21/01/2011

Littlejohn and stereotypes

As a bit of a teaser for the weekend's post(s) about Littlejohn's books, here's a quick look at today's column.

'What kind of dinner parties do you go to, Baroness?' looks at Baroness Warsi's comments about Islamophobia being widespread.  He seems to start by trying to contradict her and imply that people aren't actually that bothered about Muslims.  He blaps on about how no-one mentioned the subject in any of the dinner parties he went to and then reproduces a few of her claims with 'really' or 'do they' underneath - but then:
‘And in the road, as a woman walks past wearing a burka, the passers-by think: “That woman is either oppressed or is making a political statement.”

Are you sure?

Most of us just think anyone who wears a burka in Britain is barking mad and wonder why someone who so utterly rejects our society and our liberal values would want to live here. Surely they would be much happier in Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan.
Priceless.  

Here, this is great:

Sayeeda even has a pop at the media, accusing us of dividing Muslims into ‘moderates’ and ‘extremists’. In a sense, she’s right. It is impossible to write about Islamic terrorism without including prominently a caveat about ‘the vast majority of peace-loving Muslims’.

So sensitive are the authorities to accusations of ‘Islamophobia’ that even when Muslim gangsters of Pakistani origin are found guilty of raping white teenage girls, the police go out of their way to insist ludicrously that there was ‘no cultural, racial or religious’ motive — despite all the ­evidence to the contrary.
Says the highest paid columnist in the land in the second best-selling newspaper in the country.

Here's why the media have to include caveats about Muslims being peace loving:
That’s because we realise that our Muslim neighbours are as appalled as everyone else at the antics of the sociopaths who ­dedicate themselves to hatred and murder in the name of religion.

Most of the Muslims I know are from Pakistani or Turkish backgrounds. What they have in ­common is that they all identify as Londoners. Then again, I’m fortunate to live in a part of the world where people of all races and religious persuasions rub along well.
And then, BAM!:
The same can’t be said of some neighbourhoods in towns and cities, especially in the North of England, where the indigenous population has been supplanted by a hostile Muslim monoculture.

It is an incontrovertible fact that a sizeable number of Muslims pursue a separatist agenda and simply refuse to integrate into British society. Or that many mosques and madrassas in this country play host to extremist preachers of hate who aim to brainwash impressionable youngsters into joining the global jihad.
Hurrah!  Knew we'd get around to calling Muslims bastards.  And 'sizeable number', not 'sizeable minority'?  Most Muslims are bastards except the ones I know?

And he concludes:
Before 9/11, few took much notice of the growing Muslim communities in Britain or the sprouting of alien-looking mosques across our cityscapes.

But many people are now genuinely concerned about the past decade of Islamic expansionism. Rightly or wrongly, they fear the transformation of British society in some areas, from the intrusive call to prayer in the inner cities to the ubiquity of halal meat in supermarkets.

That doesn’t make them racists or guilty of the lazy, catch-all smear ‘Islamophobia’.  I’m sure that Baroness Warsi is genuinely concerned with improving race relations in Britain. ­Traducing her fellow citizens isn’t the best way to go about it.
Sorry dude, if they think mosques are 'alien looking' and worry about Muslim expansionism, the 'transformation of British society' and the availability of Halal meat in supermarkets, then yes it does.


Littlejohn obviously wants to have his cake and eat it.  He wants to be Islamophobic without being called Islamophobic.  It's the old 'I'm not racist, but...' argument. 
 
He can manage this because he bases his ideas about people on crude stereotypes.  Whenever he comes into contact with someone who doesn't fit into a neat pigeonhole, he has to do some sort of 'not like the rest of them' contortion to avoid the cognitive dissonance that would result from having reality contradict his prejudices. 

A couple of weeks ago, he had to do this with Billy Bragg.  here, he's doing the same with Muslims.  Those in his direct experience are alright, but that's because he lives in a nice place (Florida?).  But the ones in places he doesn't live?  The ones he's never met?  Bloodthirsty bastards refusing to integrate.

Perhaps this is actually very clever and his aim was to show that actually he (and therefore the rest of Britain by extension, except limp-wristed Guardianistas) actually hate Muslims more than Warsi thinks, and they bloody well deserve it.  Except he's not.  He's just a really bad journalist.

4 comments:

Gus said...

'...is genuinely concerned with improving race relations in Britain. ­Traducing her fellow citizens isn’t the best way to go about it.'

If we substitute Littlejohn in there

' If Richard Littlejohn is genuinely concerned with improving race relations in Britain. ­Traducing her fellow citizens isn’t the best way to go about it.'

Does this mean that, by his own admission, that Dick doesn't give a toss about race relations?

Anonymous said...

Funny how the photo of Baroness Warsi they use is of her in shalwar kameez, when pretty much every other picture is of her wearing a suit or a cardigan. Presumably it's for the same reason that the other two pictures are of veiled women and a member of Al-Muhajiroun. There's no weird dog whistles here, no sir!

My favourite moment though is when he claims no-one says "The family next door are Muslims, but they’re not too bad"... then proceeds to do just that. Coodunmaykidup! etc. etc.

Stephen said...

I suspect Baroness Warsi may have pretty much been speaking specifically about Littlejohn when she made her statements.

I'm darkly impressed at just how completely he's turned that around on her — he just wants a sensible discussion about Muslims but how out of touch is this other person. The guy's a creepy, horrible person but he's capable of being really wily.

That is quite a dangerous quality for a person stirring up racial tensions in a national newspaper to have.

Scottie said...

I think he did particularly well to slip in a little domestic racism too.

"Most of the Muslims I know are from Pakistani or Turkish backgrounds. What they have in ­common is that they all identify as Londoners. Then again, I’m fortunate to live in a part of the world where people of all races and religious persuasions rub along well.

The same can’t be said of some neighbourhoods in towns and cities, especially in the North of England, where the indigenous population has been supplanted by a hostile Muslim monoculture."

It's the dirty northerners, can't be trusted to control their muslims. Not like him, he's obviously got a firm grip on the ones he lives near.

I've heard he controlls them through a highly organised network of bunga bunga parties. Although it could have been tupperware parties now I think about it.