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Is it racism or discrimination?; Alfonso Saahir; Beaver County Times; January 9, 2011.
In two previous letters [“Look to the Constitution,” 2/27/05; “Muslims are obligated to pray,” 12/1/06 (I didn’t critique them.)] from Mr. Saahir, he appeared to believe American Muslims weren’t being treated fairly. I would have included links to the letters, but the Times changed its website and material published before late-August 2009 is no longer available.
In the first letter, Mr. Saahir asked, “Is there any case history where American Muslims have committed any ‘terrorist’ attacks against the U.S. government?” Bad question, Mr. Saahir. In the days before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar murdered two officers at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait and wounded 14 other soldiers, the result of his gunfire and throwing hand grenades into a tent where the soldiers were sleeping. In his diary before the murders, Mr. Akbar wrote, “I may not have killed any Muslims, but being in the Army is the same thing. I may have to make a choice very soon on who to kill.” Mr. Akbar was found guilty and sentenced to death. It happened again on November 5, 2009, at Fort Hood, TX. We also need to remember Islamist attacks thwarted over the last several years, like the planned attack on Fort Dix, NJ, in 2007 by the “Fort Dix Six.”
Other letters from Mr. Saahir are here, here, and here.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“An African-American police detective has road rage, a white victim has scratches on the face and can’t sleep at night. The detective is sentenced to serve five years in jail.”
“Two white officers beat an African-American victim. His face is beaten beyond recognition and he was traumatized, yet the officers did not serve any jail time.”
[RWC] Did you notice Mr. Saahir didn’t tell us the skin color of the African-Americans he mentioned? Why mention the skin color of the whites he referenced but not that of the African-Americans?
“What’s wrong with this picture?
“Oh, by the way, I am not in any support of the detective or the officers. They all should have used better judgment that their training requires of them.”
[RWC] If Mr. Saahir is referring to actual cases, it would have been nice if he had given us more details so we could do our own research.
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