“The land was stolen from native people, genocide was committed against the native people, and ancestors were stolen from Africa and brought here to work. So the foundation of the United States of America is genocide, stealing land and slavery.
“Any architect will tell you that if you don’t have a strong foundation, the building’s going to be shaky, and shaky from day one. This sin has not been dealt with since the birth of this country.”
During a recent BBC News interview the film director Spike Lee was illustrating how deep the problem of systemic racism is in modern society. Lee concluded that it followed that America needed to “start all over”
The public rage following the death of George Floyd has become an unprecedented global phenomenon, which has naturally drawn the attention of mass media. Whenever Lee is asked how real change can come about he is extremely optimistic and after enthusiastically calling people to “fight the good fight” he usually goes on to suggest supporting the public demonstrations, getting more politically active and in another interview said “We have to be in the positions where important decisions are made.”
The painful long struggle for racial equality since emancipation was expected to have led to substantial progression, certainly by the 21st Century. Instead, what has become apparent is being of a skin colour other than white will consistently and frequently subject you to becoming the recipient of less favourable treatment. At witnessing a 21st Century fatality, black people have had enough. Besieged, battered and simply exhausted black people are understandably angry at the system that has failed them. The same system that is responsible for diminishing the legacy of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. The same system that is responsible for Black Lives Matter (BLM) coming into existence back in July 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the shooting to death of Trayvon Marti.
In many respects the human race has united over the BLM campaign. From the slums of the favelas in Brazil to middle class suburbia in the United Kingdom people irrespective of colour and creed are expressing their disgust and distain that racism is still endemic in the towns where they are living.
Lots of questions are being asked. How could this still be happening? Why is there still denial that a problem still exists? How is it that institutions that are supposed to protect people can actually harm people? Is education the key to eradicate this ignorance? What can I do?
The most profound thing to do at this time is to reflect. These are extremely important questions. And although I plan to elaborate on this later, I have to tell you now; I predict that these extremely important questions will inevitably be largely left unanswered.
History
Historically, enormous effort has been exerted to address the problem of racism and thereby answer those questions. Not only was it an intellectual discourse, it involved political actions too. The biggest barrier to change was economics. Pain and suffering, sacrifice and bloodshed were surrendered for this cause on an immeasurable scale. Which for so long was ineffective simply because those in power prioritised money above Christianity and human decency. This was why this historical journey at solving the problem even led to war.
The Abolitionists
The abolitionist movement in the United States was founded by Christians in the 1830s in the northern part of the United States. They opposed slavery based on the view that everyone is equal before God. The Quakers were the most vocal and consistent in this cause with significant support from the Presbyterians, the Baptists and the Amish. The abolitionists advocated for the total emancipation of slaves and the end of all forms of racial discrimination (although most Abolitionists supported the idea that free slaves should leave America).
Their campaigning included leaflets, church sermons, public meetings and lobbying members of the US Congress. From 1831 William Lloyd Garrison published the Liberator Newspaper. In 1845 the autobiography “Narrative of the life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave” was printed. Uncle Tom’s Cabin a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe was released in 1852 and had a profound effect on changing the attitudes towards slavery in the USA.
Abolitionist founded the Oberlin College which was the first higher education institution that was racially integrated. The Baptists also founded the College Oneida Institute from which many African-American leaders graduated from.
The Liberty Party was launched with James G. Birney as the Presidential candidate in the 1840 and 1844 elections.
President Abraham Lincoln
The Republican Party won the US election in 1860 (the Liberty Party never won a Presidential election) and so Abraham Lincoln became President in March 1861.
However the opposition against the Abolitionists had been intense and severe. Lincoln had become President of country that was deeply divided between those that supported slavery and those that opposed it. On 12 April 1861 the American Civil War began.
July 1863 saw the most significant battle of the war at a place called Gettysburg. The Union Army (anti-slavery and the army of Abraham Lincoln) was victorious and in effect determined the outcome of the War.
Four months after the Battle, President Lincoln gave a speech at Gettysburg to formally open the cemetery for those soldiers that had died in the battle there. This speech was known as the ‘Gettysburg address” and included the following famous words:
“Four score and seven years ago (meaning 87 years ago) our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal”
“…that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this Nation, under God, shall have a new birth of Freedom – and that the Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth.”
At the beginning of that same year, on 1st January, Lincoln had issued a Presidential Proclamation and Executive Order. This Emancipation Proclamation declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious States (The Confederates) “are, and henceforward shall be free”
President Lincoln was a slave owner, like most of the prominent politicians at that time.
Reconstruction
Following the end of the war in 1865, 4 million black slaves were immediately granted their freedom. However the Union Government in Washington was faced with the logistical problem of not only facilitating the amalgamation of the former slaves in to the Union but also its former enemy the Confederate States. Crippled by the war the Confederate States were in dire need of financial support. The former Confederate plantation and slave owners were bankrupt so self financing was not an option either. So President Andrew Johnson ordered that the farms and plantations should be returned to these former owners. Thereafter to qualify for financial support the policy of Crop Sharing was made a condition. In exchange for providing a wage and accommodation for farm workers, land owners would be entitled to take a majority share of profit made on the crops that were sold. Meanwhile no financial assistant from the Government was offered to the freed slaves. Faced with salvation, many former slaves “choose” to return to work for their former masters.
Separate but Equal
From 1876 each separate State had the autonomy to determine their own conditions for the implementation on the newly war won Civil Rights introduced by the Federal Government in Washington. States such as Mississippi, Missouri and Alabama would apply the accepted principle of ‘Separate but Equal”. In effect, this was the beginning of racial segregation. Restaurants, public toilets, transport, schools and even water fountains would be divided into facilities that were either legally for whites only or blacks only. Employers were also granted the autonomy and discretion over how they could punish impertinent workers. These were known as the Jim Crow Laws.
Using the wrong facility would be punished harshly. Fortunate offenders would be processed through the American legal system. This however was extremely rare and it was more likely that the Whites would simply dispense with troubling the authorities and proceed to humiliate, beat or even execute the disobedient and insolent. Whites punishing Blacks in any of these manners would be overlooked by law enforcement officials.
Under the same laws the State could introduce whatever conditions were deemed necessary to formally allow people to register to vote. Examples included being able to pass a literacy test or explain the meaning of a document full of legal jargon. After the Civil War everybody had the right to vote, but practically if you were black it was likely you could never qualify to be able to register to vote.
Demonstrations
The civil rights movement 1954 to 1968 in the United States arguably pioneered anti-racism campaigning, for example the techniques that were used to raise awareness and effectively utilize the media to influence the ‘National Dialogue’. Birmingham & Montgomery in Alabama and Atlanta Georgia remain famous for being key historical locations associated with the movement to end racial segregation and guarantee the right to vote.
This was the era of civil disobedience and the names of Dorothy Height, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X rose to prominence.
Legal battles
I pointed out earlier that it was more favourable to have a ‘crime’ heard in court rather than face a lynching mob. Not because there was an expectation of facing a fair trial rather that you chances of coming out of the situation alive was more probable.
In an inherently racist legal system however survival was not guaranteed. The 1944 trail of George Stinney Junior in South Carolina is a brutal example of just that. After just a two-hour trial and the jury taking only ten minutes to deliberate, they found the 14 year old African American guilty of murdering two white girls (aged 7 and 11). Two months later he was executed in the electric chair. 70 long years later Stinney Junior would be completely exonerated of the crime.
In 1955 Rosa Parks was found guilty for refusing to give up her bus seat for a white man. She was fined $10 and ordered to pay an addition $4 for court costs. Her trial lasted less than thirty minutes.
Prominent illustrations of the oppression and inequality black people have faced on countless occasions by US justice system since the middle of the 19th century. And that reputation is still a prevailing expectation within the ethnic communities of America today.
After Lyndon B Johnson
President Lyndon B Johnson introduced the Voting Rights Act 1965. It was specifically aimed at securing the right to vote for all ethnic minorities throughout the United States and particularly designed to end discriminatory registration practises prevalent throughout the Southern States.
What then followed was fifty five years which in fact became the life experience of everybody alive today. And although our levels of fear on a day to day basis have diminished and many seized the opportunities that society did offer, there remains a sense that progress across the decades has been disappointingly insufficient.
In Britain today 9% of black people are unemployed, compared with 4% across all ethnic groups. There is still a 13% attainment gap between black and white students at university. You are nine times more likely to be stopped and searched if you are black than if you are white. It is still the case that 51% of children locked up in prison are from ethnic minorities, even though Black, Asian and minority-ethnic people make up 14% of the UK’s total population.
For every Lionel Richie & Michael Jackson; Denzel Washington and Will Smith; Mike Tyson and Michael Jordan the statistics above merely confirm what is witnessed on a widespread basis. That a disproportionate greater number are held back, oppressed and abused by the same system that continuously propagates championship of fairness and equality.
How is it after a massive movement of human endeavour for two centuries, after a victorious war that terminated slavery 150 years ago and numerous pages of humanitarian legislation that it is possible a death sentence can be delivered on a person just on the basis of having black skin? And why do these same long pages of history show the white perpetrators have consistently been spared from severe consequences? Surely after a WAR the momentum should have been such that by the beginning of the Twentieth Century the systemic racism we witness today should have only been visible in books of history?
There is a reason why this long chronicle simply just keeps repeating itself and that racism has not vanished. In fact, Spike Lee illustrated the answer: “Any architect will tell you that if you don’t have a strong foundation, the building’s going to be shaky”
Shaky Foundation
Every solution has been tried. The establishment of innovative educational institutions, the setting up of sound curricular, demonstrations, civil disobedience, political participation and the undertaking of careers within the Political Parties themselves. 2008 saw the pinnacle reached. A black man appointed to the most senior position on the world stage. He even had an African name; Obama elected President of the United States of America.
All these solutions have one thing in common. They all originated from the same shaky foundation that caused the problem in the first place. That is why all these same approaches have always left a substantial part of problem remaining in society. So it begs the questions, if after the death of George Floyd the problem of racism is approached no differently can we expect a significantly different change and outcome in our lifetime?
Now I am not suggesting that on a day to day basis we live a life of hopelessness and fatalism. That parents should not send their children to the best educational institutions available to them or that you stop raising cases through Industrial Tribunals when subjected to work place discrimination. Absolutely securing the best outcomes in life is the intelligent thing to do. Rather that those determined to do the best for humanity should seriously reflect on the succinct observation that Spike Lee and so many others have made about the liberal industrial capitalist system of life created by White Europeans.
There is a decision to be made here, either to continue to live within it or seek an alternative. Fully comprehending the nature of the system of life dominating human affairs and accepting to live with it is also accepting that if you are not white, you will never fully attain equality or parity.
The cause of the Abolitionist was realised when emancipation was declared. However this was never going to be enough, what was neglected was any sort of planning for exactly how the former slaves would transition to free citizenship and societal recognition. After the American Civil War the abolitionist melted away. The huge social, economic and political problems left in the wake of the War would eventually have to be solved. With no plan or any other alternative answers what then naturally arose were resolutions that were from the same foundation that caused the problem in the first place. This is how a new system of human inequality replaced slavery.
On 26 June 2020 BBC Radio 4 interviewed Mina Smallman the first female black archdeacon in the Church of England. She was the mother of the two sisters found dead at the Fryent Country Park earlier in the same month. Two Police Officers had shared on social media inappropriate photographs of themselves at the murder scene of Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman.
Smallman was asked “It is nearly thirty years since Stephen Lawrence was murdered; since [then] there was a public inquiry; since [then] there was a disclosure that there was institutional racism within the Metropolitan Police. What has changed in almost thirty years?”
She replied “Nothing” and then added:
“They have just got better at covering up. It is so entrenched in the whole ethos that they have normalised it”
She went on to describe that the balance of power within the Metropolitan Police has not realistically changed despite years of reassurance that it had.
You clearly cannot choose to live with it. So is there an alternative?
The Challenge for Muslims
The first obvious challenge is to prove to the sceptical that Islam does indeed solve the problem of racism as well as the other overwhelming problems confronting humanity. Certainly dialogue is an essential element to address this, but what better way to prove Islam resolves discrimination with an alternative approach than by actually demonstrating it? Show the world that Islam can “stand on its own two feet”. In other words, as Muslims, we should not be imitating the methods and approaches undertaken by the society that surrounds us in order to secure fairness and justice.
Unfortunately that is precisely what Muslims have been doing and what many still propose we should continue to do.
From September 2020 Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) lesson in all schools across the UK will be compulsory for all children to attend. Parents will not have the right to exclude their children from the lessons set by the school. Despite the Government’s efforts to show otherwise, there is a clearly an overwhelming majority of people in the UK that oppose this provision, especially on grounds of age appropriateness. Muslims may have attracted the popular media to a point that often excluded the voices from the Jewish, Christian and non-religious campaigners, but it should be acknowledged that rarely does the angst of Muslim parents see widespread support from all denominations of non-Muslims.
I will point out, although I am sure it is obvious, Muslims are concerned with RSE because of the potential and realistic risk that children will be indoctrinated with issues that conflict with the teachings of Islam.
The most prominent demonstrations were those that were held for weeks outside the Parkfield Community School in Birmingham from March 2019. The local Birmingham Council quickly supported the Parkfield Community School and condemned the protesting parents.
What followed in the summer of 2019 were councils all across the UK presenting resolutions of solidarity with Birmingham Council to oppose the Muslim Parents and the manner in which they were demonstrating outside of the school. And included in the resolution was full support of the Government’s proposal of the RSE agenda. These statements of support were to be debated and voted on in the Councillors Chambers in each of the local authorities across the country.
Many Muslims have always maintained that to secure the preservation of Islam in the Muslim Community we have to occupy positions of influence. In the last forty years enormous effort has been made to gain such influence in the arena of politics, no more so than in local council elections. There are more Muslims councillors in Britain now than there has ever been.
So the summer of 2019 finally presented these Councillors with the opportunity to demonstrate precisely what they have promised to do over the decades; action to protect Islam and the interests of the Muslim community and arguable at the moment of the greatest concern for Muslims in the UK. All Councils endorsed the Government’s position and I am not aware of a single Muslims Councillor that opposed the RSE resolutions. Those parents in Birmingham, as a result, were left defenceless against the judicial system that was about to be unleashed against them.
In those same decades Muslims have worked hard to establish excellent Islamic educational institutions. Setting up schools is not easy and indeed many have failed for various reasons including incompetence at the hands of Muslims themselves.
The Park View Education Trust in Birmingham however succeeded possibly by far greater margins than the efforts of everybody else. In 2001 Tahir Alam with Lindsey Clark (not a Muslim) developed a strategy to improve the ethos of the school based upon the ethnic background of the local community, which was 80% Muslim. In their first year developing this Islamic cultural framework the A-C grade pass rate rose to 11%. Year on year it continued to rise and by 2011 the pass rate was 73%. The following year Park View became the first school in the UK to be ranked as “outstanding” by Ofsted inspectors using the tough new guidelines introduced by the new chief inspector Michael Wilshaw. In recognition of Tahir Alam’s work on diversity he was invited to Downing Street to meet with Tony Blair.
In 2014 this impressive example of success would take a dramatic u-turn as this Birmingham Educational Trust was alleged in a letter sent to the Local City Council to be orchestrating an elaborate plan to radicalise its Muslims pupils. The plot was said to be named ‘Operation Trojan Horse’. It is accepted that the letter was indeed a fake and that all subsequent official investigations into the scandal have found no evidence that students were ever being radicalised.
Nonetheless, Ofsted went ahead and placed the five schools the Trust ran all under special measures (the lowest possible rating), gave the schools curriculums a complete overhaul and dismissed the Trusts management, including Tahir Alam.
The scandal has left little doubt that should an ethos in a school in the UK be perceived as too Islamic, even if it conforms with governing rules and regulations it faces every prospect of being excessively scrutinized, viciously slandered and closed down completely.
And for those Muslims schools that are currently surviving the increased levels of inspections, they will now have to implement a RSE policy that in their heart of hearts would otherwise be reluctant to do so. Is it fair to ask which way of life is really being preserved here? I am all for Islamic education and Muslims schools and support the effort of many that struggle to give a wholesome education for the next generation. I am merely pointing out that over reliance on facilities offered by the secular system was never going to be full proof.
Democracy has a habit of showing us that the hard work and struggle of decades can be easily cast aside by the mere implementation of a policy, the passing of new legislation or even a speech by an elected leader. The contemptuous comments made by both Boris Johnson and Donald Trump don’t need any elaboration. The system is always ready to protect itself.
Ammunition to Discredit
There are Muslims that discriminate and there are racists in every other ethnic group that exists. There are two explanations for this. First that I am wrong; Islam is flawed and is indeed inherently racist. Or that the racist Muslims amongst us have been influenced by the society that dominates and surrounds them instead. It does not take too much inquiry to work out which it is.
The Islamic rules regarding slavery and the historical role undertaken by Muslims trading with slaves are also presented as examples of the double standards that Muslims are guilty of. Firstly, I do not deny the existence of either of these issues. Secondly, there are many points that I could present on this matter however they are all well documented and without biased a researcher would conclude that there is no basis for negative accusations whatsoever. But I will say this; any historical examples of actions undertaken by Muslim slave owners that contradicted Islam are completely unjustifiable. In fact you can witness that Muslims are always consistent on this point – if it contradicts Islam, Muslims will never condone it. In contrast the inhuman treatment of black slaves throughout the course of being captured, transported, auctioned and placed in to harden labour never contradicted Capitalism.
What has received far less media coverage are those Muslims in media interviews that have defended Islam from the scrutiny of secular liberals. Specifically, I am taking about the interviews I have heard that have opposed RSE. The Muslims took a stance of not apologising for the rulings Allah (SWT) has made about sexual activity outside of Sharia’h compliant marriages (they are all prohibited), neither did they gloss over these rulings as being irrelevant or that they can be interrupted in a manner that could accommodate the RSE agenda. By illustrating that Islam has merits of its own, that the Muslims understand and can articulate them effectively not only demonstrated the strength and ability that Islamic principles present an alternative to the current western model of liberal capitalism, but also how intolerant liberalism really is.
Distraction and Discrediting
Even without the examples I have just outlined, the efforts to slander and discredit Muslims and Islam especially since 9/11 cannot possibly have been unnoticed. In particular tactics such as slander, propaganda, sabotage and distraction are constantly used against Muslims. I cannot help but noticed that these same tactics are being applied to the BLM campaign.
Slander
The use of George Floyd as a role model is seriously flawed. His criminal record and alleged drug misuse are being used to slander the BLM campaign. Immoral and criminal behaviour is indefensible on the subject of ethics. The following two points can be observed:
- The death of George Floyd as a result of the actions of a Police Officer is not justifiable by any alleged criminality or wrong doing. Therefore any alleged wrong doing is irrelevant.
- The BLM campaign has not promoted George Floyd as a role model. Rather it was Floyd’s family that were mourning his death which spoke about his positive contribution to family members, friends and neighbours. At funerals people do not speak ill of the dead. This is customary behaviour in every culture I know and therefore perfectly acceptable. Rather it has been the slanderers themselves that presented the idea that BLM are using Floyd as a role model. If the role model point is accepted as fact, that then gives the slanderers the opportunity to smear the campaign accordingly.
The use of trying to defend Floyd would also play into the hands of the slanderers, so should not be commented on. For those that care about Floyd’s reputation, recognise the family has access to excellent lawyers. The family is more than capable and in the best position to deal with any false accusations against George Floyd.
Propaganda
The likes of Douglas Murray and Candace Owens will acknowledge that there are a “few bad apples”and then go on to elaborate the absolute benefits and improvements that exist today for people of every ethnic origin. This in effect denies that there is a serious problem that needs addressing. It is an attempt to justify the current status quo in society and that nothing really needs to change.
Sabotage
It is widely accepted that there has been many instances of suspicious individuals participating in street demonstrations trying to initiate and provoke acts of vandalism and violence. There are numerous reports of protesters turning against such provocateurs and forcing them to stop. Governments are the only ones with a motive to sabotage public demonstrations that are aimed at criticising officials.
Distraction
I had no idea that systemic racism in society was all down to the presence of statues of former slave masters and protagonists. The amount of energy and effort that will be taken up debating the merits of what to do with the status of the likes of Edward Colston, Cecil Rhodes or General Robert Lee will simply just exhaust people. The media attention on focusing on this issue only serves the Government agenda of keeping the system free from serious scrutiny. And the simple truth is this, with the removal of every offensive statue in the world (which will never happen) it will have absolutely no impact whatsoever on the real problem. My advice, stay clear of these distractions
Watching the News I saw an exposure about a significant number of journalist covering the demonstrations of black lives matter being attacked by Police all across the United States. Despite clearly identifying themselves as media representatives they are filmed being fired upon with pepper spray, tear gas and rubber bullets. A CNN reporter was arrested in the middle of his live broadcast! When those that are responsible for defending a ruling ideology are unable to rationally respond to intellectual arguments and critical accountability they will resort to intimidation, brutality and violence. Especially when the tactics of slander, propaganda, sabotage and distraction are proving to be ineffective.
What we can witness today are all examples of history repeating itself: the corrective actions of the masters upon the slaves; the law enforcement violence against the Civil Rights movement; now the Police intimidation against journalist willing to challenge the Trump narrative. For those that either support the status quo or chose to live as best they can within its parameters, beware as I anticipate the institutional backlash will intensify.
Solution
Uniquely Islam does not have a problem of racism to solve, because a system based on Islam does not manifest this problem in the first place. All are equal under the servitude of God therefore there is no rotten foundation to begin with. Distinct from Christianity, Islam is a non-secular creed. The concept of obeying God is manifested in all affairs of life. Allah is obeyed in both religious and temporal matters, without any exceptions.
The painful struggle for racial equality since emancipation was thought could lead to progress. The example of George Floyd and the reaction to his death demonstrates that there is a systemic failure within society and that there is no credibility in the promises of change. There is no evidence that lessons have been learnt. The BLM campaign and civil rights movements are all products of the same failed system and so too will be subject to long-term systemic failure.
Without reflection, Muslims will inevitably fall for the same approach, repeat history, and contribute no differently. They will achieve nothing for anyone in either the pursuance of racial equality or even Muslim interests, such as the reduction of Islamophobia and fair treatment.
Islam, however, does not drive Muslims to mimic other movements. It is a radically different way of life that activists should instead resort to and thereby achieve security, human decency and prosperity. Non-radical movements may well make enormous noise, however over time they are absorbed into the system and so in effect lead to either conventional changes or no real changes at all.
We cannot expect that the black community across the United States and Europe after recognising the origins of the ideological problem that they would then be able to present something that could completely tear down a system that is inherently unequal and unjust then replace it with something superior. That opportunity can only be fulfilled by the Muslims advocating Islam. If Muslims neglect that responsibility and rather focus purely on supporting the BLM campaign or following the protocols set by the ruling liberals then realistically we are allowing the white elite to maintain the capitalist unethical status quo. Irrespective of whether you are a Muslim or not and irrespective of whether you believe that the origins of Islam are from a divine source, one thing is clear, only Islam will save Mankind from itself – and history proves it. Let us not let down Mankind.
Saleem Khan, Abdul Aziz, Mabs Karim
June/July 2020
Abdul’s World 