Something struck me during our bus ride to the Globe on Sunday. Among the driver's many jokes he made a blatantly racist undercut at Arabs in London. He disguised his racism by classifying Arabs in the same category as bankers, a profession rather than a race. This seemed slightly ironic to me because he had just finished praising the famous Harrods department store, which, by the way, is owned by an Arab. I was unsure what to make of his remark. When I think of racism in Europe I immediately direct my thoughts toward France. Apparently, the French are not the only ones who exhibit some xenophobia. The racism directed at Arabs in London, however, is evolved. French xenophobia in the 1990s created tensions in Parisian banlieues similar to those in Brixton in the 1980s. Both examples show impoverished minorities facing oppression from the city. The modern racism in London is focused on a rather successful group of people who practically own aspects of the city. Does this evolved racism have the potential to become a literary genre like literature we are currently studying? It has many striking differences from the "New British Voices" following WWII, yet many aspects are similar. What are everybody's thoughts?
Also, interesting point for those who don't remember...
The big scandal just before Princess Diana's death focused on her intimate relationship with Dodi Fayed, the Arab son of the Harrods owner. How could a member of the royal family, more importantly the mother to the heir of the throne, date a Muslim? The modern racism we witnessed the other day was present even then, and on a surprisingly publicized level.
Interesting moments during his monologue. Nothing blatantly racist, except in the naming. . . but. Of course, with Arabs we have the Islamic element, and the well-publicized incidents of terrorism against civilians, so they become an easy target.
ReplyDeleteNY Times headline today about anti-immigrant feeling in Greece, led by a far-right group called Golden Dawn. No place has a monopoly on racist sentiments.
On another note, I would be able to defend the traffic cone pyramid at the museum entryway. Use of everyday object to reconfigure space and the idea of what is precious, etc.
It sounds as if it was less of a racial thing and more about class, if he mentioned them in the context of profession. Harrods being owned by an Arab is a salient example, as a good number of Western nations are currently experiencing problems with investment by foreign wealth driving up cost of living.
ReplyDeleteIt's also a pretty standard immigration bugbear; collision of cultures and all that. High-profile cases of Islamic immigrants in European countries setting up Sharia courts or flying their daughters back to their homeland for genitalia mutilation dominate the discourse. It's no particular mystery how or why this has happened; the question is how closely the public perception reflects the reality. Do these beliefs pay rent in the form of accurate predictions, or are they intellectual parasites?