Vote against racism, says archbishop, as BNP are exposed
-30/04/06
Britainís first blac
Vote against racism, says archbishop, as BNP are exposed
-30/04/06
Britainís first black archbishop has joined a procession of church leaders in urging voters in this weekís local elections to reject the politics of fear and racism.
His call comes as fresh revelations emerge of the racism at the core of the British National Party, with Sky News and The Sunday Times recounting the contents of a secretly recorded conversation last year in which a BNP calls black people genetically inferior to whites.
Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, said on BBC Radio today that voters in England have an opportunity to shun parties peddling xenophobia and seeking to clamp down on immigration.
Referring to groups like the British National Party, which has recently been exposed as trying to establish a Christian ëfrontí, Dr Sentamu said they espoused the “politics of fear”.
The archbishop, who was born in Uganda, served as a judge there, and opposed the terror of Idi Amin, pointed out that Britain was “a country of immigrants”.
He said that he had found the country was “most accommodating” ñ although he has also been subject to widely reported racist taunts and threats.
Dr Sentamu told BBC Radio Four’s Sunday programme this morning: ìThis country has been one of the most welcoming.î
He went on: “I want to suggest if it lost that because people simply say ‘we’re going to put a barbed wire around a number of things in order for us to feel safe’, that is not actual security, that’s fear – and any politics which plays on people’s fears in the long run, give it a bit of time, it will fail”.
The members of the official ecumenical body, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, have made known their own implacable opposition to racism in politics ñ after the UK Christian think tank, Ekklesia, revealed that Members of the BNP had been involved in setting up their own group with a Christian label.
Today the Sunday Times commented on the hollowness of the British National partyís drive for respectability by recounting the BNP chief spokesperson Phil Edwards had been caught out in a covertly recorded conversation labelling black people ìdysfunctional low achieversî, and claiming that they are genetically less intelligent than white people.
Edwards said in the recording: ìThe black kids are going to grow up dysfunctional . . . and are probably going to mug you.î He adds: ìTo put it crudely (you said it, chum), thereís no black Mozart, no black Dickens.î
The tape, recorded in January 2005, was handed to Sky News last week. Dr Edwards, confronted about his words last week, refused to back down, saying: ìIf I thought I was going to be recorded . . . I would not have used such intemperate language, but letís be honest about it, the facts are there.î
Nick Lowles, a spokesperson for Searchlight, the anti-fascist group, told the Sunday Times: ìEdwardsís views clearly show they [the BNP] are a hard-core racist organisation.î
[Also on Ekklesia: BNP members involved in ‘Christian’ front; BNP helping to establish church based around racial ideology; Christians distance themselves from right-wing religious group BNP exploit racist fears and ‘Christian country’ claims; BNP claims many of its members are Christians; Churches welcome exposure of BNP ‘bigotry’; BNP’s claims about religion are absurd but dangerous says thinktank; Archbishop urges resistance against racism; New black archbishop Sentamu receives racist hate mail; Black archbishop prays for racist abusers; Church must face racism, says black archbishop]
Vote against racism, says archbishop, as BNP are exposed
-30/04/06
Britainís first black archbishop has joined a procession of church leaders in urging voters in this weekís local elections to reject the politics of fear and racism.
His call comes as fresh revelations emerge of the racism at the core of the British National Party, with Sky News and The Sunday Times recounting the contents of a secretly recorded conversation last year in which a BNP calls black people genetically inferior to whites.
Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, said on BBC Radio today that voters in England have an opportunity to shun parties peddling xenophobia and seeking to clamp down on immigration.
Referring to groups like the British National Party, which has recently been exposed as trying to establish a Christian ëfrontí, Dr Sentamu said they espoused the “politics of fear”.
The archbishop, who was born in Uganda, served as a judge there, and opposed the terror of Idi Amin, pointed out that Britain was “a country of immigrants”.
He said that he had found the country was “most accommodating” ñ although he has also been subject to widely reported racist taunts and threats.
Dr Sentamu told BBC Radio Four’s Sunday programme this morning: ìThis country has been one of the most welcoming.î
He went on: “I want to suggest if it lost that because people simply say ‘we’re going to put a barbed wire around a number of things in order for us to feel safe’, that is not actual security, that’s fear – and any politics which plays on people’s fears in the long run, give it a bit of time, it will fail”.
The members of the official ecumenical body, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, have made known their own implacable opposition to racism in politics ñ after the UK Christian think tank, Ekklesia, revealed that Members of the BNP had been involved in setting up their own group with a Christian label.
Today the Sunday Times commented on the hollowness of the British National partyís drive for respectability by recounting the BNP chief spokesperson Phil Edwards had been caught out in a covertly recorded conversation labelling black people ìdysfunctional low achieversî, and claiming that they are genetically less intelligent than white people.
Edwards said in the recording: ìThe black kids are going to grow up dysfunctional . . . and are probably going to mug you.î He adds: ìTo put it crudely (you said it, chum), thereís no black Mozart, no black Dickens.î
The tape, recorded in January 2005, was handed to Sky News last week. Dr Edwards, confronted about his words last week, refused to back down, saying: ìIf I thought I was going to be recorded . . . I would not have used such intemperate language, but letís be honest about it, the facts are there.î
Nick Lowles, a spokesperson for Searchlight, the anti-fascist group, told the Sunday Times: ìEdwardsís views clearly show they [the BNP] are a hard-core racist organisation.î
[Also on Ekklesia: BNP members involved in ‘Christian’ front; BNP helping to establish church based around racial ideology; Christians distance themselves from right-wing religious group BNP exploit racist fears and ‘Christian country’ claims; BNP claims many of its members are Christians; Churches welcome exposure of BNP ‘bigotry’; BNP’s claims about religion are absurd but dangerous says thinktank; Archbishop urges resistance against racism; New black archbishop Sentamu receives racist hate mail; Black archbishop prays for racist abusers; Church must face racism, says black archbishop]