This past Sunday, roughly 300 protesters gathered in Times Square to protest a Congressional hearing being run by Republican Congressman Peter King, from Long Island.
The hearing in question was controversial due to its focus on Islamic terrorists. The protesters believed that it was Islamophobic to single out Muslims, and that the hearing should've focused on terrorism as a whole rather than extremists from one specific faith.
The Spectrum agrees with the protesters. To have a hearing that specifically targets Muslims is blatant Islamphobia. While we acknowledge that some prominent terrorists have identified as Muslims, there are plenty of terrorists who belong to other faiths. To single out Islam is just wrong.
Of course, if we learned anything from the "Ground Zero Mosque" controversy that erupted last year, it's that Islamophobia is rampant in this country. In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, many Americans still associate Islam with terrorism, and vice versa.
Considering it's been nearly a decade since those attacks, we should've gotten over these fears long ago. At this point, it should be readily evident to all Americans that the beliefs and actions of some Islamic extremists do not represent the views of most Muslims.
Unfortunately, that is not the case. As the aforementioned Manhattan Protests and the incredibly offensive "Burn a Koran Day" events last year proved to us, many Americans have yet to let go of their post-9/11 fears.
While that in and of itself is problematic, they have the right to those beliefs. As we stated in our editorial about the Westboro Baptist Church last week, people in this country can believe what they want, regardless of how stupid it is.
What makes this form of Islamophobia especially troubling, however, is that it's coming from Congress. We are seeing our elected leaders discriminate against a specific group of people based on their religion. That goes against every principle America was founded on.
While politicians like King deserve their share of blame for things like this, at the end of the day, the onus lies with us, the American people. We are the ones who put bigoted politicians like King into power. It is up to us to elect leaders who will truly represent all the people, and not target any specific group based on race or creed.
If Congress wants to combat terrorism, it should be looking to take on terrorists as a whole, not targeting one group based on its religion. Congressional hearings like this will only allow ignorant, Islamophobic beliefs to continue their stronghold on this country's political climate.
Some people may be dumb enough to believe all or most terrorists are Muslims, but our elected leaders should know better. More importantly, we need to start electing people who know better.
