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Index > Media > Anti-Racism Special

First of all - can you introduce yourself and your band to us?
The Bombs Of Enduring Freedom is the audio fight against imperialism and control of the masses. We regularly broadcast audio reports in the form of songs (Industrial / Metal / D'n'B / Experimental) - this is armed insurgency for 2009 !

Could you describe your opinion and/or views on racism within 1-5 words?
Appearances can be decieving.

What are your views on your own country when it comes to racism? Bad? Worse? Not thát bad? Please explain.
I think that in general, the UK has a comparatively reasonable situation with regards to the different ethnic groups historically established here. London is one of the very very few places that you can go and experience such a massive range of different nationalities - not only tourists, but people who live and work here. The only other place I could imagine to be as diverse is New York city. The media has a massive amount of negativity about muslims and Arabic peoples in genreal - it's done quite cleverly though. Once you start to notice it though, you really notice it.
Other places where racism (and other small minded-ness) openly exists is in deprived areas of working class people. As I live in this kind of area, I see this all the time. Most people living here are normal and decent hard working people who just happen to be at the lower end of the class system (the REAL problem here). There are the kind of morons who think someone is a drug dealer because they are black or a muslim because they have brown skin etc etc... - pretty pathetic human beings. There were some real bad problems between Asian gangs, black gangs and white gangs a few years back in the north of England (and things there are still quite tense) but I would put that more down to covert governmental 'agent provocateurs' - it just so happened that this occured right before 9/11. I guess when you see a conspiracy, it tends to taint your world view from that point on...

It seems some kind of sick ´trend´ these days to bring racism into alternative music, referring to terms such as 'nazi-punk', 'NSBM' and 'right-winged electro'. What are your views on this? Do you think it will become dangerous?
If the quality of these band's music doesnt massively improve, then there is very little to worry about. They use these tags to get interest in their music which would otherwise be ignored as simply "pretty crap".

Did you witness any racist things during local gigs, festivals, etc? Would you reject an offer to play a show together with an outspoken right-winged band?
I dont go to gigs - but if we were playing live and offered a gig with a neo-nazi band, of course we wouldnt do it. You just get a bunch of shaven headed morons turining up who are more interested putting their right arm in the air and displaying fascist histrionics rather than listening to any music. If it was one of these industrial nazi-esque bands though - yeah I think we would - just to blow them the fuck off the stage and make them look the pile of shit they are, with their Hitler-youth style clothing (how camp is that ???).

The U.K. has a history related to colonialism. Do you think people from former colonies are still viewed as "lesser" and are treated "differently"? What are your views?
I have personal experience of the immigration system as my wife had to apply for a visa for this, visa for that etc etc... If you had asked me before this, I would have said I dont believe I see it. Now I would say that yes - definitely. Wether it is from governmental departments, passport officials at airports (avoid Spain like the plague if you are Latin-American), employers, or people int the street - yes, people who are visibly from another county are definitely treated differently. Wether people in public react like this as just a natural reaction to the "unknown" or not is unclear, but when people decide to deprive and treat as unequal those who are obviously foreign, then this is certainly racist or xenophobic behaviour. For instance, one extreme case of this was my wife witnessed a bus driver letting on a gang of kids except the black one in the group, who was told he couldnt get on. This could have been because he had just happened to have caused trouble before, but if I had been there I would have certainly said something. I have always felt compassionate towards minorities, and I think it is because my own family has had to put up with this shit in the past.

What are your views on islamophobia in relation to the Brittish press?
Islamophobia is everywhere in the press. This has a lot to do with the current agendas of the government and the media. It is one of the more obvious forms of racism or xenophobia that is obvious once you become aware of it. When I see it, it really makes my blood boil, because more often than not, it is subtley trying to brainwash the masses (who are mostly indifferent to muslims) to view and treat them differently to serve a not-so-hidden agenda relating to foreign policy . One example would be that I was in the dentists like 5 years ago, and picked up one of those crappy magazines that they have there (you know - celebrity shit stuff). There was this Asian guy on that pile-of-shit programme ironicly titled 'Big Brother' - one of the tasks they had been set was to all dress as military personnel. In this magazine, they had a photo of this Asian contestant wearing a green shirt and beret with a bath towel hanging in the background that was out of focus, which just so happened to look like and have the same colours as the Iraqi / Palestinian flag. This guy was demonised in the press for his duration on the programme - and NOBODY said a word.

Got any final words?
Racism is a tool by which the government of the day uses peoples ignorance to carry out political agendas. It is happening ALL the time. Just keep your eyes open and be prepared to defend those around you - wether you know them or not. The more someone tries to convince you of something, the more you can be sure that they have an agenda that is probably not to your benefit.

Interview by: Gerardo
Answered by: James (all instruments)
Listen to The Bombs of Enduring Freedom at myspace.com/thebombsofenduringfreedom