Erroneous Assumptions

Image credit: Aaron Tang/Flickr

It's unlikely in the extreme that anyone who needs to be exposed to this information will be reading this blog, but I'll pass it on anyway. First off, that guy who was tackled by bystanders yesterday for looking Muslim didn't have anything to do with the Boston Marathon bombings:

The Saudi Arabian man whose apartment was searched by Boston Marathon bombing investigators is not a person of interest in the continuing search for the persons responsible for Monday’s terrorist attack.

“He has been checked out,’’ said a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. “He is not involved. He is just a victim.’’

Sources: Revere man not suspected in Boston Marathon bombings

Whoever it turns out to be, let's put that one to rest, shall we? And maybe we can note the law enforcement official's phrase "He is just a victim."

While we're on the subject of Muslims in Boston, a Huffington Post article notes:

Security officials at Boston's largest mosque requested police to guard its campus in the wake of Monday's deadly explosions at the Boston Marathon, a sobering reminder that Muslims in the U.S. often face threats after alleged terrorist attacks.

...

"We're Bostonians - we mourn with the city," said Suhaib Webb, the Oklahoma-born imam who leads the congregation. "We stand in support with the city, with the victims. We're hurt, equally shocked and equally pissed off."

The relationship that a Muslim community has with the city it inhabits can often be tested in the aftermath of acts of terror. But in the immediate aftermath of the Boston Marathon attacks, the prevailing sentiment inside this mosque was of shared grief rather than instinctive distrust.

Boston's Largest Mosque: 'We're Bostonians -- We Mourn With The City'

And this Twitter message came from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) yesterday:

Twitter message from CAIR, April 15, 2013

If you visit the byline link, you'll notice that at least one bigot made sure to explain how CAIR is a front for the Muslim League of World Conquest, or whatever. Nice to know ignorant clowns are everywhere, making sure we don't slip up and assume people are innocent until proved guilty, or some equally soft-headed liberal notion.

In short, American Muslims think the bombing sucks, too. That ought to be enough to let various folks, including Sam Harris, know how stupid it is to be profiling people because of how they look, but I'm sure it won't. Prejudice is pretty powerful, and it doesn't have the power it does because the people who have it are used to examining their assumptions. After all, smart people with Ph.D.s shouldn't have to accept the idea that they might be wrong, should they?

Image credit: OverpassLightBrigade/Twitpic

Now, I'm done with this subject, at least until something useful turns up.

UPDATE (Apr. 18): FireDogLake contributor CTuttle dropped by to let me know that the "Aloha Boston" sign in that last photograph was the work of Occupy Hilo. Good, work, OH.