Arab America Mourns Hate-Killings

posted on: Aug 7, 2019

Arab America Stands Unified

Murder and mayhem in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio within 24 hours of each hate-killing have once again wracked our souls in pain and sorrow. 31 killed and many wounded; these people are sacrificial victims of what is in the case of El Paso, most probably a white supremacist hate crime. The shooter there had allegedly produced a screed, “Hispanic invasion of Texas.” Most of the white hate killings over the past decade or more have been caused by extreme loathing of “the other,” meaning non-white people, along with access, legal and illegal, to military-grade arms.

White terrorist crime is considered a domestic crime but, conveniently, a domestic terrorism statute doesn’t exist. Of course, Muslim terrorism, on the other hand, is defined as a federal crime and harshly treated. The U.S. President tries to console the nation by mouthing solemn words from a teleprompter, including thoughts and prayers, falsely blaming such white terrorism on the perpetrator’s mental health condition and on immigration issues. However, we all know where his real sentiments lie.

They are found in his expressions about Mexicans as “rapists…bringing crime; “telling four minority U.S. congresswomen to “go back to the crime-infested places from which they came;” calling white supremacist supporters in Charlottesville, Virginia, among “very fine people”; and, perhaps worst, his presidential order banning Muslims in seven Muslim-majority countries from taking refuge in the U.S. Trump’s 2020 campaign ads on Facebook alone include at least 2,000 instances of labeling immigrants as part of an “invasion.”

President Trump also tried to link these weekend tragedies, at least one of which was likely perpetrated by a white supremacist, to the need for immigration reform. In his speech to the nation, he expressed the need for immigration reform, as if guns had absolutely nothing to do with the weekend murders. As to guns themselves, the House of Representatives has already passed a “Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019,” while the Senate sits on a similar law, “Background Check Expansion Act.” Senate leadership will seemingly do nothing to upset the President’s reelection apple cart, much less anything else to reform our battered country.

The Irony of the Mayhem and Murder for many Arab Americans

In the heat of the recent terrorism, we at Arab America have heard from our Arab American friends and colleagues. They report that they are deeply worried about their children, as well as others’ children. Some say that the very reason they came to America was, “…to escape war and violence in our homelands, to come to what we believed would be a much better place to raise our families.” Others note, ”…America is, unfortunately, becoming worse than some of our homelands from which we escaped.” Furthermore, our Arab American friends have told us, “…we are embarrassed and outraged that the president and members of congress have not put an end to the killing of other fellow Americans.” Arab Americans are signing petitions and outrageously asking their representatives and senators, just like other fellow Americans: When enough is enough?  When are you going to seriously pay attention to hate crimes in America, against people of different religious and ethnic backgrounds? Guns are falling in the hands of the wrong people, what are you going to do about it?

Until these questions begin to get answers, we Arab Americans, along with a large majority of fellow-American citizens, will remain in the dark. Henceforth, let the light shine! 

United We Stand

We at Arab America stand unified to honor the dead and wounded of these and all the other senseless mass murders. We condemn the bigotry, hatred, and racism of those perpetrating and those who actively or tacitly support gun violence. Furthermore, we urge all of our elected representatives to get behind legislation that ends this carnage, regardless of the consequences to their political careers.