This websites 2010 General Election poll has received over 1,000 votes for the BNP (British National Party) and hundreds of supporting comments from BNP supporters who argue (amongst other things) that the BNP are no longer (or has never been) a racist political party.
That sort of discussion isn’t really what I created the general election poll page for, so hoping to bring that sort of debate to this page.
So open question to all, are the BNP Racists?
And what the hell, lets have a poll :-)
British National Party Racism Poll
Poll closed, have image instead :-)
What is Racism?
Based on the comments below I’m including a definition of racism from Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism (Wikipedia the definitive, most accurate source of information on the Internet :-)).
Racism is the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. In the case of institutional racism, certain racial groups may be denied rights or benefits, or get preferential treatment.
Racial discrimination typically points out taxonomic differences between different groups of people, although anyone may be discriminated against on an ethnic or cultural basis, independently of their somatic differences. According to the United Nations conventions, there is no distinction between the term racial discrimination and ethnic discrimination.
I think it’s fair to say if a political party promotes racial discriminating ideologies, it’s a racist political party.
What is Racialism?
I also stumbled upon the term racialism, various online dictionaries define the term as:
1. An emphasis on race or racial considerations, as in determining policy or interpreting events.
2. Policy or practice based on racial considerations.
Chiefly British Variant of racism.
And from Wikipedia: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/racialism
Racialism is an emphasis on race or racial considerations.
Racialism entails a belief in the existence and significance of racial categories, but not necessarily in a hierarchy between the races, or in any political or ideological position of racial supremacy.