America has undergone a sweeping change of attitudes. A palpable and often visible backlash against those who even remotely resemble the culprits is sweeping the country. This has sent many of our citizens into hiding, have made them shun public places and forced them to wonder about their rightful place in our society. Foreign students on many campuses around the country are packing up and leaving for homes.
A backlash in the wake of a horrible national trauma is to be expected. Not all citizens are given to thoughtful introspection and not everyone is familiar with the causes, perceived or real, that fuel a venomous hatred of this country in militant fringe elements in some far away lands. Add to the sickening images of collapsing twin towers the refrain Islamic terrorism and someone wants to settle the score here and now.
Since September 11, there have been more than 650 hate-related incidents against the Muslims and Arab Americans and even against those who may look like them. These include four murders, one of a Sikh, 45 assaults and 60 attacks on mosques including the one here in our own city of Toledo where a vengeful citizen put a bullet through one of the faceted stain-glass window in prayer area.
While it is convenient to blame such random acts of violence on an ignorant fringe in the society one cannot ignore the overwhelming negative feelings towards Arabs in a sizeable number of Americans. In a poll conducted by CNN/ USA Today/ Gallup, almost half of Americans said they would require all Arabs in this country, including those who are US citizens, to carry special ID cards. This thinking is no different than the backlash against Japanese-Americans after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I hope this ‘fortress America’ attitude is nothing but a transient over reaction to the tragic events of two weeks ago.
We the immigrants may understand this backlash to some extent but our children do not. They are confused because being born and raised in this country they don’t have the tugs and pulls of far away ancestral countries that their parents, grandparents and in some cases great-grandparents, might have felt. They are committed to America and not to some dubious and quasi-religious causes espoused by terrorists who distort the words of the sacred texts to suit their own agendas and justify their horrible acts.
Here are some revealing facts about Muslims in America. There are seven millions of them in this country, more than Jews, Episcopalians or Presbyterians. A solid 35% of them are African Americans and the rest are equally divided between Arabs and South Asians. Of the total number of Arabs in this country 75% are not Muslims but Christians. There are 1372 mosques in this country including a mosque at the Norfolk Naval Base in Virginia where about 50 American sailors gather every Friday for weekly Sabbath prayers. (P)Islam is not only a Middle Eastern or Asian religion; it is also an American religion.
Of late the media has gone in overdrive to contain the very genie of Muslim intolerance and bigotry they unwittingly helped uncork in the first place. The comments by the likes of Louisiana congressman John Cooksey (‘If I see someone come in that’s got a diaper on his head, that guy needs to pulled over) and I-was-just-kidding Rush Limbaugh (‘I would like to wipe the smiles off the face of Palestinians who were celebrating after the terrorists attacks’) are the kind of inflammatory rhetoric that ignites the fires of communal hatred.
Despite the backlash and the bigotry of some of our fellow citizens, America remains the most tolerant, understanding and accepting country in the world. No country in the world, including the countries we left behind, can match that. There is a groundswell of good will towards Muslims in this country. It is evident from the overwhelming support of Muslims and Arabs who have been the target of taunts, harassment and assaults. When the attack on Toledo’s Islamic Center hit the news, there was an unprecedented outpouring of support by the community. In a noble gesture a local Christian radio station asked people to come to the Center to show their support. About 2000 people of all ages, colors and religious persuasion responded. They locked arms and made a human circle around the Center in a symbolic gesture of protecting the place with their bodies.
The loose change we carry in our pockets has the Latin inscription ‘E Pluribus Unum’, meaning ‘From Many, One’. While the founding fathers could not have envisioned the present make up of this republic 225 years ago, they did provide the basis for a diverse and pleural society. We will all be served well if in addition to waving the flag we also look at the inscription on those coins.
Dr. S. Amjad Hussain is an op-ed columnist for the Toledo Blade and a professor of surgery at the Medical College of Ohio. E-mail: <aghaji@buckeye-express.com>