Racism is Alive & Kicking

Here’s a thought;

With the rise of the Ultra-right “ulraPolitik” in the West clearly manifested by the election of Donald Trump in the White House, Racism has again become an area of concern. It used to be the case in the not-so-distant past that Western societies prided themselves for being the most tolerant/open societies in the world but then it turns out somethings have gone terribly wrong and here are some clues;

1. Continued failures of the political establishment to address serious flaws/imbalances in immigration/integration policies led to the gradual rise of racist ideology in our society. This is not to suggest that western societies are racist by nature, but to many people their concern about protecting their common identity was NOT being heard by the traditional establishment who seem to have taken for granted the concept of multiculturalism/tolerance. Under these conditions it was only natural that these voices begin to divert from a mainstream to more extreme ideology that is more receptive to their concerns.

2. With the increasing inflow of migrants and the lack of effective integration policies the natural outcome was the gradual dissolution of a common identity and social breakdown across cultural/religious lines. This lack of value-based integration/national identity led to immigrants bringing with them long held biases-allegiances related to foreign conflicts which have created further divisions in the fabric of society.

The culmination of these facts has led to something quite interesting; when we now talk about racism against minority groups of diverse cultural/religious backgrounds for the most part we tend to follow our biases by defending against 1 form of racism against 1 group more than another-this based on our own experiences/environment we were raised in. For example there are those who feel more strongly opposed to Anti-semitism than they are about Islamophobia or Anti-Black forms of racism and the reverse. What compounds the problem is the rise/increased financial/political power of a multi-billion dollar industry in the form of NGO’s & Lobby groups created specifically to defend 1 minority group or another and their increasing influence on the political landscape-as a matter of fact they tend to more politically oriented than focused on social issues. Even political parties & parliaments have developed groupings geared to protect certain minority groups and not others. So in a sense-particularly for many powerful lobbyist/politicians-Racism is NOT created equal after all. There is no starker example of this virtual view of racism than Trump-the current President of the United States bragging about his Jewish family credentials as sufficient proof of his opposition to Anti-semitism (which is absurd) as opposed to his anti-muslim rhetoric/and inaction (deafening silence) after the terrorist attack on the Muslim cultural centre in Quebec-Canada.

So the suggestions from this is end are a few;

a) Fix Problems without affecting our Values: Failed Immigration/Integration policies should lead us all to be more determined than ever to fix the root causes of this issue and not resort to extremist ideology that exacerbates the problem and counters our core values-these values that served us well at war and in peace.

b) Racism is One (despite its forms): We should fight against all forms of racism with the same voice/intensity and we need to expect the same of our politicians. Racism is Racism and we should NOT categories/differentiate it based on form-this in of itself is Racist.

c) Ditch Lobbyist: We need to put an end to the Lobby industry and to all forms corporate interference in our political landscape. These are people with narrow agenda’s that do not reflect broad national interest and thus their scope of operation should be constrained from affecting national policy.

c) Interactivism: We need to have a new form of activism where by people of all views/political affiliations interact/debate matters in a civilized manner away from divisive politics/politicians-in an ongoing way/form. We really need to reconnect based on the firm values we share rather than political ideology we may differ on. It is equally important that we ensure that any political ideology on the land we stand is consistent with our core values-values we need to articulate and allow to evolve as we evolve as a society.

The media should take it fair share of responsibility in driving through these changes.