MEN OF STRAW

Following a court case involving two Asian men abusing girls in Derby, former Home Secretary, Jack Straw, has been quoted as saying that some UK Pakistani men see white girls as "easy meat" for sex abuse. Keith Vaz, Labour chairman of the House of Commons' Home Affairs' Committee, says this is not a cultural problem and it is wrong to "stereotype" a whole community.

Unless I've missed something, Jack Straw's comments do not stereotype anyone and Mr Vaz is, therefore, making an unnecessary remark. It is also the case that Mr Vaz is treading on very dodgy ground with his own comment about this not being a "cultural problem".

If the positions were reversed and we had white men praying on Asian girls, Mr Vaz would be one of the first to shout "Racism" from the rooftops, clearly stereotyping the activity as a cultural issue. In fact, it seems that any adverse action by a white person against a coloured one is automatically labelled "racist", while the opposite rarely is. Why is this ?

The indigenous white population of the UK is regarded by certain left-leaning elements in our society as being inherently racist and every action is scrutinised for possible racist undertones. Conversely, those of recent immigrant backgrounds are portrayed as being the downtrodden underdogs and their actions are excused whenever possible, racism is rarely advanced as a reason for their actions and the courts fall over themselves to protect them. Witness the recent insane decision not to deport a failed asylum seeker with various convictions including driving while disqualified and failing to stop after an accident in which a 12 year old child was killed.

I don't know whether the men jailed yesterday were guilty of any sort of racial motive in their crimes but it doesn't actually matter. Every crime should be treated on the evidence, not on the basis of some sort of manufactured beliefs about why people do certain things. We should not stereotype but that is exactly what Mr Vaz and his ilk do, while denouncing it when it suits them. They have established the idea of many communities existing side by side when, in reality, we are one community; the sub-divisions are divisive and should be swept away. What people do behind closed doors is up to them but on the streets and in the workplaces everyone should accept the same laws and customs of behaviour and abide by them. The vast majority of crimes would then naturally take place within the one real Community and could be judged accordingly.