At Lincoln University, we were
all deeply affected by the attack on the Al Noor Mosque and Linwood Islamic Centre. We lost four people. I personally lost a marker, a young man who
had just finished his PhD and had his whole life ahead of him.
The pitiful irony is the
mass-murderer thought he was superior to someone who had just completed a PhD
and was a good man in every sense of the word.
It is invariably the case that those who claim white supremacy are the
ones who least fit that description.
The first day of lectures after
the attack, I had to address what had happened.
About fifteen percent of my class are Islamic and I know that many of
the kiwi students would also be upset.
So, I began by addressing the issue of white supremacy.
I told the class that, if we were
to look at the world in the year 1930, we might get the impression that white
people were superior. There is no doubt
that the white people were the richest, the most educated and the most
powerful. The British, by themselves
ruled a quarter of the world.
However, I told my students if we
went back 800 years, we would get a very different picture. If we were to judge in the year 1200, who
were the superior people, it would not be those from Europe. It would be the Chinese and those in the
Islamic world.
If we were racially superior, we
would expect white people to consistently be the leading nation. But in reality, we only took the lead after
the enlightenment and Industrial revolution.
When we study the history of the world and the changing position of
nations, it is hard to sustain a view of racial superiority. It is culture that makes the difference, not
race.
At the end of the thirteenth
century, Marco Polo visited China and confirm their supremacy in every facet of
life. He records his amazement in his
book The Travels.
Similarly, the Islamic people
were far more advanced than the Europeans.
In fact, it was interaction with the Islamic world that helped pull us
out of the dark ages. In every sphere,
the Islamic world was more advanced, from mathematics and chemistry to
commerce. We can see this in the words
we use today which have an Arabic origin.
In maths we gained the words
algebra, algorithm, degree (daraja) and cube (ka’ab)
In chemistry, we gained alkali
and alchemy from which we also get our word chemistry.
In music, we get lute and guitar
(kithara).
In business, we get the words tariff,
hazard and ream, and new products such as alcohol, sugar, cotton and coffee.
It is no coincidence that the
richest places in Europe were those that traded with the Islamic world, that is
the cities of Venice and Genoa. This was
a time in which Europe progressed through contact with the Islamic world.
And of course, it was the time of
the crusades. Hence, I was surprised to
hear so many people saying the Crusader rugby team must change their name
because of the mosque attacks. For a
start, the rugby team had nothing to do with the attacks, but secondly, the
calls show a very simple knowledge of what happened 800 years ago.
The crusades are being presented
as something painful for Islamic people and yes, the Crusaders of old caused
much pain. Their leaders lacked the
sophistication of the Islamic leader Saladin who comfortably defeated the
crusaders, but herein lies a vital point.
The crusades were a period that symbolised Islamic supremacy. Not only that, the crusades represent an
Islamic victory over white people.
But to the media conducting their
own campaign against a rugby team, the crusades have a much narrower meaning. They ignore the superiority of the Islamic
world that the crusades represented, so let me spell this out… we lost! They
won!
It is a common human trait that
when we experience events we cannot control, we focus on things we can control
regardless of whether those things have any bearing on the events. Hence, the media were attempting to address
the mosque shootings the best way they could; through a rugby team, but what
will it achieve?
A mass murderer from Australia,
dressed in combat clothes, takes a semi-automatic and shoots hundreds of
people. Our Islamic people now have
serious issues that will stay with them for the rest of their lives, but what
do our media focus on, the name of a rugby team.
There are times when I get very
embarrassed by the quality of journalism in New Zealand. They have an inability to identify what is
truly affecting the lives of Islamic people in Canterbury, and they genuinely
think changing the name of a rugby team will improve their welfare.
To add some perspective, consider
the following - there are some relatives of victims who are not legal migrants
but they want to stay in the country. It
seems the name of our rugby team hasn’t deterred them. If we said to them ‘you can only stay in the
country if you let us keep the Crusaders name’, what do you think they would
answer?
Do you think it would be a tough
decision for them?
Let me pose another question – if
Hollywood made a movie on Richard the Lionheart and the Crusades, would we ban
it from our theatres because it would upset Islamic people? The same principle is at play here.
Some ridiculous claims have been
made. For example, it has been said that
the word ‘crusades’ is equivalent to the word ‘jihad’. That is not true. Contemporary extremist armies have been
proclaiming jihads against westerners, but no Western army today wants to
reclaim Jerusalem.
As a rugby brand, the Crusades has
been successful because it builds on a dominant theme of the Canterbury
area. In particular, they are
representing a region with a city named Christ Church. The
horsemen wearing the cross are a meaningful theme. But once again, this has been distorted with
media claiming that these people are carrying weapons and represent attacks on
Muslims. It does not represent this at
all - The swords aren’t real, and the horsemen are not attacking Muslims. They simply ride around the park to the excitement
of children. There is no hint of death
anywhere.
In fact, the Crusaders were badly
affected by the Mosque massacre. Assistant
coach Ronan O’Gara expressed this on hearing of shootings in the city and that
his children were in lock-down. It is
something that no parent wants to hear.
The massacre left everyone in
deep shock and, when the lock-down was released and cars log-jammed in the city,
there was a sense that it was the earthquake all over again.
There has been too much suffering
in this city. But one thing that gave the
city pleasure was the Crusaders rugby team, and sure enough the media started
attacking them.
This raises an important question
‘will the name change actually have a negative effect on any people?’ And the answer is ‘yes’. The Crusaders is something Cantabrians are
proud of. They bring joy to people who
have suffered two extreme disasters over the last eight years. The people of Canterbury have had much change
thrust upon them at a time when they need continuity. The CBD has been wiped off the map, many have
lost homes and, in some cases, whole neighbourhoods. The last thing they needed was a
massacre.
In his light, the media have been
immoral on turning on one thing that has given them joy. Unless, a name change dramatically increases
security for Islamic people, it does not justify imposing any more change on
the people of Canterbury.
So, let’s return to the question,
what will a name change achieve? It will
not provide any more security. Islamic
people are intelligent enough to know that the rugby team had nothing to do
with the attack.
This issue illustrates a deeper
problem with New Zealand society and the media in particular. We cannot discuss issues of multi-culturalism
in a critical and mature manner.
Consider the example I gave at
the beginning of this article in which I referred to the Chinese and Islamic
world in the year 1200 being superior to the West – no problems there. But now imagine if someone said Western
culture is currently superior to Islamic or any other culture – different
story.
There is no doubt that after the
enlightenment, Western cultures developed a large number of advantages in their
ability to provide welfare for their members.
The advance of knowledge in science and technology helped to improve
health, economy and material welfare.
Advances in philosophical debate led to advances in freedom with less
oppression and exploitation.
Consider the words of the biologist
Robert Sapolsky who has spent much time researching African wildlife. In his book Behave he describes people he encountered …
“who believe that epileptics are possessed and that the organs of murdered albinos have healing powers, where beating of wives, children and animals is the norm, five year olds herd cattle and haul fire wood, pubescent girls are clitoridectomized and given to old men as third wives.”When we read such descriptions can we really say all culture are equal? Sapolsky is no racist. On the contrary, he is the last person you would accuse of that. He is merely noticing important aspects of the cultures he has worked within, and he goes on to note what he sees as the difference between these societies and those in the West:
“countries with minimal violence, extensive social safety nets, few child brides, numerous female legislators and sacrosanct civil liberties are usually direct descendants of the enlightenment.”Of course, the enlightenment isn’t the only influence on Western society. Perhaps the biggest was a belief system with many useful guides to social interaction. This belief system is symbolised by a cross which, notably, is warn by the horseman who ride around the park before the Crusaders play; the very same horsemen that the media want to get rid of.
If, as a consequence of multi-culturalism, New
Zealanders are forced to change the things they love, it could lead to a
backlash against multi-culturalism. With
this in mind, the media need to act with maturity when dealing with cultural
differences. Most important, they need
to show our own culture more respect.
Dr Greg Clydesdale is an economics lecturer at Lincoln University. The ideas expressed in this article are his personal opinion - not those of the university.
4 comments:
The shooter was a white nationalist. Were the anti-Chinese rioters in "Tongan supremacists"?
BTW Eric Kaufmann makes space for those who are opposed to rapid demographic change [for no perceived net benefit?] as "ethno‐traditional nationalism, a variety of nationalism which seeks to protect the traditional preponderance of ethnic majorities through slower immigration and assimilation but which does not seek to close the door entirely to migration or exclude minorities from national membership."
They complain about my "phobia". What is a phobia? It can be defined as a rational fear. My fears are totally rational. I fear the jihadis. I fear the demographic fact that, if immigration continues unchecked, Muslims will proliferate in my home country and, when their numbers increase to a sufficient degree, as they undoubtedly will, they will demand that their system, with all its barbarism and restrictions, be adopted. It is already happening elsewhere.
I couldn't agree more. Well said Dr Clydesdale. Our rush to complete PC will bring us down.
Good stuff, well said. I say that anytime someone is labelled a xenophobe, then the other person should be labelled a xenomaniac, with maniac meaning an unreasonable desire in favour.
Post a Comment