Islamophobia Isn't Racism

So you say Islamophobia isn’t racism.

I’m sure that’s true

Since Richard Dawkins said so

And he's infallible, as we all know.

But I’d like to ask you to do a couple of things

Little things, which should be easy for you.

Here, go and tell this Sikh woman

Whose house was firebombed, her husband shot in the night

Because someone thought anyone wearing a turban and a beard

Must be a Muslim – go ahead,

Tell her that Islamophobia isn’t racism.

Here, tell this Arab Christian from Gaza

Whose children were hit by a Zionist shell, torn and buried

Even his whole street, all buildings buried –

And who’s jeered online for being a Muslim, go ahead

Tell him that Islamophobia isn’t racism.

Here, tell this Afghan kid, tattered and alone

Mother killed at a checkpoint, father bombed by a drone

Show him how it’s all justified, because 11/9, because Taliban

And while he’s hunting for a little food and warmth

Tell him that Islamophobia isn’t racism.

Here, tell this French woman, dark-eyed and demure

How she can’t wear a veil – which is not Islamic and never was –

But her Christian friend can wear a crucifix round her neck.

Tell her, when her mosque’s vandalised, her holy book mocked

Tell her that Islamophobia isn’t racism.

Here, tell this Iraqi resistance fighter, secular, socialist too

Whose land was invaded and destroyed, ripped apart

And who picked up the gun to fight back, who gave his all to fight back

And who was told that he must be a jihadist Islamist, because

He must be fighting for religion, not for freedom and liberty

Whose comrades’ corpses were posed like hunting trophies, go ahead –

Tell him that Islamophobia isn’t racism.

Here, tell this Indian college student here, the one in the jeans

Who spends her days studying mathematics, her nights out with friends

That she must be oppressed, because she’s a Muslim

That she must be an Arab, because she’s a Muslim

That she must have been cut about, because she’s a Muslim, and then

Tell her that Islamophobia isn’t racism.

Here, tell this boy, who plays football at school

And who plays rock in his spare time, because that’s the cool thing to do

That he must apologise, because, some Muslim, somewhere

Blew up something he’s never heard of, for reasons unknown –

Tell him that Islamophobia isn’t racism.

Here, tell the family of Jean Charles de Menezes
Shot eight times on the London Underground
For the crime of being brown
And hence automatically a Muslim terrorist - come on

Tell them that Islamophobia isn't racism.

And tell the old mullah in the local mosque, the one who never hurt a fly

The one who’s never spoken a word against anyone

Tell him how he’s guilty of what some Saudi preacher said

Because there’s no difference between them in your outraged head –

Tell him that Islamophobia isn’t racism.

Or, you know what, take a little drive to your airport

But tan your skin brown first.

If you don’t have a beard, grow one.

Or if you’re a woman, put on a veil

And then go to the airport.

And there,

Get yourself searched, your bags gone through

Your documents checked, back and forth

Questioned over and over, when all you asked

Was the way to the loo –

(Which is something that has happened to the author of this poem

Who isn’t Muslim, Arab, Afghan, Chechen, or even

Religious in any sense of the word)

When you’ve done all that, go ahead, tell me, tell us

That since Islam is something one can convert to

Tell us that Islamophobia isn’t racism.

Go right ahead

We’ll wait.

Copyright B Purkayastha 2015

 

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