British racism

[CIA]

[OutWest]

Most such discussions beg the question...is it racism (skin color) or "culturism"...
a clash of cultures?

Outwest

[have2fly]

UK is a nation-state with predominantly British population. Most European countries will have similar negative views of racially different immigrants. Look at the U.S.? Asians never feel "home" in the U.S., although they may be born here, most Americans will think they are foreigners or recent immigrants. There is so much hate for immigrants in the U.S., country made up of immigrants

I would say if you look white, it is definitely less of a problem. Say, if I would move to that town, first of all I would definitely slap those kids and their parents and second I would not stand out as much. Don't Christians get harassed in the Middle East? Don't Serbians get harassed in Kosovo? Exactly.

[BellaRuth]

Feel incredibly sorry for the poor family but they are living in one of the most ROUGH areas possible. As a white British girl I'd be scared to be walking down there in broad daylight and would surely get trouble for one reason or another, it's a way of life, so it's not a good place for people who look like Muslim extremists, is it? An 'estate' in Britain is like a 'ghetto' in the USA. It's not a nice normal average street. The people on estates are poor, violence is often a form of entertainment, and when they feel these extremist-looking Muslim newcomers hate them too, well. You can see why the trouble happens.

If the Asians want to integrate they need to go to a Brit Muslim community (plenty), go to a decent area, or integrate and become Westernised.

Most cities in Britain, and poor areas, are full of Muslims and other immigrants from Pakistani, Bangladesh, etc. They are not actually that much of a minority group. There are MANY areas in the UK where you can walk down streets and not see a single white person or hear English spoken. I've been to friend's houses, woken up and heard Islamic music blasting out. It's so normal. Like Hispanics in America?

British Muslims came over in the 70s mostly and integrated very well indeed. There are lots of mixed race Brits here and Westernised people from Middle-Eastern backgrounds. But the more recent and extremist influx of Muslims do not want to integrate, they hate the country they have come to, which annoys the people here.

In my nearest city, Birmingham, I often go to the main shops and see LOTS of women in full hijab, without their eyes showing. Islamic leaflets are handed out (in a country that is mostly atheist, with no Christian evangelism), and they don't have any interest in integrating or learning the language.

In my local doctors surgery in the town where I live there are alternative messages in Arabic. None in any other language, just English and Arabic. We have lots of Muslim-only schools, and frequently Muslim extremists can preach hatred against the very country that gave them asylum.

The vast majority of British people are not against these people because of their race, but because of actions like these:

http://www.euronews.net/2011/03/08/uk-m ... ed-debate/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11701269

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2002/feb/28/stevenmorris

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 009765.ece

Again, MANY, MANY British Muslims are accepted into the community. The average state of a British Asian (as we call them) is the same as a white Brit. They are VERY well accepted and are seen as equals as long as they accept the country themselves.

Extremist Islam is feared and so it has the backlash. These people are wearing traditional Islamic dress, which is of course their right, but it makes them look like an extremist, so people get nervous and angry.

Look at other countries like France and Sweden who are facing the same issues with extremist Islam. As have2fly mentioned, how does this woman think a white European woman would fare in her native Islamic country?

[Repatriate]

Most cities in Britain, and poor areas, are full of Muslims and other immigrants from Pakistani, Bangladesh, etc. They are not actually that much of a minority group. There are MANY areas in the UK where you can walk down streets and not see a single white person or hear English spoken. I've been to friend's houses, woken up and heard Islamic music blasting out. It's so normal. Like Hispanics in America?

The difference is that prejudice against "hispanics" tends to be about skin color, unfamiliar language, etc.. rather than pure cultural/religious differences. In fact a lot of hispanics are very conservative and catholic, their core social beliefs line up pretty closely with mainstream GOP social policies. The GOP is such a bigoted party they have alienated much of this hispanic base by being anti-immigrant/anti-brown though so the whole thing is ironic to say the least. Most hispanics (Mexicans at least) i've known are actually very welcoming towards outsiders (remember i'm asian) and i've never had problems with any of them. I have always lived in close proximity with hispanic communities in California.

It seems the tension in Europe is more about an unfamiliar culture and religion forming its own fundamentalist/ultra-conservative communities that have very different views from modern mainstream liberal politics. This goes far beyond just race and into a clash of religion and ideolog which is much more difficult to handle. I don't think integration of the more segregationist islamic communities will ever work in most of western Europe for this reason alone. The differences in politics, religious beliefs, etc.. is fundamentally at odds with modern socio-political liberal ideals.

[djfourmoney]

Most cities in Britain, and poor areas, are full of Muslims and other immigrants from Pakistani, Bangladesh, etc. They are not actually that much of a minority group. There are MANY areas in the UK where you can walk down streets and not see a single white person or hear English spoken. I've been to friend's houses, woken up and heard Islamic music blasting out. It's so normal. Like Hispanics in America?

The difference is that prejudice against "hispanics" tends to be about skin color, unfamiliar language, etc.. rather than pure cultural/religious differences. In fact a lot of hispanics are very conservative and catholic, their core social beliefs line up pretty closely with mainstream GOP social policies. The GOP is such a bigoted party they have alienated much of this hispanic base by being anti-immigrant/anti-brown though so the whole thing is ironic to say the least. Most hispanics (Mexicans at least) i've known are actually very welcoming towards outsiders (remember i'm asian) and i've never had problems with any of them. I have always lived in close proximity with hispanic communities in California.

It seems the tension in Europe is more about an unfamiliar culture and religion forming its own fundamentalist/ultra-conservative communities that have very different views from modern mainstream liberal politics. This goes far beyond just race and into a clash of religion and ideolog which is much more difficult to handle. I don't think integration of the more segregationist islamic communities will ever work in most of western Europe for this reason alone. The differences in politics, religious beliefs, etc.. is fundamentally at odds with modern socio-political liberal ideals.

This is more closer to the truth than what's generally being told.

There is some acting out in the UK like in the US about people of different racial, ethnic or religious backgrounds. But Islamic fundamentalism is the MAIN problem. These people don't want to integrate as it they see liberal ideals (especially the empowerment of women) as problematic among other things. But I believe that fundamentalist behavior lets men off the hook for their actions and puts any shame onto the women. That's why you have "honor" killings and forced marriages.

Irshad Manji was recently on Real Time with Bill Maher - http://www.hbo.com/real-time-with-bill- ... index.html and said as much...

I think the new law in France is overreaching a bit, but sends a message to Islamic fundamentalist that we want to you integrate as we don't want eto allow "Separate but Equal". Its not just wearing full facial gear, its about separate times in health centers for women and men, they want very little interaction between men and women even with Westerners.

If we didn't prop up dictators all the time their own countries, they wouldn't be coming to Western Europe and America en-mass and forcing us to adjust our way of life around their extremist views of Western Culture.