https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...phobia-muslimsOriginally Posted by Organ Morgan.
Sayeeda Warsi:
I’m astonished that, after decades of research and policies that improved our understanding on race, anyone still believes racism is only about the shade of one’s skin. It is not. Antisemitism is a form of racism – directed at Jews who come in many shades, black, brown and white. Racism is a demonisation and negative stereotyping of a group or perceived group, irrespective of the colour of their face.
The same is true for Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim. It’s why the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, after wide consultation and evidence gathering, defined Islamophobia in 2018 as a “form of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”.
https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...ritish-society
Omar Khan:
Racism isn’t much understood in Britain in 2020. Exhibit A is Trevor Phillips suggesting that because “Muslims are not a race”, there is no such thing as anti-Muslim racism.
Phillips has been suspended from the Labour party for alleged Islamophobia, but his line of thinking is common. Many have tried over the decades to explain why it isn’t right, and not just when it comes to Islamophobia. Of course Muslims are not a “race”, but they have been racialised. This means people who are Muslim are treated by particular societies as having essential characteristics that mark them as wholly different.
The question is whether there is a set of attitudes and behaviours – racism – that is socially widespread and used to justify discrimination against a particular group. If we look at the history of racism itself, we see that it didn’t emerge through scientific investigations or empirically rigorous endeavours, but instead to provide a justification for the economic, political and social domination and exclusion of particular groups. This is why it makes sense to call antisemitism and Islamophobia forms of racism.
Reply With Quote