After the terrorist onslaught in America, social landlords must help to protect Asian tenants from revenge attacks by a 'discreditable minority'
In the week of the devastating and shocking news of the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September, a community event took place in Leicester marking the tenth anniversary of a successful partnership between Leicester Housing Association and five primary housing co-operatives in the city.

The demise of the secondary co-operative that originally supported these co-ops was one of my first regulatory crises as regional director of the Housing Corporation in those times.

It was good to see the tangible success of this partnership – in the increased tenant empowerment and participation, in the co-ops now having substantial reserves, and in the improvement of services, including a substantial reduction in arrears.

Yet we could not help but reflect on the tragic loss of life in New York and the shock waves that were being sent out.

It rightly deserved the outright condemnation that we have seen from all quarters of the world and from every section of this country. In those early days, the implications for our sector were not clear. Many were simply numbed by the graphic depictions of the tragedy as it unfolded, and fearful of its wider implications.

A few weeks on and things are beginning to look different – perhaps more worrying for us. People from 80 nations lost their lives. Yet, in this country, a small and discreditable minority has picked out the Muslim community for revenge attacks on its people, on their homes and on its mosques.

Long-time customers of a Muslim grocer have said they will no longer shop there; women wearing scarves have had racial abuse hurled at them.

But this reaction has not been confined to the Muslim community. A Hindu priest was forced to shave his beard after vilification by his English neighbours who equated it with being a Muslim – this after being neighbours of the temple for many years! Sikhs too have been attacked because Bin Laden wears a 'turban'.

It is therefore right that non-Muslims should – to borrow a phrase – stand shoulder to shoulder with their Muslim brothers and sisters.

Last week's attempts by prime minister Tony Blair and others to reassure the Muslim and Asian communities of Britain was welcome, as was corporation chair Brenda Dean's initiative in visiting the East London Mosque and addressing community leaders.

The RSL sector should take the lead from this. There are a number of practical things we should consider.

First, we need to be even more vigilant against harassment of our tenants – whether for racial or religious reasons – and seek to intervene quickly as landlords, or in partnership with the police and local authorities.

But we should not wait for such incidents to be reported. There is a role for tenants' associations, tenant activists and good neighbours in supporting and looking out for their Muslim and Asian neighbours at this difficult time.

RSLs engaged in community development and Housing Plus will have similar constituencies whose assistance and on-the-ground knowledge we should tap into sensitively to this end.

There is a danger of preaching to the converted about all this. The key challenge is that it is everyone's responsibility to manage diversity – both through protecting the vulnerable, and in ensuring they are valued in the long term.

This challenge becomes all the more urgent because of the events this summer in some of our northern cities.

Britain's circumstances are particularly complex, and we are now facing more difficult issues than before – about segregation, about safety, and about choice.

And these issues do connect housing with policies in education, employment, health and crime. Moreover, they will throw up questions about how the 'race' debate should now be conducted.

My instinct is that we will need a new discourse within which to tackle these issues and move forward with sensible solutions. But in order to deal with this complexity, the basics of what is called 'race and housing' or 'BME strategies' need to be in place already – the kind of things recommended in the recent race and housing challenge report and numerous other guidance and good practice.

On the upside, it really has been pleasing to observe the many expressions of support for Britain's Muslim and Asian communities. Let us hope that the tragic events of last month and last summer serve to reinvigorate the sector's commitment to building tolerant, just and safe neighbourhoods – and to do so more in partnership than ever before.