Attorney Qusair Mohamedbhai’s editorial in today’s Denver Post is something I believe every American needs to read. You may think Trump’s rhetoric about “if you want to hurt terrorists, kill their families” and his fantasy about mass deportations is just so much hot air, but it’s one very public instance of a much more widespread problem, a problem that is growing more serious each year. In the past decade, we’ve seen increased incidents of harassment and violence against Muslims and against people who “look Muslim” (like Sikhs — as in the case of a store clerk in Michigan who, in December, was called a “terrorist” and shot in the face). We’ve seen mosques vandalized or lit on fire (there were 29 documented attacks on mosques in the U.S. in 2015). The New York Times reported that between mid-Nov and mid-Dec 2015, there were 38 hate crimes perpetrated against Muslim Americans in the U.S. This is a real thing, and it hurts real Americans. And that’s why everyone needs to read this and start paying attention.
From Mohamedbhai’s article: “There is now a dangerously thin line between making discriminatory statements to rouse conservative voters and taking discriminatory actions. We do not wish to believe that such systemic anti-Muslim constitutional violations by our government could really happen. When federal agents come to register me, will I pass the Good Muslim test if I wear a John Elway jersey? If I can name countless Front Range breweries or have hiked Colorado’s fourteeners, will I meet the bar to show that my American Muslim family is just like everyone else?”
You are right. Everyone should read this, but they won’t. I have never seen or heard so much hate before in all my 47 years and it scares me. We have got to come together as the great nation that we have been and stop this hate. We can not allow ourselves to even come close to the evils of the past. The hate that is being played out across every state every day is sickening. Mr. Qusair is right. It is no longer about free speech, it is beyond any type of protected speech. It is pure hate and it has to stop. But it seems to me no one is standing up and saying this. If they are, they are being shouted down by all the hate monsters out there. Trump is the biggest of them all. I can’t even believe what our political system has turned into over the past couple of years. No one talks anymore, they yell, scream and bully. Again Trump is the biggest bully. Trump makes me physically ill, I can’t stand to watch anything he is on. Which sucks because it takes away from me being informed about all the issues or should I say none issues in the debates. I can only read about them, I can’t stand watching them. It turns into a name calling, childish circus. But children act better then these so called politicians do. The big point is, it’s not funny anymore!! This is our country we have to protect it from the inside out!! But we are not doing that!! HATE is spreading like a wildfire and there is very little water left before it engulfs us all.