I read something this morning that I can't really get out of my head. I don't really want to write about it, but I can't stop thinking about it. It's the last paragraph of this article in Slate:

And that is why as a Muslim American I am enraged by the publication of these cartoons. Not because they offend my prophet or my religion, but because they fly in the face of the tireless efforts of so many civic and religious leaders—both Muslim and non-Muslim—to promote unity and assimilation rather than hatred and discord; because they play into the hands of those who preach extremism; because they are fodder for the clash-of-civilizations mentality that pits East against West. For all of that I blame Jyllands-Posten. We in the West want Muslim leaders to condemn the racial and religious prejudices that are so widespread in the Muslim world. Let us lead by example.

I for one am getting a little tired of having to lead by example. Terrorists saw off any heads they can get their hands on, but Abu Ghraib is the worst thing that's happened in Iraq. Insurgents regularly hide behind civilians, but an American soldier shoots an insurgent under somewhat dubious conditions and he's raked over the coals. I'm sick and tired of being held to a higher standard.

But more than that, there's something so galling about the phrase "they fly in the face of the tireless efforts of so many civic and religious leaders—both Muslim and non-Muslim—to promote unity and assimilation rather than hatred and discord." Come again? Who's promoting unity? Who's trying to assimilate? The whole freaking Western world has bent over backwards apologizing for non-existant flushed Korans and splashed urine and stupid cartoons. Everyone's apologizing and getting fired and being suspended from school papers; can we point some freaking fingers at those who are burning down embassies, for pete's sake? Promoting unity, my foot. The Free Muslims Coalition held an anti-terrorism rally last May, and guess how many people showed up. Maybe fifty. Fifty. My god, it makes me want to cry. How can this writer actually think that Jyllands-Posten is the Muslim community's biggest problem?

Apparently the cartoons prevented Muslims from assimilating. Give me a break. There's a clash of civilizations going on allright, and I think Islam is winning. Schools are changing their art curriculum because drawing people is against Islam. A Muslim girls' basketball team wants to play other teams, which of course means that all men have to be barred from the arena. In Michigan they're blaring the call to prayer over loudspeakers. If this is a fight between East and West, I often feel like the West is losing. The internet has become a disheartening place for me, where I simply dread reading that half of Palestinians support suicide bombers. Or that Israel should be wiped off the map and the Holocaust never happened. And no one in the West stands up to this nonsense. No one says "We're drawing humans in art class because that's what happens in a flippin' art class and you just have to deal with it." No one holds Muslims to the standard that every other religious group is held to:

Some Christians believe they are required to wear particular sorts of clothing. Some Jews and Muslims don't eat pork. They don't claim that their religion requires other people to wear special clothing or avoid eating pork. Tolerance and ecumenism can only do so much. They have nothing to offer a Muslim in Afghanistan who is personally insulted and enraged about an image that appears in a newspaper in Denmark.

I'm sick and tired of the world tiptoeing around Islam. Hitchens is right: we should stand with Denmark and stand up for our values, instead of apologizing because some drawings made people go completely insane. What is wrong with the world?

I just can't take it anymore.

Posted by: Sarah at 06:14 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
Post contains 655 words, total size 5 kb.

My college roommate senior year was black. She was a nice enough girl, but we had Culture Clash on more than one occasion. One of the most disheartening things I ever witnessed was her relationship with an African student. Not an African-American, an actual African. This guy was one of the most genuine and friendly people I've ever met, and smart too. He and my husband had many business and economics classes together, and he was active in speech/debate. He also belonged to a fraternity. Real nice guy. But apparently he wasn't Black Enough. I had to watch my roommate try to turn him into a thug so he wouldn't be an outcast in the campus black community anymore. She said flat-out that black people didn't really like him and he needed to change his behavior. She "corrected" his speech, advised him to quit his white fraternity and join the black one, and generally nagged the guy about not being truly black. It was a depressing thing to watch. Luckily they eventually broke up, and I hope this guy has done better for himself. He had the potential to be successful, as long as all the "advice" he got didn't sink in.

(This memory prompted by LaShawn Barber.)

Posted by: Sarah at 11:56 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 216 words, total size 1 kb.

1 Typical stuff, actually. I'm labeled a sell-out in my school because I happen to believe that the "tyranny of the minority" definitely applies on campus, racially and otherwise. Oh and yeah, I'm Asian (Filipino-American to be exact). I think the correct term is a "twinkie": yellow on the outside and white on the inside. Or some also use banana, depending if the accusing party is also a vegan anarchist.

Posted by: John at February 15, 2006 03:05 PM (enIP4)

2 A co-worker and I were just discussing this very topic. Since both of us are of mixed heritage, we have been accused of not being "Black enough" or "Acting white". It's just pathetic. I personally have "issues" with being called African-American. I can trace my Fathers side back to my Great Grandparents and they were in Georgia. On my Mothers side I can trace back to my Grandparents, they immigrated from Poland to Germany before the war. Can someone please tell me how that makes me "African-American"?

Posted by: Vonn at February 15, 2006 05:52 PM (dEgRi)

3 I don't mind the term African-American. I've been called far worse. Why is there such a push for some verbal, superficial acceptance when history and society tells us discrimination is still rampant? --Cobra

Posted by: Cobra at February 15, 2006 07:23 PM (Ffvoi)

4 Growing up I knew two black kids who were twins. I grew up in an Asain and Hispanic community. When I hit college, I had more interactions but was still very unknowledgable about black culture. All this time though I was told, time and time again to call blacks African-Americans. (I grew up in northern CA). It wasn't until I got married moved around and got to spend real time making friends with all sorts of people that I learned that there are many that do or don't like a particular term to describe ethnecitity. A couple of coworkers giggled the first time I called a woman African-American. So I pretty much refrain from using any term until I get to know the person better. Both of my officemates use Black, so do I when I am with them. An older coworker down the hall prefers African-American. I just try to accomodate to what they are used to if I can. It is too bad that she felt she had to change the person istead of him being allowed to be who he was. I know two Sgts that are from different African Nations, they are great people. They are quiet but when they do speak they have some very interesting and well thought things to say. I hope he found out who he was and stuck with it. HH6

Posted by: Household6 at February 16, 2006 03:13 AM (Gj0PV)

5 Sigh. I unfortunately can relate to the African. I actually HEARD a girl in my high school say, just loud enough so I could hear, that I used to be cool last year when I was black. WTF? Then, I was so confused. Now, I realize that it was just an avenue to piss me off. She wouldn't have liked me whether I was "black" or not. As I heard Henry Louis Gates (head of African American Studies at Harvard) say on the Today Show, Martin Luther King Jr. would roll over in his grave to see that black kids are pressured to be thugs, speak poorly and drop out of school to play sports - by their own people. It's an insult to the civil rights movement to define being black as being ghetto. If being highly educated and dressing appropriately means I'm white what is that saying about what it means to be black? And anyway I'm half black. NO one picked up on the fact that I'm half Latino too... Ok, off my soapbox

Posted by: monique at February 16, 2006 03:51 PM (AK5UJ)

6 Well said Monique!

Posted by: Vonn at February 16, 2006 06:03 PM (dEgRi)

7 Did I mention the comment from that girl was probably twelve years ago? It take's time to heal those feelings unfortunately...

Posted by: Monique at February 16, 2006 06:30 PM (AK5UJ)

Hide Comments | Add Comment