Racism matters…unless the victim is white.

The tragic death of Henry Nowak has become a test of whether Western societies truly believe in equality.

Short on time? Here is a 5 dot point summary of my thoughts.

• The muted reaction to Henry Nowak’s murder exposes a double standard in how racial incidents are treated when the victim is white.

• Were the police too quick to believe allegations against Henry because they assumed the white person was the likely offender.

• I contrast the global response to George Floyd’s death with the comparatively limited attention given to Henry Nowak’s case.

• Has DEI ideology contributed to a culture in which concerns affecting white men are increasingly dismissed or ignored?

• True equality requires opposing racism consistently, regardless of the race of either the victim or the perpetrator.

What’s a white life worth? Not much if you judge by the muted reaction to the stabbing murder of teenager Henry Nowak in the United Kingdom.

For years politicians, activists, corporations and media organisations have insisted that racism must be confronted wherever it appears.

Yet the reaction to the horrific death of this 18 year old has demonstrated in the starkest terms that racism against white people is considered a lesser form of discrimination.

Henry was stabbed with a 21 centimetre ceremonial sword wielded by an Indian Sikh man who then phoned police claiming the teenager had “racially attacked” him.

Henry lay drowning in his own blood, handcuffed and denied treatment by police who were only too ready to believe that the white person must have been the offender.

“I’ve been stabbed,” the teenager garbled to police as he lay handcuffed in the dirt, blood filling his lungs.

A police officer replied: “I don’t think you have mate.”

Three minutes passed before police finally paid enough attention to realise, too late to save his life, that Henry Nowak had indeed been stabbed.

The killer had already disposed of the murder weapon with the assistance of his mother, who removed it from the scene, and played the race card.

“I’ve been racially attacked by a white guy.” The killer said.

Police, long conditioned to believe that racism can only flow in one direction and that white people are inherently suspect were only too willing to believe the lie.

And now Henry Nowak is dead.

You would think the case would cause outrage.

Across the Atlantic, when George Floyd died in police custody, there were riots in the streets. Not just in American streets. There were protests and demonstrations across the Western world, entire city blocks burned.

Even UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer took a knee for George Floyd. Yet Starmer only commented on Henry Nowak’s murder after media outlets, Elon Musk and people like me began highlighting not just his silence but the legacy media and the Left.

The Prime Minister eventually released a statement expressing his condolences and concern. He said “…we must end the cycle of tragedy by tackling the horror of knife crime…”

Let’s conduct a thought experiment.

Imagine the roles were reversed.

Imagine Henry Nowak was an immigrant. Perhaps a young Pakistani man.

Imagine the outrage.

Imagine the headlines.

Imagine the speeches from political leaders.

Imagine how London would be burning right now.

The British Prime Minister would have addressed the nation and promised to do everything in his power to eradicate racism and bigotry.

But Henry Nowak was not black, he was not brown, he was white and white doesn’t count, or at least it doesn’t count as much.

I am not arguing that George Floyd received too much attention, that is a separate debate. My criticism is that Henry Nowak appears to have received too little.

If political leaders were willing to kneel for George Floyd why is there no comparable national reflection for a white teenager murdered in circumstances that raise serious questions about racial hostility?

In much of the Western world white men have become society’s acceptable target.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs were originally sold as a means of ensuring equal opportunity.

But increasingly these initiatives strip men (especially white men) of their individuality and reduce them to representatives of a supposedly privileged class whose concerns can be safely ignored.

Institutions that boast about opposing discrimination now seem remarkably selective when deciding which forms of discrimination deserve attention.

And perhaps the greatest irony of all is that many of these Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs are championed by white women who increasingly view white men not as individuals, but as members of a privileged class whose concerns can be safely dismissed.

A black man is murdered? Outrage. It’s racism.

And even if the killer was black, someone, somewhere, will insist that systemic racism was the real culprit.

But if a white man is murdered? Meh. Move along. Nothing to see here.

That is why the Henry Nowak case resonates far beyond a single tragic murder.

For many people it represents a test of whether Western societies genuinely believe in equal treatment or merely equal treatment for some groups.

People are tired of being told that racism is a national emergency one day and an inconvenient topic the next.

If racism is wrong, then it is wrong regardless of who commits it and regardless of who suffers from it.

That principle should not change according to the identity of the victim.

All I want is equality. No matter the colour of your skin.

Is that asking too much?

Senator Ralph Babet, Senator for Victoria, United Australia Party.