"I have raised this comment regularly over the years, and will continue to do so, because I feel that it opitomises the racist attitude..."

.,,.

OK. Let's try to take this seriously. Leaving aside what it may or may not epitomise, the first thing to ask is, whether there may be any truth in it.

Please not that I am expressing no opinion as to that; merely pointing out that it must be the first thing to be considered.

Jim is constantly reminding me of that scene in Brecht's "The Life Of Galileo" which I mentioned in another context recently (& if ever there was a writer who might just be lefty enough to suit Jim's book, it has to be good old Bert Brecht). Galileo is called before the Inquisition for saying that the Earth moves round the Sun. The prosecuting cardinal opens with the words, "The first thing to be established is whether it would be desirable for the Earth to move round the Sun."

Jim is not starting by asking whether there may or may not be such a cultural tendency as such as Jack Straw, Ann Fryer, Alibhai Brown, Mohammed Sidiqui, et al, thought that there might be in certain sections of certain demographics. He is starting by denouncing the very idea as "the epitome of the racist attitude" threatening certain of our fellow citizens.

But the point to be established first of all, quite apart from what the effects might be if it were, is surely whether such culturally influenced attitudes actually do or do not exist.

But that won't do for Jim. His priority is to establish that they can't possibly do so because they do not accord with the social doctrine of Jim; just as the priority of the Church was to establish that the rotation of the Earth was impossible as it didn't accord with the doctrine of the Church. They threatened Galileo with torture if he didn't recant. Jim threatens us with being denounced by nasty names like racist or fascist if we even admit the very possibility that Straw&Fryer&Alibhai&Sidiqui&all were simply seeing something that was there.

Didn't know what a Jesuit you were at ❤; did you, Jim?

~M~