Paranoid is the new Normal.
Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 12:18 pm
"America leads the world in shocks. Unfortunately, America does not lead the world in deciphering the cause of shock." Gil Scott-Heron
We are a nation of 300 million people. For every 100 Americans there are 90 guns. We believe in individualism, and we believe in demonizing the 'other'. We are a superpower beginning to lose power in the internet age. The images of our rage and impotence are amplified and re-transmitted. They are not allowed to fade, and we see and hear ourselves diminishing. It becomes the soundtrack of our lives.
After 9/11, Frank Roque told friends he was "going to to out and shoot some towel heads." On September 15th, Roque drover to the Phoenix gas station owned by Balbir Singh Sodh. Sodh was planting flowers around the edge of his gas station. Roque shot him 5 times.
Babor Singh Sodh was not an Arab, but Indian. He was not a Muslim, but a Sikh.
When he was arrested Frank Roque reportedly shouted "I am a Patriot!", and "I stand for America all the way!"
Meanwhile, on September 15th in Dallas, Mark Anthony Stroman, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, killed Waqar Hasan, a Pakistani Immigrant. On September 21, Stroman walked into a gas station owned by Rais Bhuiyan, an immigrant from Bangladesh, and asked "Where are you from?". Before Bhuyan could answer, Stroman raised a shotgun and shot him in the face.
Stroman was not captured until after October 4th, when he shot and killed an Indian immigrant, Vasudev Patel. In 2002 Stroller sent a letter from jail to a friend, saying (of himself) Here sits the Arab Slayer. For what he did, we should make him our mayor," he wrote. "… Patriotic, yes indeed, a true American, a special breed."
Rais Bhuyan survived being shot in the face. He is partially blind, penniless from medical bills, and still has 35 shotgun pellets in his face. Rais Bhuyan fought the State of Texas to save Stroman from the death penalty.
Stroman renounced his White Power beliefs. He called Bhuyan "a survivor of my hate...His deep Islamic Beliefs Have given him the strength to Forgive the Un-forgiveable...that is truly Inspiring to me, and should be an Example for us all. The Hate, has to stop, we are all in this world together."
Mark Stroman was executed by the State of Texas on July 20, 2011.
And now: another day, another town in America: Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
The first thing to do is stop making the obligatory "Why would anyone do this?" a release valve for our feelings. "Why would anyone do this" should NOT be a rhetorical question. We need to take inventory:
Things we have enough of in this country: Guns, hatred, ignorance.
Things we don't have enough of: Tolerance, compassion, love.
Start from there. Start with the first person who is 'the other' that you see today.
We are a nation of 300 million people. For every 100 Americans there are 90 guns. We believe in individualism, and we believe in demonizing the 'other'. We are a superpower beginning to lose power in the internet age. The images of our rage and impotence are amplified and re-transmitted. They are not allowed to fade, and we see and hear ourselves diminishing. It becomes the soundtrack of our lives.
After 9/11, Frank Roque told friends he was "going to to out and shoot some towel heads." On September 15th, Roque drover to the Phoenix gas station owned by Balbir Singh Sodh. Sodh was planting flowers around the edge of his gas station. Roque shot him 5 times.
Babor Singh Sodh was not an Arab, but Indian. He was not a Muslim, but a Sikh.
When he was arrested Frank Roque reportedly shouted "I am a Patriot!", and "I stand for America all the way!"
Meanwhile, on September 15th in Dallas, Mark Anthony Stroman, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, killed Waqar Hasan, a Pakistani Immigrant. On September 21, Stroman walked into a gas station owned by Rais Bhuiyan, an immigrant from Bangladesh, and asked "Where are you from?". Before Bhuyan could answer, Stroman raised a shotgun and shot him in the face.
Stroman was not captured until after October 4th, when he shot and killed an Indian immigrant, Vasudev Patel. In 2002 Stroller sent a letter from jail to a friend, saying (of himself) Here sits the Arab Slayer. For what he did, we should make him our mayor," he wrote. "… Patriotic, yes indeed, a true American, a special breed."
Rais Bhuyan survived being shot in the face. He is partially blind, penniless from medical bills, and still has 35 shotgun pellets in his face. Rais Bhuyan fought the State of Texas to save Stroman from the death penalty.
Stroman renounced his White Power beliefs. He called Bhuyan "a survivor of my hate...His deep Islamic Beliefs Have given him the strength to Forgive the Un-forgiveable...that is truly Inspiring to me, and should be an Example for us all. The Hate, has to stop, we are all in this world together."
Mark Stroman was executed by the State of Texas on July 20, 2011.
And now: another day, another town in America: Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
The first thing to do is stop making the obligatory "Why would anyone do this?" a release valve for our feelings. "Why would anyone do this" should NOT be a rhetorical question. We need to take inventory:
Things we have enough of in this country: Guns, hatred, ignorance.
Things we don't have enough of: Tolerance, compassion, love.
Start from there. Start with the first person who is 'the other' that you see today.