Edward I (Hammer of the Scots) was pretty rough, but I was thinking more recently of all the Scots thrown off their land (the crofters), who starved to death, were imprisoned for wearing tartan, forced to emigrate, and worse. It was mainly following the antics of Bonnie Prince Charlie (18th century), but it carried on for decades. Some of it happened as recently as the late 19th century, so the memories are fairly fresh for some. Many Scottish Nationalists are still very focused on these events, and extremely bitter about them (understandably).

Good to hear NZ is doing better than US in making amends, Heather. So-called evangelical Christians seem to be the most racist element here. I too have Scottish ancestors and have recently read the story of Edward I’s conquest in Hume’s History of England. I think the difference between that and the French/Algerian situation is that there are still people alive whose parents and grandparents, maybe even siblings were killed in the latter war. Peace.

Fox is Maori, which is where my comment about him still living in the 1970s came from. At that time, NZ was at about the same stage in Civil Rights as I judge the US to be now – lots of progress had been made, and most people of European descent thought everyone was treated equally. Back then, I would’ve supported his comments. Of course, we haven’t eliminated racists, and statistical evidence shows several socio-economic factors where Maori and Pacific Islanders do less well on average than the general population. Those figures are continuing to improve though. My family is multi-racial, which is fairly common in NZ, and the whole country is fairly egalitarian in attitude.

I follow US news fairly closely. I can’t even write the “N” word without feeling ill. There’s been no slavery in NZ since European colonization, so the situation is a bit different here. Many Maori were treated badly, and much land was stolen. There has been a process of either returning the land or compensating the original owners in place for several years now in an effort to redress past wrongs. Settlement with various iwi (tribes) always include a formal apology too.

I think “Redskins” is offensive. In 1970s NZ it would have played out just like it’s playing out now in the US – most people wouldn’t see what the big deal is. By the 1980s it would’ve been changed, so there’s still hope. As for Algeria – while that situation was appalling, I don’t think it is immediately relevant in this latest massacre. There is a genuine grievance there of course, and I don’t know if France has ever apologized for what they did, but it’s not an excuse. In my case, going and killing a few English people because of the way the English treated some of my Scottish ancestors wouldn’t be considered valid.

In the US there is a general consensus that using the word Nigger to refer to African Americans is offensive, because of the exploitation of this group by the majority population. There is presently a controversy over using the nickname “Redskins” for a sports team. In my opinion this is also offensive. Not saying it justifies murder, but there is usually a context for these things. The French killed over 100,000 muslims in the Algerian war of independence to maintain their imperialistic rule. Each of those lives was just as important as the Charlie lives.

Je suis Charlie.

For a start, there’s no racism here – Islam is not a race, it is a religion. I don’t know how many times we have to explain this. People like Fox have this idea that because most of the Muslims he sees in the media have brown skin, this is a racial issue. It’s not. That is a red herring and an excuse to make the attack worse by injecting accusations of racism.

Saying that criticism of Islam is not racist because Muslims don’t all have brown skin really misses a more fundamental point, I think: Islam is not a race; it’s not even people.

In any case, it’s hardly irrational to be afraid of people* who think their beliefs give them a warrant to kill anyone who criticises or ridicules their beliefs and who act on that. That is scary. (*A minority of all Muslims, to be sure.)

/@

Maybe I’m being unfair, but I suspect he’s turning into a bitter old man before his time, and is living back in the 70s.

I used to think he was alright, despite his slightly supercilious manner – so much for my judgment!