A Certain Class Of People

It is clear after last night’s debate that there is a certain class of people who have an irrational fear of Muslims-

10 Common Objects That Are More Likely To Kill You Than Terrorists
by Ian Millhiser, Think Progress
Dec 16, 2015 12:06 pm

According to CNN, “between 2001 and 2013, there were 3,030 people killed in domestic acts of terrorism.” That works out to about 253 deaths per year. By contrast, here are a list of ten common objects — many of which you could probably find in your own home! — that are more likely to kill you than a terrorist attack.

1. Swimming Pools
2. Cribs
3. Planes
4. Trains
5. Automobiles
6. Cigarettes
7. Guns
8. Beer
9. Cops
10. The Sun

We await the day when CNN hosts a debate asking candidates to offer their solutions to heat stroke or excessive drinking, both of which are a far greater threat to American lives than domestic terrorism. In the mean time, it’s worth noting that there are two other problems which received very little attention at Tuesday’s debate, but which also present a far greater threat to American lives than domestic terror. A 2011 study in the American Journal of Public Health “attributed 176,000 deaths to racial segregation and 133,000 to individual poverty” in 2000 alone.

It’s not just Trump – the US is gripped by anti-Muslim hysteria
by Moustafa Bayoumi, The Guardian
Monday 14 December 2015 14.09 EST

Trump is not the only one spreading fear and loathing by ignoring facts about Muslims. The day before Trump announced his Muslim ban, Marco Rubio, the Florida senator also seeking the Republican nomination, claimed that Islamophobia is fictitious. “Where is the widespread evidence that we have a problem in America with discrimination against Muslims?” Rubio asked, seemingly oblivious to the spike in assaults on Muslims in the US.

In fact, two weeks earlier, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Cair) had issued a report about violence aimed at Muslim Americans after the Paris attacks. Cair stated that it had “received more reports about acts of Islamophobic discrimination, intimidation, threats, and violence targeting American Muslims (or those perceived to be Muslim) and Islamic institutions in the past week and a half, than during any other limited period of time since the 9/11 terror attacks.” It’s got significantly worse in recent days.

Steve King, a prominent Republican congressman, said he would allow entry to the US only to those who are “the most likely to be able to contribute to our society and our economy and assimilate into the American civilisation”, and concluded that “Muslims do not do that in significant numbers”.

This too is demonstrably false. Consider the medical profession. Muslim Americans constitute 1-2% of the population but account for about 5% of the country’s physicians. A recent study (conducted before this current wave of anti-Muslim hysteria) stated that nearly half of the responding Muslim-American physicians had felt greater scrutiny compared to others due to their faith, and a quarter reported experiencing religious discrimination frequently over their career. Nearly one in 10 said patients had rejected their care because they were Muslim.

Statements from Republican leaders are so wrongheaded, one has to wonder not only in which America but in which universe they live. However, while it’s important to call out Republicans, it’s also necessary to remember that the Obama administration’s policies have also unfairly targeted Muslim-Americans.

Under President Obama, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) have routinely denied thousands of law-abiding people – mostly Muslims – citizenship, permanent residency and visas through the little-known Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program (CARRP). The program mandates that immigration services field officers deny or delay, often indefinitely, any application with a potential “national security concern,” which is defined incredibly broadly by USCIS. Some applicants have waited 14 years for a process that should take six months. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed a lawsuit last year against the governmentover this scheme, more than 19,000 people from 21 Muslim-majority countries or regions were subjected to the programme between 2008 and 2012. Those who have had their applications denied have no means of discovering why, or any meaningful opportunity to respond.

As Bayoumi points out partisans might call that certain class of people Republicans. That’s counter-factual. As Crazy Cruz says, all horse thieves are Democrats but not all Democrats are horse thieves.

I have another class in mind. Bigots.