Wal-Mart of Mass Destruction
So, half a dozen middle eastern men walk into a Wal-Mart. It sounds like the beginning of a joke doesn’t it? I wish it was, rather than the start of a story of petrified patriots with hair-trigger panic buttons. These days, it’s not the terrorists that worry me. It’s the terrified. But maybe that’s because I’m a brown-skinned male whose actions may be taken as suspicious by someone on perpetual heightened alert. Oh yeah, and I typically carry a large backpack, and wear a large black coat on cold days.
Witness, this post at Crooks & Liars. It relates the story of a Wal-Mart Clerk who panicked and called the authorities when six swarthy men tried to buy a whole lot of disposable cellphones. Police report possible terrorist connections. Michelle Malkin picks it up, whips up her followers, and is joined by a bunch of other conservative bloggers start calling treason at the New York Times for revealing Bush’s wiretapping scheme.
Except that it turns out there were no terrorist ties. Malkin has yet to post anything to that effect since her initial post on the subject. So, as with Fox News viewers, those who read little else in the blogosphere besides Malkin and her right wing blogger buds are probably still jumpy every time they see a dark skinned person talking on a cell phone.
Maybe I shouldn’t be worried. After all, it’s not like anyone was killed in Midland. But like I said, given my tendency to ride the subway wearing a big coat, and carrying a backpack, I’d just better hope there’s never a terrorist attack on the D.C. Metro, and that D.C. police aren’t a jumpy as London police in the aftermath. Because If the above gets me shot and killed as it did Jean Charles Menezes in London, Malkin and others might call it a tragedy, but it won’t bother them much. They might even be kinda glad it happened.
Confronted with a furtive individual who reportedly refused to obey orders, dressed suspiciously, and fled over a turnstile towards the subway train, London authorities made a fateful split-second decision in a moment of great danger. I have a feeling that no one who works in law enforcement–here or around the world–will blame the police for the actions they took, and I doubt the majority of Britons will either.
Another gem from you-know-who. Maybe I should reconsider listening to the iPod on the subway, if it makes me less likely to hear the police and keep going if ordered to stop. Us swarthy guys have to be careful, ya know.
Meanwhile, the folks at C&L wrap it up pretty well.
George Bush and his followers have whipped up this paranoia and hysteria quite deliberately. And as his popularity ratings decline and the 2006 elections approach, the Administration, like a drug addict needing greater and greater doses to satisfy the urge, will ramp up this fear-mongering more and more. We are by no means at the peak of this syndrome, but only half way or so up the mountain.
Like I said before, the people I’m most afraid of are the people who are most afraid.
January 14th, 2006 at 8:38 pm
The problem is that a few bad Muslims ruin it for all he rest. And the rest need to speak up and publicly say they do not follow hte ideologies of the extremists. That is part of the problem. America only sees and hears the extremists, they do not hear from the moderate Muslims. Maybe that is part of the problem and they need to speak out so their position is not unfairly stereo-typed.
Raymond B
www.voteswagon.com
January 14th, 2006 at 10:38 pm
frankly Raymond, that’s pretty much bull. Several large American Muslim associations and groups condemned the attacks in as strong words as possible, even more so than most American groups. Muslim leaders from all over the world condemned the attacks and terrorism in general. They all continue to ’speak out’ constantly and in unqualified terms.
I don’t think my Muslim Palestinian sister-in-law deserves the regular harrassment she gets (and she lives in the SF bay area!) just because the media AND THE PEOPLE WHO WATCH IT, refuse to listen to the majority of American muslims and decide instead to report and listen to sensational news that confirms their deepest prejudices.
The problem isn’t not speaking out (how the hell much do they need to shout it out?), its bigotry. period.
January 15th, 2006 at 8:12 pm
Quite frankly Islam has a worldwide image problem. Every hotspot in the world today has Muslims battling against someone. This news filters into the consciousness of people and they internalize it. Fairly or unfairly, I think that’s what’s happening. It certainly doesn’t help when fellow American citizens of Muslim faith rejoice in the streets of Patterson and Jersey City as the towers are hit. Having spokesmen come on TV and condemn Islamic terror doesn’t wipe the deluge of images away.
Immediately after the attacks I remember thinking that there was going to be a Muslim surge in applications to the Armed Forces, the CIA, and the FBI because Muslims, just like the other minorities before them, would feel the need to prove their patriotism at a time when Islam is the face of the external enemy in the US. That they would want to be at the forefront of infiltrating terror cells and rooting out the cancer of terrorism that besmirches their faith. Frankly I was surprised by the inaction on that front. It certainly worked for the Germans, Italians, Japanese - in that their show of patriotism and their sacrifices turned public perceptions around.
Sure, it’s unfair, and you can stand on principle that American Muslims don’t need to prove their loyalty anymore than people of other ethnicity or religion and your principle is well taken and valid. I’m not going to argue against it. However, people are also entitled to their assessments and you can’t make people believe that American Muslims are as loyal as other American citizens simply by fiat, especially when you didn’t see Japanese Americans dancing in the streets to celebrate the 9/11 attacks.
So, it’s kind of an impasse, isn’t it? Muslims are not second class citizens who have to go out of their way to proclaim that they are loyal Americans and would stand shoulder to shoulder with their fellow Americans, if called, to protect the nation. It’s unfair that people, or bigots, have this doubt about Muslim citizens, and you’re right it’s unfair. However, that’s the reality. So what’s to be done about it? How will the reality be changed? Having spokepeople condemn terrorism doesn’t seem to be working too well because the public is perceiving the condemnations as being simply empty platitudes. Suing people for discriminatory action is certainly not going to be a winning strategy, even if the cases are won. If the fight is to be won, it’ll likely have to be fought on the ground, by everyday Muslim citizens in their beliefs towards their country, their statements, etc so that public perception changes and recognizes that American Muslims are the "us" and not the "them" that are committing atrocities around the world. Where Mosques, rather than being under surveillance by authorities, are recognized for rooting out the first inklings of terror and turning those people over to authorities. I suppose the underlying principle to the analysis is one of assimilation versus multiculturalism. WIth assimilation the otherness is lost, with multiculturalism the otherness is enhanced and when people are scared, cautious or suspicious, the universal inclination is to suspect the "other."
One can argue that the problem is bigotry. OK, so it is. What’s to be done about it? Tell the bigots that they have to change, educate them so that they avoid what they think is rational behavior based on worldwide reports of Muslim terror and war, so that the innocent American Muslim victims don’t have to suffer from the actions or preceptions of the bigots. Frankly, I don’t think that’s going to happen. The change will have to be led by American Muslims themselves as they slowly change people’s perceptions.
You’ve got principle and civil rights on your side but not public trust or public perceptions. Do you stand on principle or do you want to eliminate the bigotry? Sadly, I think that the two are mutually exclusive.
January 16th, 2006 at 2:16 am
and yet for all that you haven’t given American Muslims the solution _they_ are supposed to implement to stop _the bigots_ hatred and willingness to believe the worse because of preconceived notions.
That we as a nation fear ‘muslims’ but seem to have never feared ‘white Christian men’ after Oklahoma City is quite telling. Our fear is based on pre-conceived notions and not on reality, truth or anything that the ‘group’ that is hated can really do.
WIth assimilation
Exactly what would you be calling for here? conversion to Christianity? renouncing Islam? becoming white? My Palestian sister-in-law speaks perfect english, loves the US, loves football and apple pie, still she is harrassed because she looks ‘middle eastern’ and wears a scarf. what do you expect her and the millions of other muslims to do to ‘assimilate’?
(and the ‘dancing in the streets’ in NJ was soundly refuted by the ADL of all organizations and is a rumor perpetuated by the likes of ‘little green football’ and other extreme right sites)
January 16th, 2006 at 3:31 am
Trey,
I can agree with you that the situation sucks. I can agree with you that it’s unfair. Now what? "Hey, everybody out there who is suspicious of Muslims - change your opinion now, or else." What I see is an impasse because people’s minds aren’t going to be changed like that. So what needs to be done?
<i> ‘muslims’ but seem to have never feared ‘white Christian men’ after Oklahoma City is quite telling.</i>
I’m of neither demographic so, as the saying goes, I have no dog in this hunt. I think that if Oklahoma bombings were a far more frequent occurance then "white christian males" would become the target of suspicion. Can you name more than 3 hotspots in the world right now that don’t have Muslims on one side or the other of the fighting? Other than Iraq and Chechnya (orthodox) where else are white christian males fighting? How about committing terrorism? Your example is valid only in the binary sense, but when you add an axis of degree to the analysis, the OK bombing situation doesn’t really compare. It’s like saying people should be scared of liberals because of the terror committed by the Weather Underground or the SLA, or they should be afraid of environmentalist because of the ELF nuts buring down houses, car dealerships, and spiking trees. These acts of terror are too infrequent to change the heavy inertia of public perceptions. Now think about this for a moment, back in the 50s-60s, when Europe was inviting muslims in as guest workers, there was little of the fear and suspicion we now attach to them. What happened? Did everyone all of a sudden get more racist and bigoted, or was there a reason for people to become more suspicious? It takes quite a bit of message reinforcement for the large mass of the public to start changing their perceptions - I mean just look how long President Bush had high popularity because too many people weren’t getting the message of incompetence that prominently swirled around him. Not enough message reinforcement.. However, there is a kind of bright light in the situation. The Muslim terror inflicted upon America was committed by foreign muslims, not American ones. If the public can be moved to discerning the difference between American Muslims and foreign Muslims, then that may lead to less suspicion. What do you think?
<i>Exactly what would you be calling for here? conversion to Christianity? renouncing Islam? becoming white?</i>
Becoming white in skin coloration or becoming white as in taking on the mannerisms of white culture? The former takes a couple of generations of breeding, so that’s of no help, while the latter certainly does increase the bonds of familiarity and lessens the foreignness of people. This reaction to favoring the familiar, especially when feeling threatened, is hardwired into people Note though, I’m not talking about enjoying the unfamiliar as when you’re travelling and broadening your horizons and feeding that hunger for knowledge.
Becoming christian is an extreme tactic but similar things have been done in the past. Jews became christians. A similar tactic was Eastern European immigrants changed their names to more Anglican versions so that their kids fit into the dominant society more easily. Many immigrants decided to become "American" , whatever that was,.and stopped speaking their native language at home, stopped the native traditions, etc. Whether that’s good or bad, it certainly sped them along the route to being in the "us" category, certainly their children, and away from the "them." Those days are gone, and those practices are now unfashionable for what people are giving up is quite a lot. In fact, some of my ancestors did precisely that and thought it was the best thing that they ever did for their kids, grandkids, etc but they also said it was a very hard thing for them to do and to maintain. That however was in a different time.
The biggest thing that Muslims could do is reform Islam, at the very least, the American version of it. Christianity went theough its reformation but Islam missed the chance. When my American born Muslim friend is severely threatened for becoming an athiest by other American born Muslims then there is something in the faith that needs reformation. He moved to get away from his community and doesn’t really know how serious the threat was but didn’t really want to find out. It’s a positive that the Muslims in the US have assimilated to a far larger extent that those in Europe. We don’t have the degree of ghettoization, cousin marriages are far far fewer here and the friction between US Muslim community and others is far less than it is in Europe. Is that a consolation? Probably not, but it’s worth noting because by examing the differences between US and European Muslims we can get a bearing on the right direction to follow to further lessen the tension. The glaring difference between the US and EU situations can be found in degree of assimilation, which is why I pointed to it earlier - the more assimilation the less tension because "they" become "us" and are no longer feared as the "them."
January 18th, 2006 at 10:10 pm
Wow! You ALL should write for a National syndicated newspaper. Your thoughts are clear, consise and intelligiently expressed! I ended up here after clicking on Ooga Chakka and experiencing quick wit and lighthearted banter, and was entertained. Then I check out another topic and my brain actually squeaked when engaging new gears! Wow, hope you all don’t mind if I peek in on you from time to time! I hope you are all in places that influence society…we need more honest reality.
January 21st, 2006 at 3:52 am
As long as there are Terror Summits as the one between Syria and Iran with calls to destory the USA, then yes, many Americans will view those of middle eastern ancestry with suspicion and apprehension. Mainly because it only takes ONE dedicated jihadist to cause mass destruction. DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR MIDDLE EASTERN more to the point muslim FRIENDS AND FAMILY BELIEVE? After seeing them dancing in the streets and going to their web sites I KNOW there is more than one among us whose main purpose is to cause as much pain and confusion as possible to anyone who does not believe as they do.