We need to work harder to overcome prejudice, says Barwell in Holocaust memorial speech
LESSONS about prejudice still need to be learnt despite acceptance of the horrors of the holocaust, Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell has said.
He made his remarks while leading a debate in Parliament last week to highlight Holocaust Memorial Day, which was held on Friday.
He told MPs the memorial day was an opportunity to remember the victims of the holocaust, pay tribute to the survivors and to ensure the history was not forgotten.
But he said it was also a chance to remember the victims of other instances of genocide and racial prejudice.
He said: "It has happened since and it can happen again. Many of the attitudes and much of the ideology of people being alien and which underpinned what happened are still prevalent in parts of the population here in the UK."
He said he had condemned a recent incident in Croydon in which a woman had allegedly made racist remarks about black passengers on a tram.
Mr Barwell said: "For the next two or three weeks, I was subject to a stream of vile e-mails from people who believe that anyone who is not white cannot be British."
They are considered by the e-mail writers not to belong here, he said, an attitude also often applied to the Muslim community.
Mr Barwell said: "It is important not only that we remember what happened....but that we learn the lesson and continue to confront it."
He claimed humans tended to be predisposed to being hostile to those who appear different.
5 Comments
by Chris_Wilcox
Thursday, February 02 2012, 3:07PM
“A bit rich from the MP who just assisted in cutting the support to Disabled Kids and Cancer Patients.
One Tory even implied being Disabled was a lifestyle choice in that debate.
And PIP replacing DLA will lead to a bucket-load more Disabled people losing support, as the Lower Rate of Care goes. A Lower Rate many Mentally Ill/ injured people get.
I seem to remember Hitler not being very nice to the Disabled/ Mentally Ill either. I believe the word was 'eugenics'...”
by Ivor_Shed
Thursday, February 02 2012, 11:05AM
“Dolly - understood (or rather misunderstood!)
as far as the tram experience goes, The UK has obviously taken a stand against racial abuse - quite rightly so, however it should stop and think why the abuse is occurring in the first place. White British people are upset about something or they wouldn't be making the comments. Perhaps it is fear over jobs, or fear over religion, terrorism, Halal MacDonalds or losing the 'British' way of life.
It would be better to deal with the root cause of the prejucice rather than just handing out punishments.
We live for much of the time in a small village in France and we work really hard to be just another couple of villagers, helping at village events, joining local groups and generally being as French as we are able. I think I can say there is no prejudice against us and we are both on committees (by invitation).
I don't parade in a bowler hat and rolled umbrella, we drive a Citroen and a Peugeot, we do watch English TV and have the occasional full English but we haven't applied to take over an empty building to have a C of E church or asked the grocer to stock spaghetti hoops or Marmite. Moreover we haven't encouraged more Brits to buy up the local houses and build a 'community'. We have joined the community that was already here.
Prejudice is a 2-way street.”
by Dollydreamer
Thursday, February 02 2012, 9:33AM
“My comment was actually aimed at Mr Barwell's attempt at linking the Holocaust with 'My Tram Experience'. Using 'My Tram Experience' in a debate about a Holocaust memorial day in my opinion is crass, making the whole 'My Tram Experience' into something it is not and never was and blowing it up out of all proportion.”
by Ivor_Shed
Wednesday, February 01 2012, 6:00PM
“Dolly - quite right - the holocaust was nothing to do with me, or my father (who was in fact in Germany during the war but at 10,000 feet dropping bombs). There has to be a time limit on wars amd a lifetime is probably a good guideline. Poppy day has been remembering the first world war since 1919 (with poppies since 1921) when it is remembered on 11/11 at 11:11 (or it is in France where a day's public holiday is given) or the nearest Sunday for 2 minutes in the UK.
Then Poppy Day was extended to remember those who gave their lives during WW2 and as most of those survivors are now dead it has been extended again to cover wars in Afghanistan (and others?) where we have not fought to protect British soil but for commercial reasons.
In France we now have a new law where you can be fined 45,000€ and imprisoned for up to a year for denial of the 1915 Armenian genocide in Turkey. A similar law already existed for denial of the holocaust. That's enough to make you remember it - even if you weren't there.”
by Dollydreamer
Tuesday, January 31 2012, 12:29PM
“We also need to be able to see things for what they really are and not look for what we want them to be and stop jumping to conclusions. We need to stop apologising for things we cannot change and had no control over when they were happening, namely history. We need to stop compromising our own culture, welfare and rights in favour of others as compensation for our countries past ills. We need to accept and realise that ALL are equal and no one's culture, race, colour, religion or opinion is above any others. Humans are not only predisposed to difference but also towards threats, whether that be on their lives or their quality of life, hostility can also be shown through fear, ignorance and change amongst others. We live in a multi cultural society but that depends on where you live. Britain is still apparently over 90% white British but when living in Croydon where the dynamic is 49% immigrant and ethnic minority it is very hard to believe that statistic. Why so disproportionate? This rise has happened, what seems to be very quickly over a short period of time, this is going to have it's adverse effects amongst a few as they may have personally suffered the effects of this influx by losing or finding it harder to find work, resulting in change and producing fear. We need to stop focusing on the few as the majority are not in agreement, you only need to look at the responses to 'My Tram Experience' to realise that. Speaking of 'My Tram Experience', the rantings of what is proven to be a mentally unstable woman. Why are we accepting of the threats of violence and hatred towards what was simply her own opinion? Why were we accepting of her imprisonment for voicing those opinions? Why were we accepting of the black ladies response of racism back at Emma West? Surely two wrongs don't make a right. Why was there not so much hatred and threats of violence towards the Muslim girls racist attack on a white woman? The black French guys racists outburst on the train in France? No Mr Barwell we should never forget but we should not be expected to beat ourselves up for the past or compromise ourselves for other peoples liberty.”