The killer did not discriminate between his victims, as the murdered included old and young, Asian, African-American, Caucasian, Arab, and Muslim, Christian, Jew, and Hindu. As saddened as we were that Monday morning, American-Muslims were also nervously awaiting to find out the ethnic and religious background of the gunman. We worried,, could this terrorist act have been committed by someone who is Muslim? We know that someone claiming to be of the same faith as our beloved Prophet Muhammad could never perpetrate such a crime, but we also know that not all Americans share our view. After it was revealed that the shooter was an Asian-American with a Christian background, we breathed a collective sigh of relief and continued to mourn the tragedy with our fellow Americans.
American Muslims have been programmed to live in fear and anxiety ever since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Despite the fact that every major American Muslim organization condemned 9/11, and none of the 19 hijackers were from our own community, we continue to be a community separated from our fellow citizens because of our religious and ethnic backgrounds. Much of the mainstream American media has been relentless in promoting fear of and bigotry toward Islam and Muslims.
Campaigns such as the "Not In Our Name" campaign seem to attract very little media coverage, whereas every false statement by Daniel Pipes, Steve Emerson, Wafa Sultan, Irshad Manji, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali is covered extensively. The Islamophobes have been trying to convince America that violence is inherent to Islam, and they have been partially successful. When initial reports on the Virginia tech shooting revealed the perpetrator was of Asian heritage, right wing pundit Debbie Schlussel jumped to say the shooter was Muslim. Pakistanis are "Asian" and the perpetrator might be a "Paki" she claimed.
We are bombarded with daily news reports of Muslims involved in violence with Jews, Christians, Hindus, and even fellow Muslims. "Experts" frequently seen on CNN, FOX news, and the Trinity Broadcast Network, claim that Islam itself is to blame for this violence and that terrorism is encouraged by the Qur’an. Rarely does the media mention the religious affiliation of "non-Muslim" terrorists. When the Hutus murdered 500,000 Tutsi’s during the Rwandan civil war, they were not referred to as Christian, although three fourths of the population of Rwanda is Christian (with less than 1% Muslim). The Serbs who slaughtered thousands of innocent Muslims in Bosnia were never referred to as Orthodox Christians. The Holocaust was carried out by "Nazis" and not Christian fanatics, despite the fact that it was apparent that religion was used as a motivating drive for the war crimes that were committed.
We hope that the tragedy at Virginia Tech could serve as a turning point in the way that the media and Americans view violence. Immediately following the massacre, many commentators were quick to downplay the gunman’s ethnic background for fear of a backlash against Korean and/or Asian Americans, and rightly so. It was clear to the media that the ethnic and religious background of the killer was not a factor in the deadly rampage. More than two weeks following the Virginia Tech Massacre, there have been no reports of violence or hate crimes against our Asian-American neighbors. Thankfully, Asian-Americans do not have to live in the same kind of fear and anxiety that American Muslims have become accustomed to following 9/11. The media should take credit for preventing the anti-Asian backlash.
Victims of violence include innocent people of all backgrounds. Violence is not inherent to any particular religious ethnic group; rather it is an ill that exists in all parts of the world.
InFocus has in the past encouraged American Muslims to participate in the electoral process and partake in political as well as social events in our communities. Equally important is American Muslim participation in the media. American Muslims need to pursue careers in communications and journalism, so that we can help correct the way in which Islam and Muslims are negatively perceived.
