IP: Fueling Bigotry

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

This is so short and so important that I have included it all. djf

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1249-2001Sep20.html


Fueling Bigotry


Friday, September 21, 2001; Page A36

ON MONDAY President Bush visited the Islamic Center of Washington to send 
an unmistakable message that bigotry against Arab Americans and Muslims 
"will not stand in America." FBI Director Robert Mueller promised swift 
prosecution of anyone engaging in crimes rooted in such bigotry and 
declared that as his agency investigates last week's attacks it is not 
focusing on anyone simply because of ethnic background. "We do not, have 
not, will not target people based solely on their ethnicity, period, 
point-blank," he said. The same day in Louisiana, Rep. John Cooksey was 
telling a radio interviewer that anyone wearing "a diaper on his head and a 
fan belt wrapped around the diaper" ought to be "pulled over" for extra 
questioning at airports. He apologized for his shameful words after they 
were reported nationwide, but he continues, through a spokesman, to stand 
by the idea that airport security personnel should focus suspicion and 
attention on passengers of Middle Eastern appearance. "Because it is a war 
[against terrorism], we will never win it if we have to stop every five 
minutes to make sure we're being politically correct," he told the 
Associated Press.

Far more than political correctness is at stake here. To prove it, look no 
further than the ugly toll of incidents that have begun to pile up in the 
wake of the Sept. 11 attack. The FBI is investigating more than 40 crimes, 
including three murders, possibly related to ethnicity or religion. One of 
the murder victims was a Sikh, who local prosecutors said was apparently 
singled out because he had dark skin and wore a turban. In such a climate 
political leaders have a special responsibility to fight stereotyping and 
bigotry. While other elected officials are rising to the occasion, Rep. 
Cooksey has fallen flat. Louisiana voters ought to ask whether a person 
capable of such a blockhead remark is the best they can do.

© 2001 The Washington Post Company



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