Barack Obama is labeled by his detractors as a Muslim. But he is a Christian. However, many in the US consider the Muslim religious label as an indicator of something bad, passively spreading and perpetuating racist préjugés against a religion.
Finally, what has become a racist pervasiveness in the mind of many US citizen was condemned today by Colin Powell during his endorsement of Barack Obama at 'Meet the press'. And believe me, Powell must have had some courage to question this pervasive racism as nobody else did it so clearly since 9-11. Watch it around minute 4 and 45 seconds.
Maureen Dowd: 'Moved by a crescent'
Michael Tomasky commenting Powell's endorsement in The Guardian:
"...What if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?"
He then described a picture he'd seen in a magazine of a grieving mother at the tombstone of her son, a soldier who had died in Iraq. The tombstone listed his age and awards, Powell said, but across the top "it didn't have a Christian cross. It didn't have a Star of David. It had a crescent and a star of the Islamic faith."
It was incredibly moving - the words and the anecdote were extremely well chosen, and they're worth dwelling on for two reasons. First, it's needed saying for months now that there's nothing wrong with being a Muslim in this country. And second, it's not too much to say that, of all the political leaders in America, only Colin Powell could have said these things and made them stick. A Democrat making that case would be seen as just another politically correct harpy. It's pretty different coming from a Republican and a soldier.
More bigotry: For McCain, an Arab is not a decent family man.
Since March 29th 2006
4 comments:
There may be racist people in every country, but you cannot deny that in the USA, the majority of people have accepted and applauded Barak Obama as a presidential candidate.
If only the Middle East countries could learn from our example. Do you think a coptic Christian will someday run for president in Egypt?
50 years ago in the US, no one would have thought we would have nominated a black Presidential candidate at this time.
So, who knows what is in store for Egypt?
Elizabeth,
Anonymous here is Randy in previous comments. In the past, I had to block his IP because he or she was posting each time under different name. I have comments from this IP everytime Israel's image is in question and everytime there is rom to bash Muslims. This IP is pure hasbara, if you unerstand what I mean.
Elizabeth,
Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon, as well as the liberations movements for Palestine were very much secular and to the left in the sixities and seventies and minorities were thriving, actually they still thriving now in Syria and wasn't saddam's foreign minister a christian (he still in jail awaiting his trial) but the US with the help of Israel and Saudi Arabia made sure to replace secular movements in the Arab world by financing Muslim extremism like the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt who gave us Al-Zawahiri...
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