Racism hasn't gone away - it's just changed

This is Manzoor Moghal's First Person Column in today's Leicester Mercury:

Racism hasn't gone away - it's just changed 

Secretary of State John Denham's recent claims about how successfully the Government has tackled racism in the last decade do not match the reality. It is true that the raw racism of the 1970s and early 1980s has receded, but unfortunately some different forms of this malaise have emerged in its place. In the meantime, the ethnic minority communities have successfully advanced themselves in socio-economic terms which has given them a stronger and more confident profile in dealing with racism. 

However, racism has metamorphosed into a different kind of an animal outwardly, whereas its core poison remains. Racism today has become more sophisticated, institutionalised and covert. The Government has attempted to mitigate its effects by introducing policies, some of which have inadvertently precipitated increased levels of racism. The introduction of euphemistic terms like "diversity", "cohesion" and "integration" has done little. On the contrary, this has befuddled the issue. This new mantra which is propagated relentlessly by the Government and its various agencies has become almost meaningless in achieving anything substantial. Moreover, the provision of funding for extra services for some well-heeled ethnic minority communities on the false assumption of their poverty and deprivation often inflames racism against them. 

The rise of the BNP with its electoral success clearly indicates that the racist vote has increased somewhat alarmingly. There certainly is a growing seam of racist vote within the country, and even UKIP are exploiting it by calling for a ban on the wearing of the veil by some Muslim women. The Government and its various agencies have also tried to combat racism through overlaying it with layers of inter-faith activity across the country, but unfortunately that has thrown up its own problems by creating more divisions of a different kind. 

The best way to combat racism seems to lie in increasing awareness of the pernicious way in which it undermines the dignity of human beings and damages the fabric of our society. For this to happen it would be necessary for the Government to step back from some of its ill-advised initiatives of throwing money at the problem and concentrate on legislative protection. Coupled with this the social, economic and cultural interaction between the different communities would have an increased beneficial effect on curbing racism and improving race relations.

Manzoor Moghal is chairman of the Muslim Forum