Thursday 23 May 2013

The Woolwich Tragedy Is No Excuse For Racism

Lee Rigby
I doubt many people living in England right now are unaware of the sadistic and barbaric attack which took place yesterday in Woolwich, London. For those who don't (and without going into too much detail as it was truly horrific) a man identified as 25 year old Lee Rigby was brutally murdered by two Islamic extremists in what is understood to be a terrorist attack - the first since the July 2005 bombings. What those two men did is utterly disturbing and horrendous and my thoughts go out to Mr. Rigby's relatives in such a sad time.

However, as you may have guessed from the title, this post doesn't focus solely on this appalling attack but also the reaction of the British people following the news, including some of the most racist and bigoted comments I have ever come across. With tensions already high with regards to immigration and our membership in the European Union, this event seemed to be the spark that set off an endless tirade of hate and xenophobia, so I wish to address the first elephant in the room - the attackers are Muslim. Yes, they are... but so are two million other people living peacefully in Britain at the minute, so are they all the same? No.

The Two Attackers
It's cliche to use the phrase 'don't tar them all with the same brush' but there is no other appropriate phrase that springs to mind. I don't wish to insult anyone but in my opinion it shows a limited degree of intelligence and twice the amount of ignorance to assume that two million people who follow an identical faith behave in the same way as these two animals. If we could just take a step back from all the hype and hysteria to think about what we're saying about other human beings then I hope, for the sake of humanity, that we can understand that it is wrong.

I shall share this story with you. Two weeks ago, a 75 year old Pakistani man was murdered with a machete in Birmingham by a white man, which was understood to be a racially motivated attack. Now, are all white people racist based on the actions of this man? No? So why are people quite happy to make the same generalisations against British Muslims? If you want someone to vent your hate and disgust at then look no further than the two monsters who took away the father of a two year old child for no reason whatsoever.

Racism seen on my Facebook
What I also find repulsive is how people like the BNP (British National Party) leader Nick Griffin used this tragedy to fuel their bigoted agenda to gain more support and votes. Griffin took to Twitter stating that this attack was due to mass immigration - obviously ignorant to the fact that the attacker Michael Adebolajo was born in London. He then went on to say that he'd be happy to go back onto BBC Question Time which, to me, implied that he would use the death of an innocent solider to spout his racist rubbish in a bid to win votes. Moreover, the EDL (English Defence League) took the opportunity to 'protest' in the streets which ended in the destruction of a mosque and random Asian bystanders being attacked.
There's enough here for you to read as it is without me adding another 5 paragraphs about my feelings towards the BNP and EDL so I shall just say that I condemn their reactions and everything they stand for.

What happened yesterday has shook our country. It's heartbreaking to have a young, brave serviceman murdered in a place where he was supposed to feel save. But we MUST stand together and show extremists that we - black, white or asian - will never succumb to their terror and brutality. Stand united and we are strong, stand divided and we will lose.

I leave you with a quote:
"When there are no enemies within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you" - Winston Churchill.

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2 comments:

  1. An interesting post Carys. However once again, there are certain matters we disagree upon. The world is simply not ready for this unified nation you speak of, and whilst I do not condone racism of any form, some degree of prejudice is necessary. Our country in particular has had too much freedom for too long, were it that we applied the sword more often and more liberally - we might have avoided the poor man's death. And the future deaths.

    As far as I am concerned this was a war crime, and if it had occurred abroad on some foreign soil we might have drove a bullet into his skull - yet as we stand upon our home, where we are without a doubt our weakest and most pathetic, we settle for capture and detainment, only to release him after a sad amount of time. As a country, we should start to make more radical changes or suffer the consequences. Mark my words, should the mid century dawn and without war, these extremists will be so common that we might as well live atop a besieged hill. We simply cannot feel safe from these, and I'm sorry, Muslim infidels.

    I can understand that for the most part what I propose goes against the way we have been brought up, the way society has carved its path to the present, and yet I know it is the right thing. Punish a man for his defiance and he will have time to be defiant once again. Kill a man and he will be removed of his acting position. Live in ignorance of men who would indoctrinate the young and the young shall rise in protest and violence. Oust the instigators and all that will remain is a space for the innocent. I do not pull this filter over the whole of the religion in question, just those who would see us burn in hell for our existence. The new Hitler is somewhat less stylised it seems.

    - The Reluctor

    ***

    WELCOME TO ENGLAND
    May contain;
    - Thugs
    - Extremists
    - Politicians
    - Racists
    - Schemers
    - Frauds
    - Crooks
    and in the near future, possibly - a revolution. We'll have to see.

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    Replies
    1. The Reluctor
      I think to a certain extent we can agree but also disagree.
      Firstly I must disagree with the necessity for prejudice, I don't see how peaceful believers should be condemned for the actions of the radicial minority. As said in the article, this is arguable the first terror attack since the 7/7 bombings and I do strongly believe that extremists are in their minority.
      But in saying this I agree that these radicials, no matter how small, can pose a dangerous threat to the safety of our people. There should be tighter laws in place to clamp down on the indoctrination of young Muslims and a clamp down on group activity of suspected radicals. There was a good video on YouTube (an interview with Asghar Bukhari) about how the government and Muslim communities publicly state how much they're against it but then do nothing to prevent it from happening again. Whilst it is just a minority, they pose a threat.
      Whether we execute the murderers is another matter - something which I haven't made up my mind on yet.
      I do stand by my words though in that more steps towards a united nation would make us stronger, but we must learn from our mistakes.

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