I’d never thought I’d see the day when Black people weren’t the most hated group in America. Even during World War II, the Nazis prisoners were given better treatment than Black soldiers. Sure America hated communists a lot, but they called Black leaders like MLK communists, to hate Black people all the more.
Since 9/11, Black people have moved to number 2 on America’s most hated list, with Mexicans coming in a close 3rd. We even have a a President who calls himself an African-American. That is not to say African-Americans don’t have to deal with prejudice, economic oppression and substandard education but that Muslims have moved to the number one enemy of our country in the minds of good Christian American people from the heartland, who watch Fox News and vote Republican.
While Americans rushed to aid the poor, Black country of Haiti after the earthquake and gave to disaster relief agencies, after the disastrous flooding in Pakistan, there was little attention to from the media and even less donations coming from Americans to help their fellow country in need. Could it be that Americans see poor Haitians as fellow human beings in need of compassion, but not dark skinned Arabs who practice Islam?
The issue of the Ground Zero Mosque, is another issue that shows a great deal of hatred and ignorance towards American people of the Muslim faith. What is more troubling is the way the right wing media has distorted and used the situation to make American people angry at Muslims.
The people who planned and executed the September 11th attacks were of no more representative of Islam than the Christian dictators such as Mobutu and Charles Taylor, both men who were supported by right wing Christian icon, Pat Robertson, are of Christianity.
It seems as if the Tea Party patriots choose to ignore the fact that their precious founding fathers chose to give us freedom of religion and separate church and state.
The right wing has done a good job of fear mongering against Muslims since 9/11, but the problem didn’t start there. For years Muslims and Arabs have been victims of gross stereotypes in movies cartoons and TV shows.
After 9/11, the right wing used Islamophobia to launch their wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. That is like using Pearl Harbor to attack china and Korea or invading England because of Hitler.
Making Osama Bin Laden the face of Islam is like making David Koresh the face of Christianity. The right wing has used Islamaphobia to push their unnecessary wars and keep people in fear and now is using Islamaphobia to earn political points among prejudice voters.
While people in Islamic cultures may have issues with treatment of homosexuals, women and people who don’t follow Islam, this is not due to Islam itself. For years, Chistians have oppressed Christians and women and homosexuals. Those who call Islam a religion of war, must’ve missed the crusades the Spanish inquisition and colonialism done in the name of Christianity. Islamic countries like other developing countries need to time to develop before they reach our standards of Democracy and equality. Bombing Islamic countries will not help them develop but just put them further away from western values and styles of government.
The roots of Islamaphobia in this county and be directly traced to the christian-right, Fox News and the GOP. Rather than quell peoples’ prejudices and increasing tolerance of religions the right wing have chosen to play on peoples prejudices and fears to drum up a hatred of Islam. Islam didn’t blow up the world trade center, religious fanaticism did. The Republicans played on that same religious fanaticism to start wars that killed a hundred times more civilians than were killed on 9/11.
So why does America hate Islam? The don’t. America has been given a bad name just a bunch of rich right wingers trying to manipulate the ignorant masses into hatred and fear of people they don’t know. The same tactics they used on African-Americans and communists
SOURCE: https://newsone.com/750315/why-does-america-hate-islam/
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