I'm not racist.
My ex-girlfriend is Kenyan, my girlfriend before her was Indian/Portuguese, one of my friends is Iranian, one is Pakistani, I have an Indian friend, a Nigerian friend, Austrian friends, etc. Oh, and I constantly argue with my workmates about how the media portrays the Islamic religion, and that every sane person knows that the majority of Muslims are peaceful, loving people. I don't need to explain myself though really.
The comment was not racist.
I was leaning towards the fact that the pictures are strange, grainy headshots that look the type of thing you see on the tele and in the papers when Guantanamo bay is mentioned. The chap at the bottom especially.
If I say (and I regularly do) that Adam Gilchrist (and most of the rest of the Australian cricket team) looks like a criminal/convict, does that mean I'm being racist against caucasian people? I think not.
I understand now - having seen the reaction - that my comment could have been taken in the wrong way, but that was not my intention at the time of posting. I think it's a sad indication of the times in which we are living that a comment such as the one I made can be taken so wrongly, and can cause this sort of reaction.
If anybody wants to take this up with me personally, or feels that they need a personal apology, then please PM me.
