It is now obvious that a vein of vehement Islamophobia has been opened among many Americans, and it is being recklessly and maliciously exploited for political advantage in the fall elections. Ready evidence is available on websites, cable new shows, letters to newspapers, the rants of irresponsible politicians – and it’s evident in half a dozen more cases around the country of hateful demonstrations against the building of a local mosque or Islamic center.
All this has erupted in the wake of the politically inflated controversy over a proposed mosque that would be built two intensely urbanized blocks away from, and out of sight of, ground zero in Lower Manhattan.
Chattanooga may be presently escaping a demonstration against a proposed Islamic center in East Brainerd, but there’s ample evidence of virulent Islamophobia elsewhere.
Protests at mosques multiply
* In nearby Murfreesboro, for example, behavior by some citizens against an Islamic community center has been shameful enough to draw national media coverage. Events in other locations follow that pattern.