I have never agreed with the Tories' mouthpiece, Baroness Warsi, on anything, but they allow her to speak so often it had to happen eventually. Warsi has made a huge and admirable statement on the subject of how white girls are perceived by a small minority of Pakistani men. The comments come following the jailing of nine men for abusing young girls in Rochdale. As a daughter of Pakistani migrants herself, it is a bold declaration.
It is also a declaration that treats the situation as it is - something that involves a minority, and therefore we must resist the temptation to treat it as a generalised problem. However, it is right to racialise the issue, not because the crimes were racially-driven per se, but because some of the debates surrounding the abuse have taken a potentially damaging racialised narrative already. The abuses have also taken place in the background context of racial difference.
I will be the first to admit that initially I set out to avoid reading the reports of what happened in Rochdale, such is my discomfort for reading about such matters. Having finally read the unsettling articles about what happened to those vulnerable young girls, it makes me despair at the state of British society at the moment.
Firstly, it does seem that young (white) British females are seen to be morally lacking, and, as some cynically see them, as 'fair game' for abuse. Although the crimes were sexual, rather than racial, it would seem undeniable that the offenders chose their victims carefully. The judge in the case, Gerald Clifton, cited a key reason was "they were not part of your community or religion," suggesting there may be community acceptance factors in play as well.
Secondly, and more significantly, it has been said that police knew about the abuse since 2002 but failed to act. The article reports that "[t]hey have now been accused of ignoring evidence of the rapes because they were frightened of being accused of racism." This is often the crux of the problem. The race and religion of the offenders mean they are allowed by stupid white people to continue their deviant behaviour unchallenged.
When the offenders were finally brought to justice, the procrastination of those people played straight into the hands of Nick Griffin and his BNP. Griffin is now on a points-scoring mission off the back of it, and has already called for a public inquiry. Well done, everyone.
Mainstream politicians often get a bad press, but on this issue there is a sensible discussion unfolding among parliamentarians. On one side of the debate, I can understand the sentiments of Keith Vaz MP that race should not be the issue (or, at least not the central issue, as I would argue). However, Warsi is correct that the offenders' decision to choose white girls cannot be treated as incidental. Either way, the outcome of any debate is that there must never again be fear to act on reports of such awful abuses.
