I want to hear your views on these issues! Let me know your thoughts!
Here are a few interesting articles/comment pieces that have come to my attention in the past couple of days…
From the UK:
The Guardian: “Don’t Leave Migration Policy to the BNP”.
For those who don’t know, the BNP stands for British National Party – it’s a far-right party who have started in recent years to portray themselves as a legitimate political party. Unfortunately some people in the UK really think they might be a viable alternative to the Conservative or Labour party and it is feared/thought that they will gain more traction at the next election.
I find it hard to believe that anyone who votes for what is clearly a racist party is doing so merely because of the recession or because of their fears about immigration. I believe that anyone who votes for a far-right group already had those kinds of leanings and is now able to use external factors to justify their beliefs.
It’s hard to tell, realistically, what people really think about the BNP but if their rise is to be believed, I really think it becomes hard for people in the UK to claim to be living in a multi-racial land of tolerance and love – something which we Brits love to claim that we are. (Apparently there’s no racism in Britain you see.)
The Times: Blacks bear brunt of rise in stop and search
Black people are almost eight times as likely as whites to be stopped and searched a decade after the Stephen Lawrence inquiry branded the police “institutionally racist”.
This story is no particular suprise…Stop and search by the police has always been contentious.
I’m still interested in the reasoning for such disproportionate rates though. Are black people 8 times as likely to be criminals?
From America
New York Times: No Racial Gap in 08 Voter Turnout
The longstanding gap between blacks and whites in voter participation evaporated in the presidential election last year,according to an analysis released Thursday. Black, Hispanic and Asian voters made up nearly a quarter of the electorate, setting a record.
This is really really significant. How can we ensure that people of all races turn out to vote like this again in the future?
From Africa
Global Post: Kenyan women call for sex boycott
In this post, the writer asks:
The questions that remain to be asked is such a strategy [boycotting sex for a week] viable in a Country where Gender Violence,discrimination, inequality, marital rape, abuse etc are rife? Will not this call endanger the lives of many women in abusive marital relationships ? Is it perhaps an elitist feminist agenda ment to gain popularity for a few and that will eventually receive little or no support from the grassroots? Futhermore such a move pushes to the fore ‘the sex agenda” whereby women are viewed as only good for sex and as using sex to gain favors from men? Would such a view be advantageous to the Kenyan women?
I’ve just written a piece on this for The Guardian which I will post later…I personally think this sex boycott has highlighted a number of issues and is perhaps signs of a growing feminist and women’s rights movement in Kenya, and perhaps across Africa.
While one argument is that the Kenyan women are displaying feminism, the Sex ban in Kenya in my opinion only helps to reinforce stereotypes of the African man as sexually insatiable. Political compromise is usually done in order to move a country forward, but the prism through which this situation will be viewed is that political compromise in Kenya is done so that the President and Prime Minister can have sex again.
I read a lot of praise for these women’s decisions, but a lot of people forget how it impacts upon the way African men are viewed. It’s biological racism all over again- the myth of “the black man can’t survive without sex”
It’s my view that this boycott only serves to infantilize the Kenyan political and social structure in the eyes of the world.
Interesting viewpoint Julian. I get what you mean especially when you say “the prism through which this situation will be viewed is that political compromise in Kenya is done so that the President and Prime Minister can have sex again….” – that’s a good point.
But I also think that most men, anywhere in the world, would have something to say if women were calling for a sex strike.
I see your point about the infantilization of Kenyan politics, if the view is that sex is all it takes to make a change. I don’t think it’s that simple though – the women have something to say, they feel as if they’re not being heard, and now this is a bold statement. Even if they continue having sex with their husbands, the fact that this has drawn so much attention gives them increased visibility and a platform from which to continue to expound on their view that change is needed.
Plus we cannot deny the politics of sex… Sex is politicized everywhere in the world. It’s different in different places, but to deny that is to deny reality. Also – the personal (sex) is political – and I think this really brings that home. We like to believe that politics exists ‘out there’ but it is to do with individuals and I feel like these women are emphasizing that what goes on ‘out there’ can affect what goes on in the home too. It’s all very interesting.