Have we become so used to hearing stereotypical phrases when referring to our community that we begin believe them?

Fraud, drugs, sex crimes – stick the word ‘Asian’ into the mix and all of a sudden it becomes ‘our’ problem. The notion is that it is a problem the whole community should be dealing with because they are one homogeneous population.

By linking crimes with a race of people we have helped to perpetuate this myth.

Is it not time we took back ownership of terms rather than simply look to share the mainstream narrative?

Take for example the term ‘Asian drug dealers’. A common term banded about but one which is clearly racist.

In the seventies and eighties many of these criminally linked terms centred on the black community. The ‘Asian’ is the new ‘black’ for privately educated writers, academics and authority figures.

If you don’t believe me then simply try to find a race in modern day Britain which is referred to in a more negative way than ‘Asian’.

A TV documentary looked to highlight how the actions of drug dealers were being ignored by the community at large and parents were turning a blind eye.

In fact, it went further to state that Muslims would only sell to white addicts as they did not see this as haram in any way.

As well as culture, religion was teaching these communities to commit crimes.

‘Asian drug dealers’ were a law unto themselves.

It was an informative piece of television that investigated some real issues within the community. But what stood out was this idea that this was a hidden Asian problem that was so ingrained within the culture that even innocent people were party to this widespread abuse of addiction.

Yet, the shocking revelation was backed up by pretty dubious figures that suggested more people of an Asian background were dealing drugs.

This is simply another way of helping to perpetuate myths about Asians and in particular those of a Pakistani and Bangladeshi background.

That is not to say there are no drug dealers or no sex crime committed by those of an Asian background. But what we have is a situation where these racist terms are being freely used in comment pieces.

I say racist because you would not refer to anyone as a ‘Black’ drug dealer or a ‘Jewish’ fraudster on TV, in a national newspaper or any discussion. These are clearly terms that are wrong.

But the word 'Asian' can be linked to an array of crimes without a second thought. We, I am afraid to say, are the new underbelly of society.

Rather than being castigated in any way you can be applauded for your bravery in speaking out.

The fact is much of this is a white perspective of crime and linking these to race makes for easier reading and viewership.

When you link crime to race and culture you are helping to make yourself and morally superior. And this is exactly what has happened. You are also making it seem that this is a common problem that is more likely to be conducted by people only of those backgrounds.

One of the most frustrating things is that we ourselves wish to share these phrases because we feel we are in some way helping to highlight something that is taboo.

Or, and this I find equally disturbing at times, are cases when those of an Indian background try to differentiate themselves from a ‘Pakistani problem’. Pakistanis in turn then use derogatory terms to refer to Bangladeshis and Indians.

The circle continues and each of us wants to separate ourselves from others in the hope we will become more acceptable to the mainstream narrative.

If we don’t call out these things then we are simply sharing what is and still remains a white middle-class perspective of what our community is.