Muslim columnist: To say Islam isn’t a race is “overly simplistic,” and “Islamophobia” is racism
“The stereotyping of Muslims as a racially homogeneous group cannot be overlooked.”
All right, but it’s really being done by people such as Sehrish Amjad when they claim that “Islamophobia” is “racism,” not by the racist, redneck Islamophobes of her imagination. In reality, there may be some people who really are racists and dislike Muslims and Hindus and all the rest, but concern about Islam is most often not due to racism, but due to jihad terror. And Muslims of all races have committed jihad mass murder.
“Amjad: Canada must call Islamophobia what it is – racism,” by Sehrish Amjad, Ottawa Citizen, August 30, 2017:
Canadian officials were in Geneva this month to answer critical questions about the country’s human rights record.The appearance before the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination comes every four years and is an opportunity for racialized communities to hold our governments to account for their action, or inaction, on promoting racial equity in a pluralistic society. This year, there was a painful omission.Canada omitted identifying Islamophobia as a form of racism in its official report. This reinforces harmful narratives that can render Islamophobia invisible.All too often, when someone perceived as Muslim is discriminated against, assaulted, harassed or disparaged, offenders and their supporters are quick to shrug off accusations of racism, arguing that Islam is not a race.This is an overly simplistic understanding of the social construct of race itself.“Since all racisms are socially and politically constructed rather than reliant on the reality of any biological race, it is perfectly possible for cultural markers associated with Muslimness (forms of dress, rituals, languages, etc.) to be turned into racial signifiers,” points out British academic and author Arun Kundnani.In identifying anti-Muslim discrimination to be the leading form of contemporary creed-based discrimination in Ontario, the Ontario Human Rights Commission has noted that visible minorities are sometimes broadly targeted based on outward appearances, and “perceived” associations with Islam….The stereotyping of Muslims as a racially homogeneous group cannot be overlooked. The Ontario government has made progress by establishing an anti-racism directorate and committing to the study and eradication of systemic racism, including Islamophobia….Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged that Islamophobia is a problem in Canada – our government institutions must do the same.
Posts
