[Mpls] backlash in the Muslim community

[MNMollyS]

As someone who is married to a Muslim, I am particularly concerned with reports of Muslim backlash around the country and concerned that we may start hearing reports of this locally. But even absent any overt attacks or acts of harassment, I'm still so discouraged with the anti-Muslim sentiment that I'm hearing from ordinary Minneapolis residents as I walk the streets, shop, go to coffee houses, etc. So today, after my third day of not responding to these idiots, I've formulated a response. The next time I hear someone defaming this group of individuals:

I'm going to approach the person and ask them, following the Oklahoma City bombing and the arrest of Timothy McVeigh, did they take to the streets vowing revenge against white men? Did they call for the US Government to round up all Gulf War vets for detainment and questioning on the off chance that they had ties with McVeigh? Did they make anti-white slurs and assumptions that all whites surely condone the acts of McVeigh and his cohorts? Did they call for the immediate deportation of all white, male, former Marines? Did they make religious presumptions about people of the same faith as McVeigh and characterize them as evil?

I'm pretty willing to bet that the answer to all of these questions will be a resounding "no." It amazes me that while everyone acknowledges that Oklahoma City was the act of a few terrorists and is in no way a reflection of an entire race, religion, or nationality, far fewer people are willing to give this same consideration to the Muslim community when a fringe group of lunatics carries out an attack such as we experienced on Tuesday.

So if you hear reports of a mad redhead yelling at strangers on the streets of Minneapolis...well, you heard it hear first!

Molly Schultz