Everyone knows who really holds the power in Western societies today: those who are supposed not to have any power. We’re told that everything is rigged (“systemic racism,” you know) in favor of white males, and poor people of color and women are routinely victimized by cruel and callous authorities who take apparent delight in their victimization and marginalization. In reality, today’s society is built on the privilege of being victimized and marginalized, and the more you have of either, or are perceived to have, the richer you are. All this has just been demonstrated anew by man in Britain who is very rich indeed in what counts today: he is both non-white and Muslim, and is parlaying his double-victim status into fame and fortune.
Eastern Eye, “Britain’s best known and most respected Asian weekly newspaper,” reported Wednesday that “an art exhibition exploring the ‘victimisation’ of Muslims in the UK and abroad is a response to the rise in racism against the community, its creator has said. Faisal Hussain’s Suspect Objects Suspect Subjects (SOSS) analyses the impact of government policy and monitoring of the Muslim community, the multi-faceted channels used to influence bias and its subsequent effect on individuals.”
If you’re in Britain, you can take in this world-historical artistic achievement, or opportunistic exercise in the manipulation of protected victimhood status, depending on your point of view, starting on May 18 at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) of the University of London, in the university’s prestigious Brunei Gallery. If you can’t get to beautiful multicultural London this month, you can view the exhibit online.
And who would want to miss an exhibit such as this one? One of the artworks on display is a round sign emblazoned with the legend “We are here,” written in a pseudo-Arabic or pseudo-Urdu typeface. Another is a kebab shop sign featuring the declaration “Go back to where you hate from,” again written in the same pseudo-Arabic lettering. An array of cupcakes labeled “Prevent,” the name of Britain’s counterterror program, is meant to illustrate that program’s “positive facade but harmful core.” Stunning and brave!
Eastern Eye noted that Faisal Hussain, the artistic visionary behind all this, “said SOSS was his response to the global rise in racism against Muslims. The manner in which Muslims were represented in the media, as well as the online abuse and racist attacks the group endures were additional contributing factors.”
Eastern Eye didn’t ask, and Faisal Hussain didn’t deign to explain, exactly what race Muslims are. That would have interfered with the narrative. The unwelcome reality is that the media construct of “brown” Muslims being victimized by “white” oppressors is just that, a media narrative. Islam is not a race, and Muslims are not all of one race. There are Muslims, as well as jihadis, of all races.
But Faisal Hussain is undeterred by reality. This “racism” was “affecting who I was, so I felt the need to respond,” he explained. “I began adopting a more analytical approach to what different media were reporting and what actions the UK government was taking in different ways in Birmingham through failed surveillance and educational interventions.”
Don’t get the impression, however, that Hussain’s Suspect Objects Suspect Subjects is all in the Swallow-This-Bitter-Pill-It’s-Good-For-You mode so beloved of leftists today. Eastern Eye says that “the Birmingham-based artist is known for incorporating humour into his work too, using it as a mechanism to question perceptions on identity and race. For instance, an installation of toy guns titled Muslamic Rayguns is a reference to the viral video of an English Defence League (EDL) march from 2011. An individual partaking in the EDL event was mocked for his incoherent views on his reasons for joining the protest.”
Stupid white non-Muslims! Hilarious! Really, what could possibly be funnier?
This art exhibit is just another demonstration of the hegemony of those who preen about being powerless. In response to it, it is important to reemphasize some truths that risk being obscured entirely under the propaganda we’re being inundated with today. Besides the fact that Islam is not a race, it is worth recalling that opposition to jihad violence and Sharia oppression of women and others is not “racism” or “xenophobia,” despite the best efforts of people such as Faisal Hussain to claim otherwise.
Also: printing slogans on signs in a pseudo-Arabic/pseudo-Urdu typeface is not art.
Faisal Hussain is not oppressed or marginalized. He is a privileged member of Britain’s new elite. He has an art show featured at a respected London art gallery, despite the fact that his work has absolutely no artistic value. Would the same gallery feature an exhibition of slogans (and cupcakes) about opposing jihad terrorism and the oppression of women justified by Sharia? Not on your life.
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