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We are in danger of losing touch with the public on race, immigration and..


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multiculturalism (says searchlight).

 

linky

 

then again it also says "A total of 48 per cent said they would either “definitely support” or “consider supporting” a party with such an agenda, if it shunned violence and fascist imagery." so its just not going to happen :P

 

i found this article online as id read it in the paper today but the bit that surprised me about immigration isnt in it :(

 

"The report also found opposition comes from all races, not just “white Britons" i cant remember the actual figures off the top of my head now but it distinctly mentioned blacks wanting immigration capped / stopped and also the one that surprised me the most was someat like 39% of BRITISH asians wanted a cap on immigration / immigration stopped too, I think the version i read in the paper wasnt just about immigration per se but people wanting immigration stopped while the country recovers from the coming financial belt tightening. And points out that people tend to move towards right wing policies in times of hardship. Where they believe theres a type of person that is the cause (a scapegoat) to blame and hate.

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It's seems common sense to me for governments to listen and act on the will of its people. Certainly not listen and act on the wishes of right wing minorities that see immigration as a means of stirring hatred.

 

Immigration and right wing hatred are entirely two different issues and should be approached as such.

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I've been following the writings of Kenan Malik on this subject for a while now and I tend to agree with many of his interpretations of multiculturalism. This is an excerpt from one of his essays:

 

The irony of multiculturalism is that, as a political process, it undermines what is valuable about cultural diversity. Diversity is important, not in and of itself, but because it allows us to expand our horizons, to compare and contrast different values, beliefs and lifestyles, and make judgements upon them. In other words, because it allows us to engage in political dialogue and debate that can help create more universal values and beliefs, and a collective language of citizenship. But it is precisely such dialogue and debate, and the making of such judgements, that contemporary multiculturalism attempts to suppress in the name of 'tolerance' and 'respect'.

 

A truly plural society would be one in which citizens have full freedom to pursue their different values or practices in private, while in the public sphere all citizens would be treated as political equals whatever the differences in their private lives. Today, however, pluralism has come to mean the very opposite. The right to practice a particular religion, speak a particular language, follow a particular cultural practice is seen as a public good rather than a private freedom. Different interest groups demand to have their 'differences' institutionalised in the public sphere. And to enforce such a vision we have to call in the Thought Police.

 

Multiculturalism is an authoritarian, anti-human outlook. True political progress requires not recognition but action, not respect but questioning, not the invocation of the Thought Police but the forging of common bonds and collective struggles.

 

From his essay here: http://www.kenanmalik.com/essays/against_mc.html

 

He's also written an interesting piece for the Guardian that explains the difference between social multiculturalism and political multiculturalism, which I think many people confuse in this political debate:

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/17/multiculturalism-diversity-political-policy

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