The politics of fear
Living as we do in this part of the country, it’s not unusual to see people easily identified as Amish. Though not all followers of the sects known to us collectively by that name dress distinctively, many adhere strictly to codes of dress, lifestyle and behavior that quite obviously distinguish them: traveling in horse-drawn buggies, living without electricity, bearded men in broad-brimmed hats, women wearing long dresses and bonnets.
We may not understand their desire for simplicity and attachment to tradition, but we respect their right to dress and worship as they please, because this is a country where freedom of religion is not just tolerated but enshrined in law, guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution.
We can’t imagine anyone insulting these people in public for looking different.
And so we should all be alarmed some recent immigrants living in this area have been made fearful and subjected to rude and aggressive treatment in public for the way they dress and speak, as was related in a front-page article in last Sunday’s Observer-Reporter.
The Literacy Council of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s English as a Second Language program has 87 students from countries all over the globe. They are learning the language of their new home, many of them hoping to become proficient enough to study for citizenship – training that is also offered by the Literacy Council.
Kris Drach, the council’s director, said, “Our Iraqi student, whose husband was a U.S. Army interpreter during the war and who was subsequently brought here for his safety and is a U.S. citizen, has people saying ‘f… you’ to her in Walmart (she wears a scarf with Western clothing).”
Muslims have been immigrating to the United States since the 1840s, and there are currently about 12 million in this country. The Pentagon estimates more than 5,000 are currently serving in the military.
They are as much a part of America as anyone else, and it is wrong they should all be subjected to suspicion and discrimination for the mass murders in this country by a handful of radicalized killers.
Some politicians, hoping to transform fear and ignorance into votes, are fanning the flames of prejudice. Their shameful behavior should be seen for what it is: un-American.