composed an article named 'Unsettling Accounts', reposted on Stormfront several times. Make good use of it! In fact, take a good look at Stormfront, including the back threads - there is so much to use concerning the corrupt internal workings of the BNP that you can counter them on almost anything and throw them completely off balance. And, of course, keep checking the regular anti-racist websites that contain tasty little tit-bits you can store away for future use.
Nick Griffin the best thing since sliced bread? Apart from anti-Griffin posting on Stormfront and similar sites, the best demolition of his reputation to date was penned by the man he deposed, the late John Tyndall. His magazine Spearhead may thankfully be defunct, but its website still exists, and contains many articles full of useful information and quotes. If it's there, you may as well use it.
We're Nationalists? Are they? Ask the majority of them to explain their "nationalist philosophy" and watch them squirm. On two forums they were asked this, and on both avoided giving any answer - in fact their response was to demand that we explain it (they always come back with a question when they have no answers, remember?). Eventually there was some desultory quoting from Wikipedia, and even the OED definition, but nothing in their own words. Which allowed us to show them up as the bone-headed bigots they really are, obsessed with one issue alone, and utterly clueless about the ideology they profess to follow.
We're patriots? So much to choose from to shoot that one down in flames - Mark Collett's "Churchill was a ****ing ***t" tirade is always good.
Undermining the BNP with facts about their own party's doings seems to me the best course of action in the current climate. They cannot dispute provable facts, and their general response when presented with them is a sort of embarrassed prevarication, and sometimes an abusive retort. It doesn't matter which - you have succeeded in undermining their credibility, and can be seen to have done so.
You may not win many converts to the cause of anti-racism but you will cause people to think more deeply about the organisation they may have been tempted to support or vote for. And mostly you can do it simply by posting the facts, the unavoidable, incontrovertible facts!
Article supplied by DG
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