Islamophobia: time for action

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At a time when Muslim people face intensifying, often violent, racism, it was essential for the government to deliver a definition of Islamophobia that creates the apparatus and momentum to provide Muslim communities protection from racist hatred. 

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The government today has announced the term Anti-Muslim Hostility to describe the racism experienced by Muslims. Disappointingly, it deviates from the term Islamophobia, which is widely used by Muslim groups and has international consensus. While the term Islamophobia is imperfect, it is well recognised and encompasses the broader structural nature of how Islamophobia operates. 

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We are encouraged that there is some acknowledgement that what Muslim communities are experiencing is racism. Muslim people are being systematically stereotyped, dehumanised and discriminated against through a process of racialisation. However, it remains ambiguous whether this offers Muslim people the same protection as other religious groups like Sikh and Jewish people who are, in law, considered as racialised groups.

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Islamophobia is now such an acute issue that the conversation must also move on from debates around definitions to a clear roadmap for active implementation.

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We now need a strong implementation plan that effectively challenges the pandemic of Islamophobic narratives and policies that frame Muslim people as a threat. The racism that Muslim communities experience - as reflected through sky rocketing hate crimes - media narratives, and online trolling does not breed in a vacuum, it is enabled by politicians who demonise and encourage the scapegoating of Muslim communities. 

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We urge the government to commit to combatting Islamophobia and provide the funding, monitoring and accountability measures that are essential to disrupting the rising tide of racism toward Muslims. The announcement of an Independent Commissioner is welcome, though their work and credibility will only be as useful as the parameters of power and autonomy they are awarded.

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In a better context, we would not be advocating for specific definitions for specific group experiences - especially where those definitions end up competing for currency and status. 

The political moment is grave: we cannot afford to be distracted with politicised debates over definitions that pit communities against one another. 

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What we ultimately need is a comprehensive national anti-racist strategy that is embedded across all governmental departments that addresses this rising tide of racism, in all its forms.