Come On Tell the Truth - Are We AllA Bunch Of Closet Racists Or What?

Asks Derrick Campbell

24-08-2006

First two Muslims were ordered off a flight from Malaga to Britain…then today I read that in a similar incident, a British family were denied access to the London Eye after a security guard overheard them talking Arabic.

These incidents have really shocked us …haven't they? Or have they simply allowed what people really think to come out into the open?

In the airline case, passengers told cabin crew they feared for their safety after spotting two men of Asian appearance, wearing thick clothes. They were in their 20s, speaking Arabic and allegedly acting suspiciously. In the London Eye incident, language alone was enough to arouse suspicion.

This is incredible because it means that we now have a definition of what a terrorist looks and sounds like…they are black, with a beard, wear strange clothes, speak Arabic or some strange tongue, they also come from Asia or the Middle East and resemble some guy called Bin laden.

Clearly this narrows the field somewhat to perhaps a billion or so people give or take a few hundred million - whose quibbling?

Leaders from the Muslim community are warning that this incident reflects the growing Islamophobia in the community, and the union representing British pilots is arguing that passengers shouldn't be allowed to decide who can or can't fly.

So have we now arrived at a place where one passenger can decide if another passenger flies or not? Racism has many different ways to show itself…could this one such case...I wonder?

Having recently returned from my holidays abroad and sensing the worry from others on the flight, I am not surprised to learn that the current levels of anxiety amongst passengers is quite high.

But the real questions here are: Is there legitimate concern about terrorism involving Asians or people of similar appearance?

Has this newfound freedom to express ourselves in this explicit way, come about because Muslims and wider Asian community have suddenly morphed into something new?

Or is it because we have always been xenophobic and harboured the secret fear and suspicion of them?

I believe this incident has exposed the real Britain.

“But hang on a minute!”...I hear you say…”If I am genuinely frightened about something, then I believe I have the right to express those concerns…”

Fair enough, but the question I would ask is how should we do it?

Come on, let's be honest…It is obvious that regardless of who you are, if you look like the stereo-typical image of a terrorist…even if you have been my neighbour for the last twenty years, you are a target and that is not good for community cohesion or good race relations.

Is Britain now showing its true colours…that we all have racist views somewhere within us and it only takes the right trigger to launch us into action…I am intrigued to find out…

No…there's no mystery…its clear that we are all bit racist under the surface.

Derrick Campbell