Racism http://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/Murder_of_Ross_Parker

Ross Parker (17 August 1984 21 September 2001), from Peterborough, England, was a white male murdered in an unprovoked racially motivated crime. He was stabbed to death and beaten with a hammer by a gang of Muslim Asian youths of Pakistani origin, described as a "hunting party", with the incident occurring ten days after the September 11th attacks.[1][2] Shaied Nazir, Ahmed Ali Awan, and Sarfraz Ali were all found guilty of his murder.[3][4][5] Aside from its brutality and timing the case is noted as an example of the lack of attention the media gives to white victims of racist attacks compared to that given to ethnic minorities.

Aftermath
Parker's funeral took place at Peterborough Crematorium on 23 October 2001 with over 400 mourners attending.[24][25] As a result of the murder of Parker, local authorities set up a unity scheme, whereby gang members from different communities were trained as youth workers in order to ease racial tensions and reduce violence.[26] However, some problems still persisted, with racist graffiti painted near the murder scene two years after the incident reading "no go area for whites" and "death to whites".[27] Some, such as Mark Easton cite the Parker case as demonstrating how society has been forced to redefine racism and discard the erroneous definition of "prejudice plus power" a definition which had only allowed ethnic minorities to be victims.[28] Others such as AlibhaiBrown condemned the double standards of racial equality campaigners in relation to the case, suggesting black activists should "march and remember victims like Ross Parker", stating "our values are worthless unless all victims of these senseless deaths matter equally". She went on to write that "to treat some victims as more worthy of condemnation than others is unforgivable and a betrayal of anti-racism itself".[5][6]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kriss_Donald

Kriss Donald (2 July 1988 15 March 2004) was a Scottish fifteen-year-old white male who was kidnapped, tortured and murdered in Glasgow in 2004. Five Muslim men of Pakistani descent were later found guilty of racially-motivated violence; those convicted of murder were all sentenced to life imprisonment.[1][2]

Controversies surrounding the case

The BBC has been criticized by some viewers because the case featured on national news only three times and the first trial was later largely confined to regional Scottish bulletins including the verdict itself. Although admitting that the BBC had "got it wrong", the organisation's Head of Newsgathering, Fran Unsworth, largely rejected the suggestion that Donald's race played a part in the lack of reportage, instead claiming it was mostly a product of "Scottish blindness". In preference to reporting the verdict the organisation found the time for report the opening of a new arts centre in Gateshead it its running order.[11] The BBC again faced criticisms for its failure to cover the second trial in its main bulletins, waiting

until day 18 to mention the issue and Peter Horrocks of the BBC apologised for the organsaiton's failings.[12] However, Peter Fahy, spokesman of race issues for the Association of Chief Police Officers noted that the media as a whole tended to under report the racist murders of white people, noting "it was a fact that it was harder to get the media interested where murder victims were young white men".[13] The British National Party were accused by Scotland's First Minister and Labour Party MSP Jack McConnell among others of seeking to exploit the case for political advantage, and an open letter signed by some prominent individuals, including MSPs, trades unionists, and community leaders condemned the BNP's plans to stage a visit to Pollokshields. The group did hold a rally in the area, leading to accusations that it was fuelling racial tension and exploiting a death for political capital.[14] An article in The Scotsman newspaper alleged a lack of response by authorities to concerns of rising racial tensions and that Strathclyde Police had felt pressured to abandon Operation Gather, an investigation into Asian gangs in the area, for fear of offending ethnic minorities.[15] On 8 November 2006 Bashir Maan, a prominent Pakistani Glaswegian, also claimed on BBC television that police were well aware of the activities of Asian gangs in Glasgow but were reluctant to take action for fear of being accused of racism.[citation needed] In a January 2005 interview with a Scottish newspaper, he had previously claimed that fear and intimidation had allowed problems with Asian gangs in some parts of the city to go unchecked. The article also quoted a former senior Strathclyde police officer who criticised a culture of political correctness which had allowed gang crime to grow unfettered.[16] A BBC report suggests that another reason for inaction was lack of evidence, as locals were more prepared to make complaints than to give evidence in court. [6] Some commentators have argued the murder was somewhat mischaracterised in the media, as well as expressing a doubt that significant ethnic tensions exist in Pollokshields.[17] Glasgow band Glasvegas wrote the song "Flowers And Football Tops" about Donald's murder from the point of view of his father.

[edit] Legacy
One of the most notable impacts of the murder was to force some people to examine their views of racism and its victims. Commentators such as Mark Easton cite the racist murders of Donald and also Ross Parker as demonstrating how society has been forced to redefine racism and discard the erroneous definition of "prejudice plus power" a definition which only allowed ethnic minorities to be victims.[18] Yasmin Alibhai Brown also cited the Donald case when highlighting the lack of concern for white vicitms of racist murders the one sided approach to the issue. She drew comparisons with high profile ethnic minority vicitms, asking whether Donald's murderers were "less evil than those who killed Stephen Lawrence?". Alibhai Brown came to the conclusion that treating "some victims as more worthy of condemnation than others is unforgivable and a betrayal of anti-racism itself".[19]