Complaint to the Times About Article Titled ‘Choosing who to welcome here is not racist.’

The following complaint letter was sent to the Times about an article published on 29th May, titled ‘Choosing who to welcome here is not racist.’, which promotes racist narratives about refugees. Since writing our complaint the article has been retitled ‘ Claims That Irish Policy Towards Refugees Is Racist Are Mistaken’.

We, at the Media Diversity Institute (MDI), are writing to express our concerns regarding an article published on your website on 29 May 2022, titled: ‘Choosing who to welcome here is not racist.’   

In this opinion piece, the writer, David Quinn, is using classist and racist narratives on culture affinity to justify the perpetuation of structural racism and anti-migrant rhetoric, while using the war in Ukraine as a context.   

As we have constantly seen in the headlines of mainstream media, negative connotations continue to be attached to the representation of migrants fleeing wars which are paired with prejudicial terms such as “swamping,” “surge,” “welfare scroungers,” “benefit tourists.” The recent Russian invasion of Ukraine also exposed double standards when it comes to welcoming refugees, including clumsy justification for the relative treatment given to the refugees.  

Although David Quinn is carefully denying that race is a factor, every example he presents is a proof to the opposite. We consider that drawing comparisons between different cultures problematic and appalling.  These comparisons are in fact, comparisons between races and ethnicities similar to the problematic criteria that are used by the UK’s Foreign Office towards asylum seekers.  

To debunk one by one the serious misrepresentations included in this piece would make this letter too extensive. One, among many, is the fallacious argument claiming that a smaller interest towards a shooting in Mexico compared to a shooting in Texas is due to “America, with its language and culture, [being] far more familiar to us.” This is an example of colourblind racism, as Quinn fails to see the racial disparities, inequities and history of violence resulting in today’s structural racism.    

We would ask The Sunday Times to give more attention to the views expressed in its opinion pieces. Perpetuating racist and discriminatory sentiments with inflammatory rhetoric increases readership but has consequences on the safety of asylum seekers.  

MDI works internationally to encourage inclusive and sensitive media coverage and to promote diversity. We have been at the frontline of the fight against discrimination in new and traditional media.  We also lead  Get the Trolls Out!, a European project that aims to counter discrimination within the media. Part of this project includes monitoring the media in several European countries for anti-religious hate speech. We are pro-monitoring and pro-accountability and will call out only hateful and inflammatory reporting.  

We look forward to hearing from you.   

Yours Sincerely, 

Get The Trolls Out Team  

Media Diversity Institute