Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Is this really where we want to be?

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So, if you are from Australia, you can be called an Aussie, from Sweden, you can be called a Swede, from Scotland you can be called a Scot, yet if you are from Pakistan...


As the revelations from former Yorkshire cricketer Azeem Rafiq continue to reverberate down the halls of parliament, where he is currently testifying in front of MP’s concerning allegations of his racial abuse at the hands of his team-mates, and the Yorkshire Cricket Club continue, this can of worms is in danger of becoming an issue of Titanic proportions.


Rafiq has gone on record saying that he was racially abused by former England captain Michael Vaughan, and other England players Gary Balance, Alex Hales, Mathew Hoggard, and Tim Bresnan during his time with the club, with the club Chairman Roger Hutton, media celebrity David Lloyd, and team coach Andrew Gale also named as guilty of racist language or behaviour. He further stated that he would have captained the team if he had not made allegations of racism against those fellow team members.


Yet, all may not be as it seems, and although he himself, from the outset appeared ‘without sin,’ revelations of his own anti-Semitic sentiments and derogatory text messages have now appeared in the media to cast doubt upon his right to ‘cast the first stone.’ Rafiq, having taken the settlement offered in mediation, in other words a hefty wad of cash for his ‘suffering,’ now has the cheek to excuse his own failings by saying, “I was 19 at the time and I hope and believe I am a different person today. I am incredibly angry at myself and apologise...”


So... we must accept his apology, while at the same time metaphorically ‘crucifying’ those he has accused in parliament. Only accused mind you... we have no idea whether the incidents actually occurred, and whether the words were actually spoken! This makes the Salem witchcraft trials look like a vicar’s tea party.


Bullying and harassment are issues that every generation since the beginning of time have been challenged to find solutions to, and the respect and understanding aspects of other cultures has always only ever been the answer to an issue in which, strangely, Europeans, or those with white complexions, have only ever been seen as the villains of the piece.


“The greatest need of man is to be understood,” is a phrase I learned long ago in respect of cultural awareness, while it was also made clear that there is a similar requirement upon mankind to understand, and that is the two ends of the same discussion.


Born in New Zealand, I have grown up hearing myself referred to as a ‘Kiwi,’ our country’s national bird, and been referred to as that a million times... I don’t like it. Who wants to be referred to as a small round feathered bird that can’t fly, which is what birds are supposed to be good at, and who shuns the daylight as a nocturnal creature? I detest it, as the Kiwi has none of the characteristics I do, yet people persist. Do I worry? Do I lose sleep? Do I get offended? Does it make me cry? Of course not!


And do I think any less of parents and grandparents who referred to the Germans as ‘Jerries,’ the Italians as ‘Eyeties,’ the Japanese as ‘Japs? No, that was their world, and their time, and that time has passed. I don’t think we can turn back time, rewrite history, or change anything that has already happened, and the danger of Rafiq’s unburdening is already apparent with over a thousand different Asian sportsmen laying complaints of racism across cricket in the UK alone. Where will it end? And finally... all of this is in a setting where the insults are in English. I wonder if any other culture, nation, or race has any epithets that are used against the English in a foreign language, that they simply do not understand? Probably.


Maybe as an elderly, bifocal, pasty-white male, I should be looking to expose those who have bullied me? Nah, I’ll soak it all up and look ahead, because my life lies in my future, not my past. And speaking of the past... we all know what happened to the Titanic.


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