11 HATE- assignment 2 article 1

11 hate 11 hate

'1 1 hate' is the nickname the media have labelled them with. Indeed I am referring to the company that is 118. The company which makes funny television adverts that make us laugh and talk about with our mates. The company which prides themselves on fast efficient service and knowing everything there is to know. Can it really be true, that they would send racist jokes which incite hatred? Believe me when I say there was no one more shocked than me, when I received the texts.

After all the media publicity and quotes fabricated by tabloid newspapers, I thought it was finally time to write a real feature. I believe it is true that you can never fully understand racism unless you have been a victim. Racism in Britain is not as bad as it once was due to many reasons. Education, integration and much more acceptance, although it is still a big problem in certain areas of Britain. Especially Preston, which was labelled the 'the race hate capital of Britain' in a channel four documentary in 2006. However despite this would you, or would you not be shocked to be discriminated over a text message by a company as big and trusted as 118? If you received so called 'jokes' like: "What’s the difference between E.T and an Asian? E.T got the message and went home!" or what about: "How do you save a Pakistani man from drowning? You take your foot off his head!" Despite your race or religion, surely you would think the messages incite hatred against the Asian and Pakistani population in Britain.

The first one suggested Asians should go home. I was under the impression that we were living in a multicultural society. I was brought up in the knowledge that a BRITISH Asian was a British citizen, which begs the question of where is home? Franz Kafka once quoted: "Is it not obvious that a person would leave from where he is hated so much?" The point which is laughable is that was classed as a 'joke'. After the company apologised and held their hands up that the messages were racist, you would think they would dismiss the individual responsible. To further our shock and disappointment in the company that didn’t happen either. I spoke to Imran Shah, the friend’s phone which I was using for the day and asked him what he thought: "I think it’s disgraceful, it’s like abusing someone then later apologising. It doesn’t change anything, the individual is still guilty and must receive appropriate punishment." So let me ask you, what’s the difference between Kameron Abbas and 118? Kameron could tell you a better joke.

Kameron Abbas