"Jack Straw can't tell me what to wear, I can wear what I like!" said a Muslim "sister" on the radio this morning. And quite right too - isn't that the kind of attitude decades of public policy has encouraged?
Which is why I believe multiculturalism is inherently racist. Not necessarily in principle but in practice - Jack Straw's objection to the full veil perfectly illustrates the point.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I suspect there was always an assumption by (invariably Christian secularist) policy makers that isn't it lovely for our rainbow society to have its curries and its carnivals - what a multiculti mix! - but difference is only acceptable to a point.
Naturally our New Britons would appreciate the obvious benefits of our society - democracy, liberty, freedom of speech and to have your belly hanging out - which we take so much for granted that we have rarely appreciated these "benefits" are actually hard VALUES. Cultural values that can be accepted (as we arrogantly presume) or rejected. It is our racist assumption that our values are so obviously superior that the other cultural values will simply bow down to them.
The fatal flaw of this assumption has literally been staring Jack in the face.
Friday, October 06, 2006
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True, people should be allowed to dress as they please. But, as a woman, I have this nagging feeling that choice and personal freedom have very little to do with the rapidly spreading epidemic of niqab/burqa clad Muslim women in this country. And probably a lot more to do with coercion, intimidation, bullying and brainwashing by their families and communities (would any woman in her right mind, even a devout Muslim, choose to wear such a constricting and individuality-depriving attire?).
I do not accept that democracy, liberty and freedom of speech are simply the cultural values of our society. In my opinion, they happen to be at the very heart of human rights and aspirations throughout the world, and to pretend otherwise would be going down a very dangerous road indeed (what next? Try to completely erase Muslim women from public life? Ban them from receiving an education, working and driving? Change the divorce laws?).
Being myself a foreigner in this country, I am strongly in favour of a multicultural Britain and have always been a great admirer of the tolerance of British society. But, in my opinion, some things are just not acceptable, and the erosion of women's rights in the name of religion is certainly one of them. So yes, in this particular instance, long live our cultural values!
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