The persecution that never materialized? You mean like the 532 Muslims, Sikhs and Arabs targeted in hate crimes according to the FBI in the three years after 9/11?
OK let's look at this figure. 532 hate crimes in 3 years against over 6 million people by a population of 300 million. That is 177 crimes per year, ranging from everything from verbal insults to the one case of that Sikh guy who got shot after 911.
Would you say the Jews of Britain are persecuted? Because in just 1 year (2004) There were 532 reported hate crimes against British Jews.
http://books.google.com/books?id=HjjV4DpDNh0C&pg=PA49&lpg=PA49&dq=532+hate+crimes+france&source=bl&ots=_00BjEkmzy&sig=JXSKUa_Ecb6yqdjuzulxTiCV7x4&hl=en&ei=uuFlSozvKZ78tgeY9I31Dw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2The population of Birtain is a fifth the size of the US. From this we can conclude that Jews in Britain suffered from reported hate crimes at a rate approximately 15 times higher than Muslims in America.
Or perhaps you're referring to the over 1000 legal immigrants from Muslim and Arab countries who were rounded up in Ashcroft's immigration sweeps immediately after 9/11, secretly detained for months then had their visas revoked and were deported without being charged with anything
This is misleading. Yes over a 1000 Muslims were detained for questioning. You cannot be detained in America for no good reason. If you are then you have a civil liberties case on your hand. I'm sure many think they were treated unfairly, but the fact of the matter is that Homeland Security are not magicians and in order to uncover the real threats, the good need to be sorted from the bad at the good?s inconvenience. BTW 1000 out of 6 million is one in six thousand. Of the Muslims apprehended, about 500 were discovered to be illegal aliens and deported. This is the ACLU's main gripe. They don't think it is fair for someone questioned for terrorism should be deported for illegal status because it is not a related offence.
If it is the government's intention to get rid of people simply because they are Muslims then why did they allow 96.000 legal Muslim immigrants in 2005?
"In 2005, more people from Muslim countries became legal permanent United States residents ( nearly 96,000 ) than in any year in the previous two decades. More than 40,000 of them were admitted last year, the highest annual number since the terrorist attacks, according to data on 22 countries provided by the Department of Homeland Security."
http://fairuse.100webcustomers.com/fairenough/nyt446.htmlHMS in all their incompetence have managed to thwart many planned terror attacks.
http://www.heritage.org/research/HomelandDefense/images/b2085_chart1-lg.gifOr the "Kill All Arabs" graffiti and other such stuff I saw around Boston not long after the 9/11 attacks.
I didn?t see any of that in New York. However graffiti writers represent the lowest elements of a society and their writings do not represent the community at large.
Or the people I'd meet in bars who'd go off on "killing all the towelheads", which would inevitably lead to a fight and me being banned from the bar?
How many bar room brawls have you been in? What percentage of them were Islamophobia related? I need the statistics before I can make an assessment.
Or that job I'm pretty sure I didn't get because of my Muslim name only weeks after the attack?
I think most people will attest to losing a job opportunity to a less qualified candidate. Assuming you are right and it wasn't another reason then that is not fair. But you did find a job didn't you? American Muslims (and ones with Muslim names) generally do well in America.
"Six years after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, American Muslims are now self-confident and more influential than ever before. They earn as much money as the average
American, they go on talk shows to tell their success stories and they are beginning to run for political office.
American senators offer Muslims internships, members of Congress hire Muslim press secretaries and chiefs of staff and the US State Department recently appointed a female Muslim ambassador who also happens to be its chief advisor on issues of equality.
Muslims are everywhere in US politics: in government agencies and in the White House, in Congress and on city councils, in city halls and on planning commissions. They are the new imperative of political correctness in the United States. A year ago President George W. Bush announced: "America is stronger because of the countless contributions of Muslim citizens." Less than six months later, in February 2007, he nominated Zalmay Khalilzad, a native of Afghanistan, to the position of US ambassador to the United Nations. Khalilzad is now the most important Muslim in the US cabinet."http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,505573-2,00.htmlHere are some key findings of a recent Pew Research Poll. American Muslims love it here!
"Overall, Muslim Americans have a generally positive view of the larger society. Most say their communities are excellent or good places to live.
A large majority of Muslim Americans believe that hard work pays off in this society. Fully 71% agree that most people who want to get ahead in the United States can make it if they are willing to work hard."
http://pewresearch.org/pubs/483/muslim-americansI am not saying that no Muslim was treated unfairly in America since 911. I am saying that on the whole, Americans have not lashed out at their Muslim neighbours like would have happened in other countries if they had experienced a 911 perpetrated by members of a religious minority.
Topic: What I saw today