You can’t preach integration and practice segregation – A point of view

Abdulai Mansaray

Sierra Leone Telegraph: 2 September 2016

Burkini 2






But will the banning of a swim-wear help improve community relations and security?































Since the court ruling, ban on the women’s full-body swimsuits has so far been lifted in Villeneuve-Loubet, Cannes, Frejus and Roquebrune.




You cannot preach integration and practice segregation at the same time. The natural evolution of society is integration; and it should neither be political, nor theoretical.



Author: Abdulai Mansaray


  1. The West was not built on the foundation of human rights (slavery, colonialism, genocide of the Native American race is not human rights). The West was built upon the foundation of exploitation and institutions. Exploitation of resources and people is what made the west wealthy.

    Institutions of educations, institutions of medicine and state institutions like the judiciary, parliament is what made the west to develop and to transform the wealth they acquire from other people using brutal tactics.
    Human rights was a movement that arose within the global community to prevent the Jewish Holocaust from happening.

    There is nothing wrong with human rights but my belief is that nations like Saudi Arabia have every right to create the laws and the institutions that are compatible with their beliefs and culture. Nations like the French also have the right to dictate what is acceptable to their culture.

    Most of the Muslims in France were not brought their by force. they came their on their own volition. For them to enforce their own values on another community or nation is going to be strongly resisted. and knowing the French if it means going to war to die for their rights to shape their own laws and cultures they will.

    If that culture is so disgusting to other people those people have a right to go to their houses pack their things and leave.

    • You still don’t get it AY. My advice again is this: Read my article 6 times and we can talk. Otherwise, I am getting off this train at the next stop. Ciao.

  2. Until Saudi Arabia stops beheading an average of 150 people per year and allow French women to walk in Riyadh in bikinis half naked, the global Islamic community does not have the right to tell the French what they should and should not ban.

    In Saudi women are not even allowed to drive and nobody is calling them Chriatianophobes. In the past ten years hundreds of thousands of Christians have been killed for their faith by adherents of Islam, and not once have I heard the term Christianophobe. I am not sure the term even exists.

    • So AY, are you asking that the West, and France do the same like Saudi Arabia? If a dog bites you, do you bite the dog back?

      This article was not aimed about comparing religions. The thrust of the article was to say that, the west should not undo it’s own culture to address this problem of radicalism.

      If we are to engage in comparative analysis, we had the period of crusades, and the less said about that, the better.

      Just a gentle reminder: If the west undo what it actually stands for by riding roughshod over all the freedoms that mark it out as democracies, what will be the difference? By implication, this will be self denial and who will be the winners?

  3. The writer of this article fails to understand the real battle going on in France and the rest of the world. France recently has been a victim of devastating attacks by terrorists especially those who claim alliance to the Islamic State.

    This holy war being waged against western Europe is one were certain followers of Islam are deliberately trying to spread the influence of the religion in other parts of the world. Islam – a religion were it’s holy books call for the complete destruction of Al Fitna (unbelievers) is the fastest growing religion and it is currently fighting to dominate Europe, culturally.

    From a small religion practiced by a few men in Mecca, saudi Arabia, the method of violence and coercion has seen the religion rise to become one were it is followed by over a billion adherents. Jihad has been crucial to this fight.

    Should France and the rest of Europe in the name of human rights, allow their societies to become dominated by this religion? Are French values really compatible to Islamic values? These so called immigrants were not forced to enter France and if the culture of France is reprehensible to their religion then they are free to leave.

    Just like French women are not going to Saudi Arabia to uncover their nakedness in the name of human rights, people from other regions in the world should enter France to accept their laws and culture and not attempt to immigrate their laws and culture from other parts of the world.

    The french have every right to maintain their customs, values and culture; and if you do not like how they operate you can just leave. Arab expansionism has been so effective that it is difficult to hear about the ancient people of the east such as Phoenicians (Lebanese), Hittites (Turkey), Babylonians (Iraq), Assyrians (Iran) and much more.

    Every human being in the middle east apart from Jews and a few Christian has morphed into the Arab identity. Because this identity tied to Islam calls for the destruction of other religions, ideas, and cultures. Europeans unlike we are well versed in history and will ensure that this does not ever happen on their soil.

    • I would advise AY to read the article again and perhaps get the thrust of it. Like I said in the article, the “BURKINI” is confluence of cultures. in case, you forget, cultures have evolved through integration not segregation.

      Jews and Arabs may look different but they all share a love for long robes and beards. They all place their heads on a wall or floor to pray. They all turn to the East ( rising sun) to pray. Just a few examples. Taking the opinion of a few people for the majority is misleading. Not all Muslims are terrorists. Not all white people are “supremacists or racists”.

      In an ever evolving world, there is bound to be flash points and cultural gymnastics. We need to avoid the dangers of extremism. We can do so by acknowledging our differences, but at the same time promote the things that hold us together and not such differences.

      It is about embracing the finer points of cultural evolutions. If a cat sat on a pillar, it doesn’t make it a caterpillar. Once again, the article was not about differences. It was about what can be done to enhance cultural co-habitation.

      Remember that freedom and human rights form the foundation of western democracies. So are you going to dismantle that, because the extremist view is different. By doing so, are you not technically doing their bidding? When we stand together, be you Muslim, Jew, gay, atheist, or otherwise, we can can beat extremism in all its forms.

      But if we allow the extremist views to throw a wedge among us, there will only be losers and not winners. But again, please re-read the article and take away whatever emotions that may be lurking in the background. Just an open mind; you may find out that we are singing from the same hymn sheet.

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