Islamophobia May be the Last Acceptable Form of Bigotry

Baroness Warsi

I don't agree with Sayeeda Warsi that anti-Muslim sentiment is the last socially acceptable form of bigotry. I think there are all kinds of bigotry out there, but simply some are spoken about more than others.

The reaction, though, of both the left and the right to Warsi's speech about prejudice against Muslims told us a lot. The right wing dismiss her basically as a dumb token who is a disaster when she speaks out. The left does much the same and points to her "homophobia", as if this negates all that she has to say. Personally I think anyone who has taken on both the BNP and the imams who wanted her to veil up is an interesting figure in the current political landscape.
Some of the things that Warsi was getting at in her speech, and indeed Robinson did in Newsnight, is the stuff that many people say when they think no one is listening. It is everyday speech. Remember, the EDL formed in 2009 after a demonstration against the returning troops from Afghanistan. Banners were held up saying "baby-killers" and "butchers of Basra". This demonstration was organised by Al-Muhajiroun and included members of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah. These are extremist groups. This is the bit where it is obligatory to say that most Muslims are not like this. The EDL evolved, if that is the right word, into the "United Peoples of Luton" in response. Many of its members have BNP pasts, criminal convictions and come out of the hooligan firms of the football casuals. This is also the bit where I will say that not all EDL support is so straightforwardly thuggish, either.
The peer, the first Muslim woman to be appointed to the Cabinet, said Islamophobia had ‘seeped into our society’.
She also suggested that followers of Islam should not be divided into ‘extremists’ and ‘moderates’.
Her remarks were condemned by the Right of her party and church leaders, and Downing Street refused to endorse her views.
In a speech, Lady Warsi said: ‘It’s not a big leap of imagination to predict where the talk of “moderate” Muslims leads; in the factory, where they’ve just hired a Muslim worker, the boss says: “Not to worry, he’s only fairly Muslim”. In the school, the kids say: “The family next door are Muslim but they’re not too bad”.
‘It has seeped into our society in a way where it is acceptable around dinner to have conversations where anti-Muslim hatred and bigotry is openly discussed.
‘At various times, Britain has not been at ease with various religious minorities, whether that’s the Catholic community, eventually resulting in Catholic emancipation, or more recently the British Jewish community.
‘I look at the way those challenges were dealt with and indeed are continuing to be dealt with and how we must bring some of those lessons to the rise of anti-Muslim hatred.’
She added that perceptions of criminality among Muslims were of particular concern.
‘Sadly, one of the concerns that has been raised as I travel around the country is that somehow because there are a minority of people who commit criminal acts who come from the faith of Islam, that somehow means that it is fair game to have a go at the community as a whole,’ she said.

‘'It has seeped into our society in a way where it is acceptable around dinner to have conversations where anti-Muslim hatred and bigotry'

James Chapman, Mailonline

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1349080/Baroness-Warsi-triggers-backlash-Islamophobia.html#ixzz1Uhvfshiq