Blaming All for Terrorism

Response to Chicago Sun-Times' "Backward thinking, democracy can't co-exist" Stanley Crouch seems to think every Muslim in the world fits this description: uneducated, elitist, sexist, anti-modern, immature and angry (“Backward thinking, democracy can’t coexist,” Aug. 12). Had someone written a column that claimed America’s national welfare problems will not end until African-Americans stopped whining and took control of their lives instead of living off the state and committing crimes, that writer would have been rightly labeled as a racist. Crouch is exposing his anti-Muslim feelings by blaming terrorism on all Muslims instead of focusing on those who actually carry out attacks.

Were all whites blamed for the murder of little girls during the civil rights era? Are all Christians held accountable for abortion clinic bombings? Not all Muslims are backward thinking, just like not all African-Americans are jobless criminals. There are over 13 million Muslims living in the United States and Western Europe, living and embracing modernity and democracy everyday. There are large populations of Muslims in other modern, democratic countries including Malaysia, Turkey and Indonesia. The actions and thoughts of a few cannot be prescribed onto all. Or else no one who says African-Americans should be racially profiled can be told to be quiet.