Timmyhawk

ISLAMOPHOBIA AND ITS INDUSTRY Now I don't want come across all nasty and snarling so I will say that I share some points that are being raised here by the Runnymede Trust. That's the rub though, it's the Runnymede Trust, those cool folks who tried to tell us that it was time to abolish Britishness and all that other mumbo-jumbo. Right now they are actually onto a serious problem, a concern I actually share:

The Runnymede Trust's Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia said Muslims were being "demonised" and little was being done to help them.

This is something that actually bothers me, but unfortunately it's being done by the wielders of mumbo-jumbo. I mean take a look at this and tell me if you know what he's talking about:

But he said local authorities had "done nothing" since then to tackle issues such as power sharing, "resource sharing", consultation, or inclusion in race equality schemes.

This sounds big and serious but is so vague, again. But why did they have to use that term "institutionally Islamophobic"? I'm personally tired by its use and in most cases it's not institutions, but the people serving in them which is not the same. And you know all of this started in 1997, the year of New Labour:

Targeted at central and local government, voluntary and private bodies, the 1997 report put forward 60 recommendations.
But a follow-up document to be released on Tuesday found little positive action had been taken.
"In 1997 we were given a promise that within a few years religious discrimination would be outlawed, diversity and plurality would be part of life and no sections of the British community would be excluded," Mr Sajid said.

Within a few years? Whoever promised you that Mr Sajid was either lying to you or plain stupid. You can't transform a national culture in its totality within a few years. I'm sorry to say this was certainly a part of the euphoria that streamed out from that nice Tony Blair, back in the day when we all liked him. And like much of the energy that seemed present at the time it got bogged down in deadening bureaucracy. Like so many other promising projects of the Blairites the fight against Islamophobia collapsed from its overbearing burden of state control. Sadly Mr Sajid is part of the problem it seems:

"We need action in employment, education, policing, legislation, media and many other areas," he said.

We need action all over the place. Let's interfere everywhere. Now, in principle he's right, we need change everywhere to root out racism. The problem is he's looking at the wrong agent, the state. The state can alter education slightly, but that's all it can do. The cultural change necessary must be carried out by the institutions of culture, such as the media. This can't be done by government, and for those who doubt me: pick up a history book and read about the Chinese cultural revolution, Pol Pot or Stalin.
Nonetheless, Sajid makes another basically correct observation:

"Where I live local authorities refuse to recognise religious hate crimes while the Metropolitan Police in London are actively monitoring and even reporting to the Safety Forum such crimes.
"Why aren't these things being done collectively and in a co-ordinated way?"

Have you ever seen anything done in a collective and co-ordinated way by this Government? Truth be told it's a shame, but there needs to be different approach to tackling Islamophobia than the stilted stasis of hard-left culture warriors.