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There are members, and supporters, of the BNP who aren't white. From what I've heard, those people feel that the work they and their parents have done since arriving in the country makes them as British as everyone else in the eyes of the BNP, so they would have nothing to fear if the BNP got elected.
Mass immigration is all the immigrants coming into our counrty, by the thousands and this is a problem because more people = more problems, more crowded country, people lose out.
How has this PR campaign taken shape?
Has Griffin held TV interviews? Seminars or conferences? TV adverts? Press adverts? Has he said that any known racists in the party would be expelled from it?
He should be using all of these things to show that the BNP is not racist.
It's human nature that if one gets a reputation for something, it's difficult to shake it off. He should be doing what is necessary to convince people they're not racist. If this even means changing the name of the party, then so be it.
The reason they can't prove they're not racist is that there are. I think their argument that immigration hasn't been dealt with in the most responsible way by those making the decisions is a valid one, but a lot of their plans to "correct" that are, undeniably, racist. I think maybe they would argue that their not targeting ethnic minorities for being minorities because there's a wider issue they're trying to deal with, but I'm not convinced by that, and I don't think many people are.
It is interesting, though, that you seem to be believe that the person or group with the reputation is responsible for dealing with it, whether it's deserved or not. Does that mean that all muslims should have to prove they're not terroists? Maybe all women aged 20-40 should have to prove they won't have children before they get a job?
It is different, because the BNP deserve their reputation, but it shouldn't be up to whoever has the reputation to prove it's wrong, it should be up to those who judge to prove that they're right. If people discussed the BNP instead of their reputation occasionally, we might be able to have an informed, rational debate instead of the emotive rant that leads to a general feeling of superiority over other people.
Then what else are we supposed to do? Just sit back and let as many as possible come here?
How are they?
Human nature is not always rational. People have to convinced if the BNP don't want to be seen as racist. It is the BNP's job to prove to the electorate that they're not racist.
Or you could inform yourself as to the realities of immigration, rather than trotting out the same old tired lies and generalisations?
They aren't. At all. They are at opposite ends of the political spectrum. That was my point.
Anyone who claims a non-white person is not really British = racist cunt.
As the meerkat would put it, "simples!".
Nationality will always be difficult to define because it's a relatively new concept in terms of human societies, and the global society we now have means that people can live in any country, so I think maybe the idea that you should have a certain number of generations in one country before you really "belong to it" could have a rational basis. I don't agree with it because I believe that what the individual contributes to a society is more important than where their grandparents were born, among other reasons, but as far as I know this a global issue.
The world is full of conflict over who "rightfully belongs" in which country, and I think it would be more productive to have a discussion about what nationality is, what kind of country/world we want to be and who deserves to be the exception to the rules we make about this than to just say "look at those racist idiots".
No matter how you want to over-analyse it, no matter how deep you try to deconstruct it or spin it, the BNP is a racist party with racist policy, racist party members and, yes, high number of racist supporters.
And let's make this clear: anyone who claims non-whites are not really British IS a full-blown, dictionary-definition racist. No ifs or buts abuot that.
Every issue has ifs and buts, however inconvient or unpleasant that may be. I haven't looked up racism in the dictionary and I think it would be pointless to do so. I've heard many definitions of racism in my life, as far as I know it's constantly changing, the once favoured "colour blind" approach is now seen as culturally insensitive.
The idea that some people may have stronger cultural ties to another country, and are therefore less "british" in their behaviour seems to a valid one, or it can at least be discussed. I don't see a problem with the idea that you have to have a certain number of grandparents or great grandparents born into a country to truly belong to it if continuity is seen as important to most people. I think a division based on skin colour in this cases is idiotic, because it's not an accurate indication. I'm white but only one of my grandparents was born here, and one of her grandparents wasn't. The problem I have with the idea is that prioritises tradition over progress, I wouldn't be too upset if someone felt that I was less "british" then they are because of where my grandparents were born. We live in a society where many people trace their family trees and proudly call themselves "an eighth Italian' or whatever, which wouldn't happen if it really was you own birth that decided your nationality.
I think the arguement over who's really British is really an arguement over to has the right to certain services, which could easily be eliminated if enough funding was put into those services to start with.
In terms of what I'm defending, it's definately not the BNP. In one sense it is some BNP voters, or any other extreme view, because I know how easy it is to start quoting things you don't fully understand and get labelled as an extremist before you even start your GCSE's. The only one of my siblings to have never said anything that sounds like BNP propaganda is my youngest brother, and I'm fairly certain that's because me and my older brother began discussing the news and analyse articles with him before he started secondary school. It sounds stupid, but no one did that with us, newspapers were a waste of money when we were young and my mother would not have encouraged us to research anything. In that sense, I believe you can have BNP voters who aren't racist. If you're young, and you resent that the child of an immigrant get more help with their reading that you, sometimes you can express that resentment without understanding how it sounds to other people. If you're then told that you are absolutely wrong, you'll stop listening to that person, because you knwo you're right, you've seen it for yourself.
I really believe in that situation it's better to ask the person why they've said what they've said. In my experience you'll often find that they meant something less extreme, but even if they haven't, starting a discussion about what they've said, knowing why they've said and pointing out things that they haven't considered would, over time, force them to think about what they read and say.
I'll be 100% honest and say that I don't see the BNP as a threat. Maybe I'm being ignorant, but I don't believe that many people are racist. Racism as an ideology is simply not the kind of thing that many people can believe in, you have to be certain kind of person to follow a racist ideology and those people would do something equally stupid if racism didn't exist. Many people vote for the BNP as a protest vote, and I really think that a lot of them were shocked by how well the BNP did in the European election.
However, if the BNP, or any other extremest group, were a threat, I believe that free speech would be our best way of dealing with it. When people are able to say what they think, their concerns can be discussed rationally. In this case, it's the issue of nationality, or what makes a person "belong" to a nation. I think that could potentially be an interesting discussion, and because it's general it shouldn't really upset anyone, it's just a discussion. It would mean that you could learn from experiences that you would never have, and unless BNP voters have different sized brains to the rest of us they'd benefit from the discussion as much as anyone else. I'm not sure how, or if, someone's nationality should be decided, and I don't think I should be called racist because of that.
Well, what else was I meant to vote if they didn't have BNP?
Someone else? Or spoil your ballot.
So you feel so strongly about immigration that you voted for the BNP, yet when that wasn't an option, your vote went to a party who are pro-Europe and positive on immigration?
Curious.
I also notice how they don't care so much for white people from other countries, so long as they integrate appropriately.
Their repatriation policy is simply not possible and we all know what they'd really do if they were ever to get in power. We saw too much of that in the twentieth century.
Thankfully, they'll never get that power as the vast majority if people don't and will never subscribe to such sentiments. It's sad that a small section of the stupider section of society seems to get taken in by them, but everyone's entitled to vote, regardless of their intelligence or stupidity.
I am not a racist but where I live in London there are now many neighbourhoods where white British people are now the minority. I don't think there is anything racist about wanting to preserve the British way of life.
I hear so many people slagging off the BNP but if you don't like them then don't vote for them, simple as that. I and a lot of people hate the Tory Party and for that matter New Labour but we don't rant about them all the time.
Doesn't he see the poles as Slavs rather than Anglo Saxon though? It's certainly the view that other nazi organisations took.
You live in a country where over 90% of the population is white. So you point is what, exactly?
Please describe the "British" way of life and how supporting either the EDL or BNP "preserves" that.
And seriously, just because they managed to invade and conquer us we're some how supposed to accept their view of our country? I'm with Cornwall, Wales or more importantly if you want to call me British then call me by my own country - Hen Ogledd (some of us remember our Brythonic tongue).
Who even invited you Homo-Sapiens over here? We were happy for 250,000 years when it was just us Neanderthals, bloody invaders...
Seriously though, any attempt to define a national and cultural identity on the basis of race is such a troubling thing to do. Especially when you're looking at one of the largest colonial captials the world has ever seen.
We are British because we choose to live in Britain and our culture reflects the diversity of this nation. We'll make of this country what we can, just like all the 1000s of races, creeds and colours who've made this nation what it has been and will be in the future.
The ony things that I think of when people say British way of life is stuff like fish and chips, and being arrogant, and red post boxes, and I don't think having immigrants changes that.
ditto.
i dont understand how a perceived influx of people from another country is going to affect/jeoparidse your 'British' way of life anyway? unless they take a massive dump in your roast dinner how could they possibly have any effect?? i really dont see the threat.
Don't ask me, I'm a filthy immigrant
It got a LOL from me too. I was tempted not to read the end of the sentence as its conclusion was beyond inevitible, but I'm a sadist....
"I'm not racist, but I was stamping on this porridge-wog the other day..."
</unhelpful comments>
I'm sure they do but what about the ones that are here now? The illegal ones? The ones committing crime? The ones thinking they own the place? The ones hanging on the street corner by my nans' house intimidating people? The ones who don't work and scrounge off benefits and have about twenty five kids? The ones who CAN'T speak English?
Oh, those ones ...
Well, let's see.
The illegal ones: Find them.
The ones committing crime: Catch them.
The ones thinking they own the place: Probably do.
The ones hanging on the street corner: Cut them down immediately before they attract flies.
The ones who don't work ...: Fix them.
The ones who can't speak English: Teach them.
Simples. :thumb: