Contemporary media issues Homework

The video shown is an example of how Muslims within Britain are often met with a large amount of racism and prejudice. We can see a type of racism which hasn't been seen since the civil rights period with people refusing to serve them in cafes. People can also be seen shouting hateful things towards the woman. The video began with the woman walking around with her face showing. We can see that people were staring at her as she was walking around. Matters became worse when she wore a full burka and was met with even more stares and this is when she became targeted by members of the public.

To the question 'Is Britain Racist?' I would say no. People are all becoming affected by mass Hysteria as a result to recent events and it has fuelled a lot of bad attitudes towards Muslims. We can see that the woman was receiving stares from people as she was walking around with her face showing. This doesn't necessarily reflect racism or hate towards Muslims, instead it is mainly a result of the woman feeling self conscious about her religion, when in reality the people passing her most probably wouldn't be affected by the sight of a Muslim woman. This shows the effects of paranoia around times of terrorism and how it works on both sides, in this case the Muslim woman was affected and caused to feel self conscious about people looking at her. When she put on the burka we can however see some clear examples of racism. We can see some people shouting offensive things to the woman as well as banning her from a shop. This shows the other side of paranoia due to terrorism. The Burka has been a topic of controversy within newspapers and news stories. Some of the public have associated the Burka with the unknown which has caused feelings of paranoia to come out within some members of the public.