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It is amazing how often the word racist is abused, so much so that its very meaning is attenuated.
When one discusses race it can be perceived as being racist, when you can’t speak of a subject it
means that the realm of political correctness has interfered with common sense & logic. We are all
part of a pluralistic society and people are entitled to their opinions, no matter how obtuse.
Debates and discussions are arenas where people can engage in to candid discussions without fear
that one’s frame of reference or credibility are impugned predicated on ones feeling or assertion
that the person speaks from a frame of reference that is different from their own. |
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I agree entirely. I am glad others do to. Political debate has been stiffled for too long by
people screaming racist if the subject of immigration was ever raised. The reason it was this way
is simple as I see it. This government lost control of immigration completely, even before they
failed to realise how many Eastern Europeans would come to the UK as economic migrants once their
countries joined the EU. Rather than admitting to their failings or resolving the problem it was
easier to shout down those raising the issue with cries of racist.
Fortunately, and just in time, people are now brave enough to raise this debate without fear of
being labelled a racist. Perhaps, as Hidell mentions, the immigrants are now white so it is not
such a touchy subject. Sad that it has got so far, but I am thankful the topic is on the agenda
before the BNP filled the void. |
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It's regrettable that serious debate on immigration is always stifled by the cheap accusations of
racism. Of course, it's perfectly possible to think that your country is just fine the way it is,
and doesn't need any more immigration, without being a racist. These accusations are particularly
absurd in relation to immigration from Eastern Europe since the people coming from Eastern Europe
are clearly white and therefore not members of a different race, unless someone wants to get into
sub-classifications of white populations. |
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I agree that questioning the increasing number of economic migrants from the accession states of the
EU and whether the UK can sustain such unchecked numbers does not make anyone a racist.
There are those however(especially in some pockets of the news media) who make adverse and often
inaccurate comments in relation to some economic migrants.
They get houses before locals; they take jobs off British workers and they get benefits from the
State. These are untrue statements that are often being passed off as fact and these myths and
others should be corrected at every opportunity.
When did you hear comments such as.. Send the French home, send the Italians etc home? The Poles
have had stronger links with this country than many others who have their nationals resident here.
I have previously heard comments such as... (An assault)... It was the Eastern Europeans that did
it.... The evidence clearly demonstrated the involvement of a local white male and not Eastern
Europeans at all. This is when questions, debate and comment are in danger of spreading over into
racism. |
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Although I don't at all think that being against immigration necessarily makes one a racist, the
loudest proponents of closing the gates clearly are bigoted. The best example is the British
National Party (BNP), which seems to have an obsession with the issue of immigration and likes to
create videos on a regular basis, in which it tries to show how individual British communities have
allegedly suffered due to the arrival of immigrants. The main targets of their propaganda are
Muslims and Asians.
If this debate is primarily about the more than one million Eastern Europeans who have settled in
the UK since 2004, then the discussion is misguided. No amount of public debate on immigration will
stop the arrival of Eastern Europeans to the UK, since the free movement of people within the EU is
one of the pillars of this supranational union, and this applies to the UK as well, even if it is
not part of the Schengen Zone. So those who would like to halt the arrival of Eastern Europeans
should first have a discussion on whether Britain should remain a member of the EU, rather than one
on the merits of immigration itself. |
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04 May 2008 15:12
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