“The True Face of Britain”
August 13, 2011
Ed Miliband said Tariq Jahan, pictured above, is "the true face of Britain."
CAN YOU imagine a Chinese man pointing to a white entrepreneur from New York, and saying, “He is the true face of China?”
Can you imagine an Egyptian pointing to a French Jew, and saying, “He is the true face of Egypt?”
Can you imagine an Israeli pointing to an Arab and saying, “He is the true face of Israel?”
Can you imagine an Afghan pointing to a solider from Iowa and saying, “He is the true face of Afghanistan?”
Can you imagine a British politician pointing to a first-generation Muslim and saying, “He is the true face of Britain?”
All are implausible except the last. Only the white European denies that he has a rightful home.
— Comments —
Dale F. writes:
Though I agree with you that Tariq Jahan is not ethnically the “true face” of Britain, in fairness I think something else was meant.
According to this article, Jahan’s call for calm after his son and two friends were viciously murdered by a black hit-and-run driver may have prevented a worse race riot.
Ed Miliband seems to be a deluded “root causes” excuse maker. But his praising someone who had just lost a son and yet sought to save other lives through self-abnegation, and indeed his characterizing such noble restraint as a quintessentially British quality-that is not without merit.
Laura writes:
Yes, I think Tariq Jahan did act responsibly in calling for restraint and it is perfectly reasonable that he be praised by someone at Miliband’s level. After all, he is a British citizen. But I think Miliband by his words was saying more than that.
Alex writes from England:
As the inquest on the English riots gets under way, who will turn out to be the ‘heroes’ of the hour? No prizes for guessing it’s the Muslim opponents of moral anarchy that are being eulogized by the grateful politicians and media.
A riot takes place. Most, but not all of the rioters, are black. Does anyone resist? Well, no, not even the police are prepared to go that far – at least not until the worst is over. Then comes the aftermath. Who’s to blame? Nobody wants to say. A few Muslim shopkeepers defended their property and it appears that three were killed doing so. Hurray, that’s the heroic spirit! You can rely on ‘our’ Muslims. England, our multicultural home, is safe again. Now let’s find a rug under which all our saucy doubts and fears can be swept.
This idiotic sequence of events can transpire and be a cause of complacency in only one place on earth – in England, now.
