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USA Are Hate Crimes Against Muslims On The Rise In The US?

Mai Harinder Kaur

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In the same spirit as the article. what is wrong with this picture?


Are Hate Crimes Against Muslims on the Rise in America?

by SodaHead News Posted 3 days ago


A stabbing of a Muslim cab driver and the desecration of a mosque, among other incidents, have the usual politically correct pundits screaming that hate against Muslims is wildly out of control.

But the only thing these incidents have in common? Drunk and deranged people are sometimes stupid, mean and violent.

In the first incident, a drunk passenger asked his cab driver if he was Muslim. When the driver said yes, the passenger stabbed him. In the second one, a man who police said had been drinking for five days, walked into a Mosque and urinated on prayer rugs.

The controversy over the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque," which is neither, and the ridiculous Quran-book burning party in Florida have certainly put the media on alert, scrounging for any way to sensationalize ignorance. Time magazine even had the title "Is America Islamophobic?" on its cover.

And the answer:

"Although the American strain of Islamophobia lacks some of the traditional elements of religious persecution — there's no sign that violence against Muslims is on the rise, for instance — there's plenty of anecdotal evidence that hate speech against Muslims and Islam is growing both more widespread and more heated."

In other words, no evidence. In fact, according to FBI Crime statistics, hate crime incidents against Muslims, which was at an all-time-high right after the Sept. 11 attacks, at nearly 500, dropped to 105 in 2008, the latest year data was released.



The year hasn't ended and certainly the subtle hostility against Muslims could escalate to overt attacks. But today, the evidence doesn't support it. What do you think?


http://www.sodahead.com/united-stat...173247/?uuid=981d70fdce9c4a28bd971c99f1b8eabd
 

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spnadmin

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I guess I will answer this one. The article posted and the text insert in the image are about Muslims. Hate crimes are bad enough. Fortunately there is a hate crime law in the state of Washington, US.

BUT........ and it is a surprise that the media can't police itself. Why am I still surprised?

THE PICTURE SHOWS A SIKH looking at a sign that says "IT'S NOT YOUR COUNTRY" alongside an article about Muslims.

If the general public is for the most part uninformed about Sikhs, and a growing percentage hates Muslims, and moreover the general public thinks anyone in a turban is a Muslim, and a newspaper puts a Sikh in a turban side by side with an article about Muslims, what do we get? A recipe for continued ignorance. So why be suprized by bigotry.

My question. Has anyone pointed out to the editor that the purpose of a free press is to educate not befuddle the public. That is their moral duty. Which increasingly they have not been able to uphold.

So I guess it is another letter to the editor for me.

Added later as a comment on the Soda Head blog

Has anyone noticed that the picture that accompanies this article shows a sign that says "This is not your country" -- and the person looking at the sign is not a Muslim? That man is a Sikh. Hate crimes against any group are bad enough. Should I also assume that ignorance is being piled on top of hatred? Sikhs are not Muslims.. The American public for the most part does not know who Sikhs are, and thinks that anyone in a turban is a Muslim. Ignorance positions itself on a regular basis to promote hatred, and often doesn't care about its target. I would like to know where the picture originated. Then I can teach the org that published it. Maybe I can help the press uphold its sacred trust to educate rather than befuddle. Perhaps that would cool things down a bit.

Narayanjot Kaur


But am still wondering about the original source of that picture. Where did it come from.
 

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Here is an interesting entry on a different blog (TPM Editors' blog):

AWS (Americaning While Sikh)
Josh Marshall | August 31, 2010, 3:25PM


It's not enough that we have American Muslims facing a new wave of Islamophobia on the American right, hyped up to greater extent by the coming November election. But it appears the we now have another case of a Sikh who's fallen victim to backwoods American cultural illiteracy.
We're looking into the case David just mentioned where a man was accused of punching a man wearing a turban in a Seattle area convenience store and yelling "You're not even American, you're al-Qaida. Go back to your country."

The only problem is that Muslims don't wear turbans that often. But Sikhs do. We're trying to find out more about the victim's identity. Needless to say, one should be able to choose the headgear of your choice.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/08/aws_americaning_while_sikh.php
 
Sep 27, 2008
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I just dont quiet understand why the man shown in the picture is sikh yet the whole issue is about Anti Islam. I dont mean that they should show a muslim either but it just sounds stupid and has certainly wound certain groups of people. My opinion is a stupid racist fool will not care if its a Sikh, Muslim, Hindhu, Buddhist, Mexican or black, its just a excuse to lash out for there own failures. I personaly got assaulted by a so called racist about 3 years ago. He was eating his food in a liquid form for a good few months lol. Sorry for my little rant. Edit; Sorry its mainy drunken idiots whom say and do things they would never dream of when sober.
 

spnadmin

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ugsbay ji

I wish I had been there to stop that person from harming you every which way. These stories upset me.

We have posted a number of articles here about the lack of cultural knowledge in the US. I am not exaggerating when I say that a vast percentage of the population does not know what a Sikh is -- that included college educated people. Of the small number who do, they have a very distorted understanding of Sikhi. That includes people even with doctorates. Many who see a turban and a beard instantly think they see a Muslim. And none of that excuses hate speech or hate crimes -- which is on the rise.
 
Sep 27, 2008
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ThankYou Narayanjot Ji, i must say he is a very good friend of mine now after that encounter. It happened inside a store that was owned by a Indian family, him and his friends were giving the guy behind the counter a hard time, i happened to walk in and they started on me. One punched me on the back of my head calling me racist names at the same time, i turned around and punched him so hard i broke his jaw and knocked him clean out. His two loyal friends ran off lol. It was all recorded on film.
He has become a good friend of mine since, he once asked me how did i punch him with so much force. I told him my mum & dad were born in Punjab in India, there are 5 rivers there maybe i have one river in each knuckle lol. Its just the sheer ignorance in some people to be honest, after a little lesson and some education they do change there views. He has never acted in such a way as far as i know so i am glad i did what i did or else he would have carried on. Yes i agree there is a rise now in hate crimes i reckon the media has a lot to answer for.
 
Sep 27, 2008
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Thanks Mai Ji very nice of you, looking at your post you have made me realise it is deffo Sikh values and i thankyou again. Narayanjot Ji i see what you are saying, it seems like a lot needs to be done in the States for people to know different religions. Here in the UK although we have our fair share of bigots, it was mentioned by the right wing BNP leader Nick Griffin in his speech regarding Sikhs. He was addressing the issue on immigration in which he openly said the Sikhs are ok and he does not mind having them in this country. He said they work very very hard, they integrate very easily, they do not go around converting people into their religion and most of all when war breaks out they always stand and fight shoulder to shoulder with us. That coming from a Right Wing leader puts a big impact into the minds of people whom did not know who Sikhs were. Its a shame it has to come from the mouth of a right wing politician but the points are very clear what he makes. Like i said earlier the media has a lot to answer for even that picture above creates a kind of bogey man in the minds of people who do not know the differance.
 

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Update on this news story

Another Hate Crime: Sikh’s Vaguely Muslim Appearance Offends Seattle Man’s Sensitivities


Posted by Joshua Holland on @ 11:54 am
Article printed from speakeasy: http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy
URL to article: http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy...ppearance-offends-seattle-mans-sensitivities/



Approximately 2,837 miles from the hallowed ground of the World Trade Center, a good American’s sensitivities simply weren’t being respected:
A 35-year-old Seattle man is facing assault and hate crime charges following allegations that he accosted a clerk at a Queen Anne convenience store.
According to police, Brock Stainbrook derided the man as being a terrorist during the Tuesday morning incident.
Writing the court, a Seattle detective said Stainbrook entered the 7-11 store in at 362 Denny Way. The clerk was standing near a coffee machine when Stainbrook accosted him.
“For unknown reasons a person threw change on the floor near the victim’s feet then punched the victim on the left side of the head,” the detective said.
“After the suspect struck (the clerk) with his fist he said, ‘You’re not even American, you’re Al-Qaeda. Go back to your country.’”
Another employee then stepped in, forcing Stainbrook to leave the store. As he did so, police allege the man tried to kick the second employee and damaged a barcode scanner.
Police arrested Stainbrook walking nearby minutes later. Confronted by police, he allegedly admitted that he “struck a person on his turban” because he disliked him.
According to the article, “While the alleged victim’s ethnic background is not noted in court documents, his surname is common within the Sikh community.”
The first comment on the Seattle PI site:
Thanks Glenn Beck, thanks Rush, thank O’Reilly, for all you’ve done for us.
To which I’d add: thanks Howard Dean and Harry Reid for the great courage you’ve shown on this issue.

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy...ppearance-offends-seattle-mans-sensitivities/
 

Mai Harinder Kaur

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As most of you know I am currently staying near Seattle. (In case you wonder about the Canadian flag, I am a Canadian citizen and insist on being recognised as such. I am just on an extended vacation in the USA.)

Anyway, Seattle is known as a liberal, polite city. The attack on Sukhvir Singh a while back has been well-documented. I personally know of attacks on other cab drivers that haven't been publicly reported. Also I have heard of schoolboys being mistreated by bullies at school in the suburb where I am.

This xenophobic prejudice is everywhere in the USA these days. I suppose we need to learn to live with it while we fight it and counter it in any way we can. We do have the weapons to fight it. ikonkaar
 

Mai Harinder Kaur

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Man Already Knows Everything He Needs To Know About Muslims

August 30, 2010
Man-Already-large.jpg
Gentries made a conscious decision to stop learning anything new about the Muslim faith on May 22, 2005.



SALINA, KS—Local man Scott Gentries told reporters Wednesday that his deliberately limited grasp of Islamic history and culture was still more than sufficient to shape his views of the entire Muslim world.
Gentries, 48, said he had absolutely no interest in exposing himself to further knowledge of Islamic civilization or putting his sweeping opinions into a broader context of any kind, and confirmed he was "perfectly happy" to make a handful of emotionally charged words the basis of his mistrust toward all members of the world's second-largest religion.
"I learned all that really matters about the Muslim faith on 9/11," Gentries said in reference to the terrorist attacks on the United States undertaken by 19 of Islam's approximately 1.6 billion practitioners. "What more do I need to know to stigmatize Muslims everywhere as inherently violent radicals?"
"And now they want to build a mosque at Ground Zero," continued Gentries, eliminating any distinction between the 9/11 hijackers and Muslims in general. "No, I won't examine the accuracy of that statement, but yes, I will allow myself to be outraged by it and use it as evidence of these people's universal callousness toward Americans who lost loved ones when the Twin Towers fell."
"Even though I am not one of those people," he added.
When told that the proposed "Ground Zero mosque" is actually a community center two blocks north of the site that would include, in addition to a public prayer space, a 500-seat auditorium, a restaurant, and athletic facilities, Gentries shook his head and said, "I know all I'm going to let myself know."
Gentries explained that it "didn't take long" to find out as much about the tenets of Islam as he needed to. He said he knew Muslims stoned their women for committing adultery, trained for terrorist attacks at fundamentalist madrassas, and believed in jihad, which Gentries described as the thing they used to justify killing infidels.
"All Muslims are at war with America, and I will resist any attempt to challenge that assertion with potentially illuminating facts," said Gentries, who threatened to leave the room if presented with the number of Muslims who live peacefully in the United States, serve in the country's armed forces, or were victims themselves of the 9/11 attacks. "Period."
"If you don't believe me, wait until they put your wife in a burka," Gentries continued in reference to the face-and-body-covering worn by a small minority of Muslim women and banned in the universities of Turkey, Tunisia, and Syria. "Or worse, a rape camp. That's right: For reasons I am content being totally unable to articulate, I am choosing to associate Muslims with rape camps."
Over the past decade, Gentries said he has taken pains to avoid personal interactions or media that might have the potential to compromise his point of view. He told reporters that the closest he had come to confronting a contrary standpoint was tuning in to the first few seconds of an interview with a moderate Muslim cleric before hastily turning off the television.
"I almost gave in and listened to that guy defend Islam with words I didn't want to hear," Gentries said. "But then I remembered how much easier it is to live in a world of black-and-white in which I can assign the label of 'other' to someone and use him as a vessel for all my fears and insecurities."
Added Gentries, "That really put things back into perspective."
terminator.gif
Reading that, how many saw that it was a satire? How many took it seriously?

Reprinted from The Onion

Point made.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/man-already-knows-everything-he-needs-to-know-abou,17990/
 

findingmyway

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That's a very clever article!!! Hate crimes unfortunately occur the world over. Some of the worst rascism I've experienced was while living in Australia. When I worked in Malawi, there was a lot of tension between the local black population and the Indian origin settlers as they couldn't understand each others lifestyle. Rascism happens most when people are under the influence of drugs or alcohol-another reason why alcohol is evil swordfight
 

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