Migration, Racism and Tolerance / Brussels Journal, 30 December 2007
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/2812
George Handlery
"We tend to assign labels to the flotsam the tide of our time deposits at our feet. Often these tags help us to put up with a stinking reality under a PC wrapper. Alternatively, they serve as an “only add water” condemnation or excuse of whatever might be distorted to fit the term. “Racism” and “Fascism,” also “solidarity” are some of the many magical words that supposedly classify marked items. In truth, these terms warp reality. This does not intend to insinuate that racism, xenophobia and destructive egoism do not exist. However, such terms should not be allowed to function as verbal clubs. Labels should not override the facts, therefore, they must not justify whatever is intolerable (eg. the fear of being branded a "racist" should not keep the cop from apprehending a lawbreaker. It is proper for writers to put on the table their subject-related prejudices. Reacting to the Economist’s (November 22) piece “The Trouble With Migrants – Europe is fretting about too much immigration when it needs even more” raises issues that require personal revelations."