Public Speech Has Real Consequences
- Kashif Ahmed, Special to the StarPhoenix
The recent United States presidential race was a further example of what can occur when bigotry is not challenged. Since 9/11, years of Islamophobic rhetoric adopted by certain extreme American political elements led to "Muslim" or "Arab" becoming smear terms in the campaign. So much so, that in a response to a supporter’s false claim about now president-elect Barack Obama, Republican contender John McCain denied that Obama was an Arab or Muslim, and then said the Democrat was a "decent family man," as if Muslims or Arabs could not possibly be decent family men.
American Muslims watched with shock as their identity was denigrated and reduced to a political slur. The smearing was finally challenged when Republican and former secretary of state Colin Powell denounced the campaign’s bigotry on NBC’s Meet The Press. Read all ...
[American citizens watched in shock and horror as the World Trade Center - without warning or justification - was attacked and reduced to a scrap yard of melted, bent and twisted steel containing the lives of thousands of innocent people. A heinious act perpetuated by Islamic Arab Muslims. Now, what consequences are being threatened?
Islamophobia? You betcha!
Again, the blame or fault of racism, discrimination or hatred is shifted to the other peoples as noted by the article above. It is the Muslims that have denigrated their identify (and trust) in the eyes of many Americans.]
"Militant Islam is present in the United States and has even acquired a certain power. The loudest voices of those claiming to speak for the American Muslim community are almost invariably the militant Islamic ones." - Dr. Daniel PipesSee also ... Targeting America
Should Muslims Raise Their Voices
Books About Islam | The Islamization of America
DvD: Islam; What the West Needs to Know
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