La Opinion (Editorial)
September 20, 2015
The
Republican presidential primary has become known for its hatred of
diversity, whether ethnic or racial — as in the case with immigrants —
or religious, as is now happening
with Muslims. The recent statements made by a Donald Trump supporter
saying that Obama is a Muslim and that there are terrorist training
camps in U.S. soil brought the anti-Islamic paranoia of the GOP base to
the forefront.
The
9/11 terrorist attacks marked the beginning of a rejection of all
things Arab and Muslim, as if al-Qaeda and ISIL were representing the
hundreds of millions of people
who practice this religion around the world. The electoral victory of
Barack Hussein Obama, the first black president of the U.S., triggered
the creation of the Tea Party, whose sympathizers accused the new
president of being a Nazi or a Communist, and refused
to accept that that he was born in the U.S. and is Christian.
In
2011, Trump led the movement that questioned Obama’s citizenship, while
the establishment stood silently by as they expected to score a
political victory from the allegations.
Today,
43% of Republicans believe that Obama is a Muslim. Among conservatives,
the figure reaches 45%, and 47% among Tea Party supporters. Meanwhile,
the conservative
media reports twisted versions of events from 30 or 40 years ago in
order to create the fantasy that dozens of terrorist training camps
exist in the U.S.
The
effects of this climate was recently felt in Irving, Texas, where a
dark-skinned Muslim student was arrested after his school, as well as
the police, thought that
the homemade clock he had built was a bomb. This would not have
happened had the teenager been white and if the local Republican
authorities did not consider their Muslim community suspicious.
As
with immigration, Trump’s critics have been lukewarm when the
millionaire has allowed the use of the word Muslim as an insult. The
fear of contradicting a xenophobic
base persists. Moreover, candidate Ben Carson said that being Muslim
and holding the U.S. presidency are incompatible even though there is no
legal impediment for this combination.
The prejudiced point of view of the Republican base and their candidates is reprehensible in our diverse society.
For more information, go to: www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com
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