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Jack Straw: You're an Ass

Even though Straw's comments were made on Oct 5, the repercussions of making and inviting such racist comments are still being unveiled (excuse the pun). How can an individual make such rude comments that so obviously target and segregate a religious group? Especially someone in a position of service and representation to the people. I think it says a great deal about British society. Not only the fact that he could and did make the comments, but that people accepted it as a starting point for a debate on the subject. A subject that very few people are educated about or familiar with, but one that everyone seems to feel they are an expert on.

The problem does not lie in the fact that, as Straw claimed, the veil seperates women from interacting in Western society, but it lies in other people's discomfort with veiled women. People who dont wear a veil need to self-analyze to find out why they cant handle speaking to someone who is wearing extra clothing. Its quite obvious why people have difficulty communicating with a naked person or a nearly naked person, but someone wearing extra clothes, including a small cloth over their mouth and nose is NOT an issue that should divide an otherwise seamless multicultural society. I would like to meet Mr Straw and ask him why he chose to make these comments so close to election time. I want to ask him why he would turn his back on the many, many Muslims in his Blackburn constituency and finally I would like to ask him why he made the comments publicly and then disappeared. He has not followed up his statments and has definitely not apologized for the added hardship he has caused Muslim women who are now thrust unwillingly, front-and-center, into the eye of the public.