That is very, very, very wrong.
Joanna
Michael Dawson wrote:
>Hi, Yoshie. Now I see what kind of "organizer" you are.
>
>Muslims have a small problem of intransigent fundamentalism, as do
>Christians and Jews. That's the truth. Do you read the newspapers?
>
>Meanwhile, you're accusing me in print at my own workplace of being an
>opponent of religious tolerance. If your letter sees print, you can
>anticipate being sued for libel in federal court.
>
>Good day.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org]
>On Behalf Of Yoshie Furuhashi
>Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 2:23 PM
>To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org; furuhashi.1 at osu.edu
>Subject: [lbo-talk] Anti-Muslim Sentiment Affects PSU Students (US Campaign|
>Defend Academic Freedom)
>
>Adjunct Instructor Michael Dawson -- who may be conceivably secular
>but are hardly egalitarian, much less an advocate of religious
>toleration -- writes as if all Muslims, regardless of their political
>dispositions, had "a small problem of fundamentalist intransigence"
>(at
><http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20040920/021097.
>html>)
>and makes a bigoted claim that a person signing an MSA petition
>defending academic freedom with regard to the denial of Professor
>Tariq Ramadan's visa, such as Liza Featherstone, "risk[s] supporting
>religious fascists" (at
><http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/pipermail/lbo-talk/Week-of-Mon-20040920/021056.
>html>).
>
>When a member of the Portland State University faculty feels he can
>blithely make such prejudiced remarks in public (on which Muslim
>students at his school may very well stumble), is it any wonder that
>"[a]nti-Muslim sentiment affects PSU students"?
>
>Anti-Muslim sentiment affects PSU students
>At time of war, discrimination, stereotypes abound
>
>Taylor Barnes photos by Matt Wong
>Portland State University Vanguard, April 11, 2003
>
>As negative stereotypes surrounding the Middle East persist, students
>involved in the Muslim Student Association at Portland State
>University find themselves subject to acts of discrimination.
>
>Fatima Ali, member of the MSA, said that she could recount many
>recent incidents involving the discrimination American Muslims face
>daily. While her first-hand experience of wartime backlash isn't
>extensive, she has been unable to completely escape the effects of
>"terrorist" stereotyping.
>
>"I don't necessarily look like I'm Muslim," she said. "And I actually
>had a professor say to me, 'You're Muslim? You don't look like one of
>them.' I was just like, 'Honey, you had the guts to say that?'"
>
>Ali has also been affected by the experiences of her mother and other
>family members, who have had plenty of encounters with prejudice
>since 9/11, she said.
>
>While working at a family member's business, Ali's mother was told by
>one of the employees to "send her terrorist ass home," she said. Her
>cousin experienced a similar incident, however instead of verbal
>assault, he was shown a highly offensive piece of visual commentary.
>
>"It was a picture of a Muslim man kneeling to pray, but there was
>something being shoved" into him from behind, she said.
>
>Another cousin, as well as her aunt, faced discrimination at Portland
>International Airport when returning to the United States from
>Lebanon.
>
>Incidents such as these are far from isolated, ranging from Muslims
>being refused service at malls to strip searches at airports, Madiha
>Sultan, another MSA member, said.
>
>Though her family is Pakistani, she explained that she is American.
>
>[A Photograph of Madiha Sultan, with the Following Caption: "Madiha
>Sultan, a member of the Muslim Student Association, has been affected
>by racism as a result of the current conflict in the Middle East.
>-Matt Wong"]
>
>"I was born and raised in California," she said. "I've lived here my
>whole life and never thought that I'd have someone call me a
>second-class citizen."
>
>"You work, you pay taxes and do what everyone else does, and this
>happens," Ali said. "With the Patriot Act, the government can
>imprison Muslims indefinitely based on hearsay or suspicion. There's
>no due process. They can take people in and hold them."
>
>The passing of the Patriot Act has also interfered with Muslims'
>ability to practice their religion, she said.
>
>"One of the five pillars of Islam is to give money to people," she
>said. "People used to send money to family members back home,
>mosques, Palestinians or others in need. Now if people send money,
>they get questioned and can be arrested."
>
>Ali said the steps being taken by the U.S. government are violating
>many people's rights.
>
>"It's absolute racial profiling," she said. "It could be a beautiful
>act if it wasn't concentrating on a single group of people and making
>them feel oppressed. Right now, it's like, trade in your freedom for
>security. How do we get security from racial profiling?"
>
>Ali said Muslim U.S. citizens face persecution because they're different.
>
>"People are scared of losing their citizenship and residency," Ali
>said. "It's also just dignity; people aren't allowed to have dignity
>anymore."
>
>"I grew up loving my religion," Sultan said. "It's too bad that
>Americans can't see what I see."
>
>Ali said stereotypes are to blame for discrimination.
>
>"Stereotypes have a life of their own," she said. "I stereotype. I
>think it's natural to do with people who are different from you. But
>when stereotypes are used to oppress someone, and hurt them, it's
>entirely different."
>
>Sultan said the media is often to blame for the perpetuation of such
>negative attitudes.
>
>"The media automatically does stories, focuses on a certain person,
>then finds out that they're innocent," she said. "But what happens to
>that person's reputation? It's destroyed."
>
>"I saw a picture with a U.S. soldier holding an Iraqi baby, and it
>said something like, 'The U.S. is here, everything is going to be
>better,' but where were the parents? How is that baby going to eat?
>Shouldn't the baby's own parents be holding it? They're probably
>dead, but the media sees things and pictures things a certain way."
>
>[A Photograph of Fatima Ali, with the Following Caption: "Fatima Ali
>-Matt Wong"]
>
>In addition to questionable media coverage, discriminative behavior
>continues to exist.
>
>"People overseas react because of the way that they're treated," she
>said. "When they lash out, we need to see the people, not just their
>lashing out."
>
>Despite her negative experiences, Sultan said many people have lent
>their support and sympathized with her situation.
>
>"Some people are sincere and know what's up," she said. "They know
>it's a specific group, extremists."
>
>Sultan said her mother is concerned about her reacting to discrimination.
>
>"I didn't tell my mom that I was giving an interview," she said. "She
>doesn't want me to speak up."
>
>Ali explained that her situation was the similar.
>
>"If my mom knew that I was interviewed, she'd ask, 'What if they were
>trying to get you to say something?'" she said. "She'd be like, 'Now
>I'll have the FBI knocking on my door.'"
>
>While MSA members daily face the possibility of societal backlash,
>Ali is more concerned about what the future might hold.
>
>"History repeats itself," she said. "We have the new laws. We all
>used to sit in history class and laugh, wondering what happened to
>the African Americans and Japanese. Guess what? It's happening again
>and we're going backwards."
>
><http://www.dailyvanguard.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/04/11/3e96392548e75>
>
>