Funny you’re not the first Anglo who I heard using those exact words. Must be high among your standard put-downs for coloured people -an activity Anglos are most comfortable indulging in. Disagreement is fine in a debate -and healthy too; but disrespect is not. Instead of politely refuting the claims I made in the previous comment (which is what you expect), you tried to make me sound ludicrous and stupid – this is the precise thing I wanted to show you; Anglos have a natural arrogance borne out of a sense of cultural superiority, out of step with today’s times when Britain doesn’t even count as a world power anymore but nevertheless, you “over-project” yourself as some kind of moral authority from whom everyone else must learn, and accept as role model. Granted you invented English but noone’s denying your importance here. Just get rid of your “bag of cultural superiority” – if you’re assuming my previous comment is a lone view, I offer you a challenge – just show my points to other Indians/Asians and ask them if they agree/disagree with them!

Anyways, it’s YOUR website and I respect your right to allow content which only you prefer. I don’t intend to spoil your morning cup of tea but if you want to hear my real opinions on this subject, I’ll make them LOUD and CLEAR everytime.

Please NOTE: I’m not generalizing for all White people…it’s not about the colour of your skin but the way you treat me when I’m with you. Also in my experience, most White people are just like any other race; there are good and bad apples everywhere but what I object about White Britons is their air of cultural superiority when they meet Indians…just because Britain ruled over India some 60 years ago and many educated Indians speak in English doesn’t mean the White Britons should look condescendingly at us. This is simply not the case with any other White people on Earth – e.g. most White Americans/Canadians in my experience have been extremely nice towards me; in fact I get along excellently with Americans. Even in Europe, leaving aside the French -almost all European nationalities are very well-behaved towards Indians; Germans, Italians, Swiss, Austrians, Scandinavians and of course, East Europeans – I’ve never had a SINGLE bad encounter with these nationalities even though they’re also Whites. Ireland is an exception too coz most Irish in my experience have been nice with me.

As I was saying the problem lies only with White Anglos from UK and maybe, Australia. They have a natural air of superiority when they meet Indians and I’ve been through the worst form of their behaviour: 1. They constantly put you down for your brown skin colour – 2. You feel socially excluded and marginalized by them even if you want to mix properly. 3. They don’t trust your word readily as they would trust White people before you.

If today I have a “phobia” for White Anglo people living in UK and Australia, there has to be a cause to this effect – nothing ever happens in isolation.

“approximately 50% of racially motivated attacks in the last year have been against white people.”

I just attempted to apply for an arts residency and was refused because of my nationality and origin of birth, – England – White British. So the racism isnt just in the streets, if I even attempted to set up an organisation for artists that you could only join if you were White British I would probably be arrested under current law and I agree with that! so why can you set one up that excludes white British people?

Just a thought.

Perhaps he/she should convert to Judaism. That way being one of the “chosen people” he/she won’t feel persecuted any longer.

You know if I look at the history of Christianity – which I have and do – and I look at the history of Islam – which I have and do – they are both full of bloodshed, hypocrisy and lies. They have both been used for the glorification of those who seek to control and hide behind their religion. They have both been used to condone genocide, to condone wars, to condone occupation of stolen lands and countries. The history of Islam runs with blood as does that of Christianity. Both have been used in the past to gain power over others by people who had no more belief or fear of their God than I do as an atheist. I do not believe I have many misconceptions about either.

There are good Christians in this world and there are good Muslims in this world – they may even be in the majority in both cases. But there can be no doubt that Islam is currently being used as a front by forces whose intent is not even always clear. What the Englishman (or American or Frenchman for that matter) sees and hears are those that shout the loudest; those that have forced their way into positions of power, be they the President of Iran, the Imam of a local Mosque or an al-Qaeda leader issuing threats on the latest videotape. What the people of England have been waiting for is to see the good, honest and integrated Muslims – such as yourself – denounce this aspect of your religion, loudly and firmly. Shout it from the rooftops. Sadly what we usually see are your so-called ‘community leaders’ brushing this aside and complaining about injustice, prejudice and harassment and then making demands – such as has been seen in the recent controversy over the wearing of veils.

You say that ‘dialogue and mutual understanding and respect is the answer to the woes of multicultural Britain’ but I and many, many others, believe that the woes of multicultural Britain is multiculturalism itself. England has absorbed countless waves of immigrants over the past 2000 years but it has always been, up until now, a process of full and total integration that has worked well and benefited all concerned. The concept of multiculturalism does not encourage integration – it encourages the very opposite and calls for all immigrant groups to retain their culture, their traditions and yes, their religion, and to live in tandem with the English traditions. Instead of encouragement to integrate, to embrace the English way of life, they remain outside of it. You, my friend, came to live in this country under the old system. Not only did you take English culture and traditions on board but you also gave us something in return. Modern multiculturalism allows for no such thing. And this makes the English very uneasy. Add to the mix the attempt to radicalise Muslims and the history of which I spoke in my post and all trust is broken. And who are we to know the good guys from the bad?

One day last week, I was driving in to the entrance of a local car park. There were three Asian youths on the pavement and as I turned the car into the entrance, one of them stepped off the kerb without having looked to see if it was safe to do so. It was too late for me to brake – I would have hit him. But I was able to swerve and go around him. And as I did so he yelled at me ‘fucking white wanker’. Now, despite the fact that he was in the wrong for not having looked, the ‘fucking wanker’, whilst offensive, is almost sadly the norm for many kids these days who believe they are never wrong. But the ‘white’ was, of course, the bit that really got my attention. I have to assume that if I had also been Asian I would have just been a ‘fucking wanker’. I mention this simply because also a week or two ago statistics were quietly released (and I am sorry I am unable to provide a link to this) that showed that approximately 50% of racially motivated attacks in the last year have been against white people. And no – I do not believe that all Asians are racists! But the numbers are obviously growing.

I don’t know the answer to all this. In my post I was simply trying to explain, from my own perspective, why the average white Englishman is wary of Islam and why, given the history of the last few years, Muslims should expect us to be wary. And as always happens in these situations, the innocent get tarred equally with the guilty. What saddens me is that this situation is likely to worsen before things get better for us all and this could take a very long time.

May I wish you peace also – and I look forward to future visits to Suspect Paki.

I don’t think all white people are racist. That was one of the few points that was picked up by many, and it caused widespread offence. I certainly didn’t mean it quite that way, and I have made my position a lot clearer in many older posts. I hope I won’t be judged on that solitary quote alone.

You also hold misconceptions about Islam. That is not entirely your fault. I should point out that such tarring of the whole of Islam with the narrow brushes you choose would be intolerable if applied to Christianity, Judaism or a race.

As for the preservation of the values of British society, I have been one of the many voices who has called for that too. There is much to commend Britain, which is why I am still proud to be British, and which is why in another post I indicated that my children are proud to be British too.

A lot of the points you raise in your piece are aimed towards all Muslims – and without understanding (again, probably not entirely your fault), you are openly doing what you have accused me of, without knowing my true position. I am not a single post!

You correctly state that some of what you learn is propagandised – that is very true and it will take courage on your part to dig deeper and realise that Islam is not a monolithic entity and should not be addressed as such.

Dialogue and mutual understanding and respect is the answer to the woes of multicultural Britain. I hope you will have the patience for it. You seem like a good person.

I wish you peace.