Yasmin Alibhai-Brown MBE (born Yasmin Damji on 10 December 1949) is a Ugandan-born journalist, based in London; she only hyphenated her surname after her second marriage in 1990. Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand Cross... December 10 is the 344th day (345th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and of the United Kingdom. ... A family name, or surname, is that part of a persons name that indicates to what family he or she belongs. ... This article is about the year. ...

Career

A victim of Idi Amin's expulsion of Ugandan Asians in 1972, Alibhai-Brown was educated at Oxford University completing her MPhil in literature in 1975. At first a journalist on the New Statesman magazine in the early 1980s, she now contributes a column to each Monday's Independent. She has also contributed to the New York Times, Newsweek and The Guardian. Idi Amin on a ten-shilling note Idi Amin (c. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Asian people. ... 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. ... Old book bindings at the Merton College library. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... The New Statesman is a left-of-centre political weekly published in London. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... The Newsweek logo Newsweek is a weekly news magazine published in New York City and distributed throughout the United States and internationally. ... The Guardian is a British newspaper owned by the Guardian Media Group. ...

Alibhai-Brown has also been a fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), a think tank associated with New Labour, although she has distanced herself from the Labour Party over the war in Iraq and other issues. She is a Fellow of the British-American Project. The Institute for Public Policy Research is a think tank in the United Kingdom, with close links to the ruling Labour Party. ... This article is about the institution. ... New Labour is an alternative name of the British political Labour Party. ... The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the main left-wing political party of the United Kingdom. ... Combatants Coalition Forces: United States United Kingdom South Korea Italy Poland Romania Australia Denmark others. ... The British American Project for the Successor Generation was founded in 1985 by Nick Butler to perpetuate the close relationship between the United States and Britain. ...

She was awarded a MBE in 2001, though she subsequently returned it at the end of 2003 [1] inspired by Benjamin Zephaniah's decision to reject his proposed honour. Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah is a British Rastafarian writer and dub poet, and is well known in contemporary English literature. ...

Criticism

Alibhai-Brown often refers to her experience as a member of an ethnic minority (though she dislikes that term) as well as being Muslim.

Alibhai-Brown is criticised from both sides. Some Muslims regard her as treacherous because she occassionally criticises the community, particularly for its often poor treatment of women and homosexuals. A handful of Muslim critics respond by saying she is not a Muslim at all, because she is Ismaili, a Shi'ite community [2] which some fundamentalist British muslims regard as heretical. The Ismāīlī (Arabic: الإسماعيليون; Persian: اسماعیلیان Esmailiyan) branch of Islam is the second largest Shīˤa community after the Twelvers (Ithnāˤashariyya), who are dominant in Iran. ...

When the Muslim Council of Britain called for the Holocaust Memorial Day to be replaced with the Genocide Memorial Day, she criticised the Council's refusal to "mourn victims of one of the deadliest mass exterminations in human history" [3]. The Council responded by accusing her of misrepresenting their position. It stated that the council "fully accepts and recognises the monstrous horror and cruelty that underpinned the Nazi holocaust". The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) is an organisation founded in 1997 to defend the rights of Muslims, improve relations between traditional Muslims and wider society and to promote cooperation, consensus and unity on Muslim affairs in the United Kingdom. ... Holocaust Memorial Day may refer to one of several commemorations of the Holocaust. ...

However Alibhai-Brown is fiercely defensive of Muslims who are being killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Occupied Territories, describing the actions of Western governments there as "monstrous war crimes".

Non-Muslims on the British right criticise Alibhai-Brown for what they see as political correctness. Michael Wharton once stated, :"At 3.6 degrees on the Alibhai-Brown scale, it sets off a shrill scream that will not stop until you've pulled yourself together with a well-chosen anti-racist slogan." [4] Alibhai-Brown argues that she is merely pointing out racism, and that far from being politically correct she authored one of the first major books, 'After Multiculturalism', to criticise the concept. She argued it had degenerated into a "mutual non-interference pact" between minority and majority communities when in fact there should be greater discussion and criticism between groups. Political correctness is the alteration of language to redress real or alleged injustices and discrimination or to avoid offense. ... Michael Bernard Wharton (born Michael Bernard Nathan) (April 19, 1913 – January 23, 2006) was a newspaper columnist writing under the pseudonym Peter Simple in the British Daily Telegraph since 1955, when he started writing the Way of the World column three times a week. ...

See also

• Prejudon

Michael Bernard Wharton (born Michael Bernard Nathan) (April 19, 1913 – January 23, 2006) was a newspaper columnist writing under the pseudonym Peter Simple in the British Daily Telegraph since 1955, when he started writing the Way of the World column three times a week. ...

Select bibliography

• Some of My Best Friends Are... (2004). London: Politico's. ISBN 1-84275-107-7
• Mixed Feelings: The Complex Lives of Mixed Race Britons (2001). London: Women's Press. ISBN 0-7043-4706-7
• Who Do We Think We Are? Imagining the New Britain (2000). London: Penguin. ISBN 0-14-025598-2
• After Multiculturalism (2000). London: Foreign Policy Centre. ISBN 0-9535598-8-2
• True Colours (1999). London: Institute for Public Policy Research. ISBN 1-86030-083-9
• Hate Thy Neighbour (1998). London: Mindfield. ISBN 0-948491-52-3
• No Place Like Home (1995). London: Virago. ISBN 1-85381-642-6
• The Colour of Love: Mixed Race Relationships (with Anne Montague) (1992). London: Virago. ISBN 1-85381-221-8
• Racism (with Colin Brown, 1992)

External links

• Yasmin's columns for The Independent

• BBC World Service discussion of multi-culturalism with Yasmin Alibhai Brown

• "Madam, I am doing my job. These are regular customers."