Excuse the typos I know there will be as I angrily scrawl these words after hearing this at a friend’s house on channel 7 news.
“The big debate in New York: should a mosque be built just two blocks from ground zero?”
SERIOUSLY? I don’t know, perhaps the real question we should be asking is, should we even allow those of Arab descent within 10 feet of ground zero?
What an UTTERLY ridiculous question. How is this even a debate? We should be ashamed that this made national news and that people from other countries now know that someone even raised this absurd “concern”.
No, you know what, our first step should be?...to evict all Arab, Arab-looking people or Arab-lovers (kind of like nigger-lovers but without the blatantly derogatory ethnic reference) from a 10 block radius of ground zero. THAT will make us feel better AND keep us safe because God only knows that those brown people from the Middle East are planning another attack.
Would you like to hear some direct quotes from town forum on this issue? I know you’ll enjoy them as much as I did:
Woman #1: “It’s humiliating that you would build a shrine to the very ideology that caused the attacks of 9/11.”
Man #2: “This is an insult to all those who died.”
Can someone please explain to me just how the dead are being insulted by a group of ordinary people, almost undoubtedly completely unrelated to the group of people who planned and executed the 9/11 attacks, building a place of worship in New York City?
This is an appalling display of ignorance, prejudice and perhaps racism. It’s so amusing to me that Americans consider themselves so progressive and open-minded and educated compared to most of the world. The existence of this argument exposes the myth and puts on a pedestal the fact that not all American’s are all that educated or open-minded. We’re so eager to protest human rights violations, tyrannical governments, sexism and racism elsewhere in the “less developed” world but our own quite, semi-concealed form of racism and prejudice is just as ugly, ignorant and hurtful.
WAKE UP!! Attributing general qualities to members of one race, religious group, sexual orientation etc is called stereotyping. The location of ground zero should have no bearing on the construction of a mosque. If that’s the way we’re thinking, we should forbid white people in southern states formerly part of the Confederacy from having housekeepers or other forms of domestic help because once other white people in that region had slaves and we know they probably have racist tendencies. I hope someone at that community forum slaps those people across the back of the head and fills them in on how all Arabs or Muslims do not subscribe to the ideology that caused the attacks and that saying such things is ignorant and embarrassing.
WHEW…glad I got that out…..all my hostility is released and I am happy again!
LOL...I understand where these people are coming from, though. With the media, the clear message is that Islam is the religion that was behind the attacks. AND, in many ways, we all stereotype people even when we're not trying. However, I also think that people need to understand that the terrorists were a minority within their religion...isn't this correct?
ReplyDeleteJust like it's not true to say that all Christians think dance with snakes and drink poison...that (as far as I know), is definitely a minority of the people who call themselves Christian.
BUT, for most people it is easier to stereotype.
If it is easier, cheaper, lazier to stereotype and if it can been accomplished at someone else's expense, well then, by all means... The people who are most outraged at the thought of a mosque being erected near the old Twin Towers site are probably attending a church which was built on top of an Indian burial ground.
ReplyDelete