"I am not doing anything of the sort."
Fine Mike, That was what I was hoping for, and what I expected - apologies if I have misread you.
Sure, there is nothing wrong with examining and discussing these issues, as long as they are dealt with honestly and responsibly, which I don't believe is happening here - maybe we have all been propelled into over-defending our own particular corners.
I don't believe that making irresponsible and inflammatory statements, then seeking out examples to back up those statements in the course of the discussion (and ignoring or distorting ones that don't) is the way to honest debate; that is an updated form of 'bar-room just before chucking-out time' argument, which is usually dealt with by the publican with a note over the bar, "No politics, no religion".
I know you say you judge each thread on its own merit, but it is how Keith works - several 'discussions' to demonstrate this, which have been equally as mind-numbing and, IMO equally dangerously culturally generalising and derogatory as this one.
"have you anything to urge against these arguments"
No I don't; I don't believe anybody here has anything like enough real information on the British Pakstani situation to come to any conclusion one way or the other, and to claim they have on the basis of a tiny handful of carefully selected statements of personal opinions, unqualified, unquantified and uncorroborated, is irresponsible and agenda-serving. I certainly don't have enough knowledge on the subject to make definitive claims, and I'm not going to seek out random 'examples' from the internet to back up my ignorance (though I do believe I have enough familiarity with racism in general, personal and researched, to recognise it when I see it).
Thank's for taking some of the heat out of our encounter.
Jim Carroll