To think the world has a big white supremacy problem?

[GardenVariety]

Is anyone actually surprised that this has happened? It is shocking and sickening, but let’s face it, it has been so acceptable for so long to vilify muslims, to abuse muslims, to attack muslims - politicians have made careers out of this. Is it any wonder that yet another white supremacist has murdered muslims and has received praise for doing so by keyboard warriors on various platforms.

I (and most muslims in the West) have been dealing with the aftermath of 9/11 by being held responsible for every terrorist atrocity. Dealing with knee-jerk reactions and responses became the norm for me since then. Every terror attack, grooming ring, extremist preacher became my responsibility to explain, condemn and apologise for. I was asked why muslims don’t put double-page ads in the paper to apologise and condemn. I was told that I shouldn’t be surprised at the hostility towards muslims because the few give everyone a bad name.

So here I am, wondering if those people (all white) who were quick to vilify my religion and me and demanded an apology and explanation for the latest newspaper headline will now explain today’s headlines to me. Will they explain why white people do this? Will they give me a full breakdown of his manifesto, explain each name listed on the white terrorist’s guns, explain the choice of music on the video, explain why he filmed it, explain why he had so much support (white terrorist supported by other whites, therefore all whites must be terrorists) and take out ads in national papers apologising for being white. After all it was a white person who did this and just like all muslims were held accountable, will all whites be held accountable too?

I agree with Donald

If a woman made a post here about her personal experience of sexism and some men piled on with “not all men”, “what about men” and denying her experience she’d be universally supported by the community.

Yet when the same thing happens in relation to racism lots of white people are happy to deny the experience of a person of colour or say “not all white people”.

Which is a disgusting double standard.

OP yanbu.

Kiki - men would be expected to condemn sexism and rape. Your point is not valid. I have never heard anyone say all men are sexist pigs and if they did they would be wrong

Agree tinkerbell. That is the point. When shit happens the community - all of it - needs to ask what lead to it. Not give itself a get out of jail free card by saying “he was a lone nutter” or, in the other instance, “it’s racist to ask.”

Sorry, Christ! I don’t think the broader Moslem community would have known. Do you tell your mate at mosque that you hope the Imam doesn’t ramble too much as you have a van load of underage girls out back to deliver? Sorry. It just doesn’t gel.

Misti come on! They are not as much identifiable - they live very much in the shadows for the most part and it's not an ideology as wide spread as Islam. In fact it is openly condemned by the vast majority of white people, and in many countries their are laws against it. Most whites don't share that ideology yet millions of Muslims share the same religion as those terrorists (although interpret their religion differently) . If you don't understand the difference I don't think I can explain it to you

I don't think you can explain it to me in terms I will agree with. Religions (I'm not talking only about Islam here) typically have many different strands and their followers are more or less devout. They share some core beliefs but differ on many important points.

Likewise, people at the extreme end of the nationalism spectrum vary somewhat in their views but they all share certain key beliefs, in particular about the dilution of cultural or genetic heritage by immigrants. These views are extremely widespread, including here on Mumsnet, and do not rely on science or fact - they share many features of a religion.

Most whites don't share that ideology yet millions of Muslims share the same religion as those terrorists

We share the overwhelming benefits of being born white. If anything, that is an even stronger connection than the one shared by the world's 1.2 billion Muslims. We can never ever opt out of the advantages that whiteness gives us.

Jesus Dutch. Of course privileged people( who Indo get are predominantly white) can never opt out of that!

I don't believe that there white supremacy is a big issue. I think a lot of people cannot accept the world is changing, and that includes a lot of non white people.

The New Zealand massacre was, in fact, called an act of terror. I saw that on CNN. I believe the shooter referred to himself as a terrorist.

As for Muslims being responsible for atrocities, I don't think most people hold Muslims responsible for terrorist acts in the West, nor do they expect to hear Muslims condemning such attacks. But at the same time, I don't need to hear politicians tell me that Islam is a religion of peace, the bombings have nothing to do with Islam, blah, blah, blah, just as I don't expect to hear after this atrocity that all white people are not inherently violent.

I think that an "us vs them" mentality is inherently self defeating. It will divide, rather than unite people.

I'm a white NZer and have children of mixed heritage. The hardest thing I have ever had to do this weekend was explaining white supremacy to my big girl. It absolutely breaks my heart that she will be judged on the colour of her skin. We are all so shaken up. Yes there is racism here, but I never realised how extreme some peoples views are, and it scares me for my childrens future.

Moslems are a tight bunch

Really? Did you even think about that for a nanosecond before you typed it?

I know this is meant to be a negative thread. However on a positive my husband who is Muslim received emails expressing sympathy regarding the New Zealand terrorist attack which was very touching but surprised him because the people attacked didn’t have anything to do with him other than religion. I think the overall response from western politicians has been much better than I expected, it has been labelled as a terrorist attack this time and we seem to be learning some lessons.

SummersDay,

The thought is devastating having to explain to your child that they may face racism and prejudice because of their skin colour and who they are.

I have been planning this conversation for years, constructing and then re-constructing in my head how to begin the conversation with my eldest who is the most selfless, kind, thoughtful, sweet, considerate little girl.

I have to explain to my daughter that people will judge her for her skin colour. I have to explain to her that people will judge her for her religion. I do not want her to be scared of going to the mosque. I am an adult, DH is an adult, we have grown up and got used to facing islamophobia. My little girl has no idea that people will hate her for her colour and religion. I have to have the conversation but I wish I didn’t. I want to protect her and I know that I cannot.

I don't think anyone should have to apologise for what their ancestors did but I do acknowledge what happened. Education systems doesn't cover many things though.

Forgetting all that, there's been several posters here who I believe are at least a little racist and or islamaphobic (some even calling for unity whilst being critical or insulting). Some of them don't even know it. I am white and Jewish and I hear little asides like this all the time from too many white people. They don't know or care about their views. Racism, islamaphobia and anti-Semitism have increased since Trump and Brexit, some people aren't even hiding it anymore.

If you have mean that that is a generalisation misti. yes it is. Obviously.

White privilege is not the same thing as white supremacy. One is an inescapable facet of most human societies, the other is an ideology which one chooses to buy into or not. The first can blind you to the true causes and nature of the second; just as adherence to Islam has blinded some people - I don’t say all - to the true causes and nature of behaviours within Muslim communities which are also problematic.
We all bring a certain mindset which we have developed through our lives to problems within our own society and we are all under a duty to try and recognise when our conditioning is influencing our responses. This is not easy but we must try.

If you have mean that that is a generalisation misti. yes it is. Obviously.

I meant that the language and sentiment were both ghastly. Try replacing "Moslems" (sic) with "Jews" and tell me you'd have posted that on a public forum (I sincerely hope the answer is no).

I assume you're Australian because in British English "tight" has another, derogatory meaning.

In the last thirty days there have been 114 Islamic terror attacks in which 777 people were killed and 766 injured (source - google - Islamic terror attacks in the last 30 days)

And what are your thoughts on white supremacy and the racism and islamaphobia suffered by innocent, pacifist people? Some of them who may even be white non-muslim people who are mistaken for being something else? @yanboo

It’s not a numbers game. The fact that Islamist terrorism is more frequent than far right terrorism in no way absolves the societies which produces the latter from trying to understand the true causes and what needs to be done to stop them.

Why is this being phrased as 'white supremacy'?

Surely the term is 'Islamophobia'. This bloke might be a white supremacist, but he didn't go to a gurdwara, did he?

There are Muslims being attacked by Hindus in India, Buddhists in Burma, Christians in the Philippines, etc.

None of these people are white.

In general terms there is conflict between people of different cultures everywhere in the world.

Yes, PeeGreen is right., So we need to look at what makes these very few people particularly not like muslims compared with other religions.

@DonaldTwain can you say more about the difference between white supremacy and white privilege? Much of the anti-racism work that I see on Instagram makes no distinction between the two.

I’ve explained what I see as the difference. White privilege exists and will in some circumstances benefit a white person whether he or she subscribes to racist beliefs or not. I do not subscribe to racist beliefs but many around me do, and that means I have benefits and freedom from problems not enjoyed by black people. White supremacy is an ideology which you can choose to believe or not.