Re: Ought to be so easy...
@Tapeador
Your type of response is exactly the reason why we can't have constructive discussions about race and multiculturalism and what it means for everyone.
In Australia, Tony Abbott (whom I am not a fan of, to be clear) recently copped a lot of grief for talking about people getting behind 'Team Australia'.
It was received as being jingoistic and racist.
The problem is that we are all so scared of being seen as racist that we rush to denounce anything that has the barest hint of it. Thus, when someone points out that some Indians/Pakistanis are scared of or distrustful of dogs, we scream them down. Why?
It's fucking well true. I could parade a dozen Indians/Pakistanis who own or are absolutely fine with dogs and react no differently than anyone else. BUT, there are many from the subcontinent who, due to either religion (some Muslims believe that touching a dog will make them 'unclean'*) or simply the circumstances of their upbringing (in many parts of the subcontinent, dogs are rarely pets and are those seen are likely to be wild) have a noticeably different reaction to dogs than those of us who have grown up with them.
So what do you do about that?
This is where multiculturalism is not so flash. My own, personal, view is that living in a society with a variety of different races and cultures is a great opportunity to learn from each other and adopt what is best. In other words, to become one big blended culture.
In the case of, say, reaction to dogs, I would argue that it is better to adopt the position of not being afraid of tame service dogs than to adopt the position of being scared or distrustful of them. I think the former will be the richer culture than the latter.
As for the comment you were specifically commenting on, what was so bad about it?
The poster wasn't saying that people of other cultures and ethnicities are 'rotten', 'uncivil' or 'evil'. What he was saying is that when people from other cultures practice such behaviours, it - at least sometimes - gets excused as "cultural values".
That doesn't means that the same or similar behaviours aren't common to 'white' people as well or that the vast majority of foreign people living in 'western' nations aren't perfectly normal people that are good, law-abiding, well-integrated and general stand-up people.
No, what the poster is saying is that when certain behaviours come from someone of a different ethnicity or culture, that behaviour is more likely to be excused or ignored than if the same behaviour came from a westerner.
An example is the treatment of women by some individuals from some ethic and religious groups. I do not mean any physical or even psychological abuse, but simple the respect and position accorded to women inside that culture. The idea of the poster - I believe - is that if a white, native, westerner were to forbid his wife from having a job, driving a car or leaving the house by herself then we, in greater society would condemn him as being a domineering chauvanist and some would call it an abuse relationship. The same situation in a Muslim household is far, far more likely to be excused or ignored, for fear of appearing culturally insensitive or of trying to force our values onto others.
We believe in equality for women, just not enough to risk appearing insensitive. We believe young girls should be sent away to have their genitals mutilated but we don't stop it. We believe in free speech is essential for our way of life but for it ends up taking second place to making sure we don't hurt a religious group's feelings. When disenfranchised young people who grow up in poor areas without work or much chance at a good future riot after heavy-handed police tactics, we must 'get tough', but when it's a different cultural group, we must 'understand'.
It's about applying the same rules and same standards for everyone, even if some people will cry that it is insensitive.
In the UK (and Australia), service dogs are allowed anywhere that their owners are. They are allowed in taxis and hire cars and if you operate one then you are OBLIGED to take the person and the dog. There is no loophole for being scared of dogs or being worried you will become unclean. If you can't accept that, then DO NOT BE A DRIVER!!!
It's got nothing to do with race or religion in the end - if your personal preferences or beliefs prevent you from fulfilling the legal requirements of your profession then you either need to change your beliefs or your job.
These are discussions that need to be had in the open, without fear that people like you will jerk your knee and scream 'racist!'.
* - The idea is similar, religiously, to forbidden foods but is misplaced - it is only contact with a dog's saliva that is unclean.