The Impact of 9/11 on Race Relations.

As the the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks is approaching, I thought it would be appropriate to write a blog related to it. Something I have always considered, but never really researched in depth, is the negative impact that awful day and its aftermath had on race relations.

Since the atrocious attacks on the Twin Towers a decade ago, race relations, particularly those between Muslims and the so called West, have apparently deteriorated. At the very least they have intensified. It seems as if the British National Party and the  English Defence League are almost a direct response to the attacks on 9/11. Could it be that the September 11th attacks and reactions to it gave rise to the efforts of British far right groups to identify Muslims as symbolic of unwanted difference and almost excused anti Islamic violence? In Nazi Germany, the far right were able to use the Jewish community as a scapegoat, in the twenty first century the far right are focused on Islam.

There has long been a Muslim presence in Britain, since the beginning of the 19th century in Britain in fact. Islam first came to Britain with the immigration of Muslim seamen who settled around major British ports. Again,  after World War Two there was an increase in the number of Muslims in Britain as a result of large numbers of  Banglasdeshis, Pakistanis and Indians being brought in to address labour demands.

In all fairness to the BNP, EDL and other similar organisations, the portrayal of Muslims in Europe has been negative since the formation of Islam. The negativity towards them is not a new phenomenon. Anti-Muslim feeling grew out of the desire to prevent Christians from converting to Islam and to encourage resistance to Muslim forces on borders. They were portrayed then, and sadly in many instances still are unfairly portrayed as barbaric, ignorant, closed minded terrorists. This, needless to say was and is absolutely disgraceful.

In the decade that has followed 9/11, Muslisms have been the target for more subtle forms of prejudice and hatred by right wing groups. The media worked collectively to reinforce negative beliefs and perceptions by highlighting honour killings, terrorist organisations like Al-Quaeda, and extremist muslim groups like Islam4UK led by Anjam Choudary.

Often the language used to describe Muslims is violent, which infers that Muslims are violent. Lest we forget the old adage 'violence only begets more violence.' Arabic words have been put into universal vocabulary with new meaning such as Jihad. This now signifies a military war waged by Islamists against the the West. However the Qur'anic meaning is far braoder and refers to the idea of struggle.

It's not just the media who are guilty of using anti- Muslim rhetoric for their own gains. Politicians are at it too. When politicians used the phrase "War on Terror", they are using the Anti Muslim frame already put in place, but being subtle about it. David Miliband rightly said in this weeks BBC Question Time that those words "should never have been uttered." Why? Because the only purpose that sentence serves, is to almost justify radical right wing groups, and their hatred towards Islam and Muslims, because they are seen as the enemy.

Something that I found utterly shocking, was something I read on the website of the broadsheet newspaper The Guardian. A colouring book has just been released entitled "We shall never forget 9/11: The Kids Book of Freedom." This colouring book contains pictures of the Twin Towers burning and the execution of Osama bin Laden. Highly appropriate for children isn't it? It even contains this text: "Children, the truth is, these terrorist acts were done by freedom-hating radical Islamic Muslim extremists. These crazy people hate the American way of life because we are FREE and our society is FREE." This book serves to demonize Islam, not to speak the truth as it says. It essentially characterizes all Muslims as terrorists and radicals which could lead children to believe they were all responsible for the attacks on 9/11. Instead of teaching equality, it seeks to divide children and fear other religions.

 Something which I take particular exception to, where anti- Muslim rhetoric is concerned is the way in which people describe the relationship as 'them' and 'us'. As far as I'm concerned religion is irrelevant. If the people which got on the plane that day were Muslim, it does not mean that millions of other Muslims behave that way as well. Not too long ago there was a terrorist attack committed in Norway by a Christian.

I think ultimately, Muslims are the new blacks, the new Jews, the new Irish. They are at this moment in time the scapegoat people use. In time it will pass, when they find something else. I don't think that September 11th 2001 necessarily increased prejudice towards Muslims, although unfortunately it did give people with such disgusting outlooks something with which to justify their twisted logic and unacceptable views.