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With elections to the European Parliament only 18 months away, allowing racist and far-right 'European Way of Life' dog-whistles to become the norm will have dire consequences

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Six reasons why 'where are you really from?' is racist

It was nothing special, just a run-of-the mill encounter at a Brussels Bubble reception. As she introduced me to the EU representative of an international organisation, a friend mentioned that I was a European "expert" on EU stuff.

There was a quick exchange of name cards. The woman looked at my name and then at me. She was clearly puzzled for a bit, but then had a 'Eureka!' moment.

"Ah, I see you are from somewhere over there!" she said. "So is it Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, ma...

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The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Shada Islam is an independent EU analyst and commentator who runs her own strategy and advisory company New Horizons Project. She is also the editor of the EUobserver magazine.

With elections to the European Parliament only 18 months away, allowing racist and far-right 'European Way of Life' dog-whistles to become the norm will have dire consequences

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Author Bio

Shada Islam is an independent EU analyst and commentator who runs her own strategy and advisory company New Horizons Project. She is also the editor of the EUobserver magazine.

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