Filed under: News, Race and Civil Rights
Normally it would be peculiar to watch a battle being waged over the construction of an Islamic mosque near the World Trade Center, which collapsed after a terrorist attack in 2001.
Ever since the attack, though, the World Trade area is considered hallowed ground and a contentious battle has arisen over whether a Muslim edifice should be built or not.
There are those who are ugly enough to say that Muslims -- just because they are Muslims -- should have no right to place a house of worship near the Manhattan space, because its proximity is a reminder of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism.
Those people are wrong, misguided and are being misled by racists.
But the fact that this is happening is actually a chance to peer in to the bigotry that is being waged against Muslims all across the country as they simply try to practice their religion.
Take a look at this New York Times article, and you can get a good example of the not-in-my-backyard attitude springing up across the country in several places where Muslims are simply trying to practice their faith. In some towns, people, including "Christian" ministers, are holding protests against Muslims erecting mosques. In others, they are flat-out vocalizing their disdain for the religion of Islam.
One woman has even voiced her paranoid fear of being taken over by Sharia law, because Muslims may become part of Congress or the Supreme Court.
Seriously.
Now from what I remember, most Americans couldn't even define what Islam was, nor could they tell you anything about the Koran, what an Imam is or the difference between a Sunni or a Shiite. Back in the day, the most well-known Muslim in America was Muhammad Ali.
But after 9/11, anybody who was of Middle Eastern descent, practiced Islam or had an Arabic-sounding name was an imminent danger to the republic.
It's all hogwash and it comes from the same spirit as the anti-immigrant fervor in this country, which also has a history.
Just prior to the Civil War, Americans were heated about European immigrants coming over to make their way in this country. In fact, there was a major New York City riot over it in 1863. In 1915, the Ku Klux Klan was restarted in Stone Mountain, Ga. as a reaction to black workers actually earning enough to feed their families and wanting equality. In 1970s Boston, people were turning over cars, because they couldn't stand for black kids to be bussed to schools in white neighborhoods.
The problem really is mainstream America and its consistent reluctance to change. Even in the 21st century, Americans are gripped with the ridiculous fear that Mexicans are going to ruin the southwest (here's a clue: the Mexicans were already there. It's everyone else who is interloping) or that Muslims are going to plant their insidious minions all through the country and blow it in to outer space (another clue: the vast majority of Islamofascist terrorism in the world harms far more Muslims than anyone else. Second clue: terrorists, Muslim and otherwise, attempt violence all the time in this country, but they are routinely stopped by an astute law enforcement and intelligence community before they can start).
The only reason 9/11 actually happened was because of an administration that had been warned about the possibility of such an attack, but ignored it anyway. That's like standing there while a dog raises his leg on your pants, but you refuse to get out of the way.
So after all that, now America is forgetting that everyone is supposed to have the right to practice their faith here and instead embracing paranoia.
But honestly, people...what school did fear ever build?
What child did xenophobia ever protect?
What mouth was ever fed by people whose intentions were to hurt other Americans?
If you can't answer that question, then it's a good idea to change your position.