A Welshman in Milano: British National Party.

giovedì, luglio 15, 2004

British National Party.

The term "racist" is used most often as a form of insult, an attack againt the person it is aimed - but what actually IS a racist?

The dictionary description is pretty simple and straightforward. In the Cambridge Advanced it is defined as; (1) noun "someone who believes that other races are not as good as their own and therefore treats them unfairly"

I only ask the question because the BBC, in the UK, is showing a television documentary, Secret Agent, that involved a BBC reporter, Jason Gwynne, working 'underground' inside one of the more extreme, fringe political parties in the UK today - the British National Party (BNP). For those not aware of the BNP, it is a group of people, commonly considered to be a bunch of ex-skinheads and football hooligans, proclaiming white, Anglo-Saxon supremacy as a means to justify physical assaults on other people. The fact that their victims may be of another colour, creed or race is a bit of a side issue for most of the members, as they really just want an excuse to beat people up and cause as much damage and violence as they think they can get away with. The roots of the party lie firmly in fascism, with the origins of the BNP being with the British Union of Fascists, formed in 1932 by Edward Mosley.

The BBC, as a fair and even-handed public broadcaster, advised the BNP that the programme was due to be shown and invited their comments in an email exchange with the BNP press officer, eventually overshadowed with a message from the leader of the BNP himself, Nick Griffin. He, along with several other BNP members, now faces a police investigation into his activities, where he has been recorded on video saying, "You have got to stand up and do something for the British National party because otherwise they [Muslims] will do for someone in your family, that is the truth". Griffin went on to say, "For saying that, I tell you, I will get seven years if I said that outside." He goes on to call Islam a "wicked, vicious faith" that "has expanded through a handful of cranky lunatics" and "is now sweeping country after country", yet he commented to the BBC after hearing of the allegations, "It's still not illegal to criticise Islam". Strangely, Griffin is still sticking to his claim that neither he nor the BNP are racist in either action or thought.

Getting back for a moment to my earlier dictionary description of what the definition of a racist is, I would confidently say that Griffin, along with the rest of the BNP, are indeed, racist in every possible sense of the word.