It is interesting to compare the racial reaction of this nation to different events.

[The Jungle 1]

Many Americans hated all Muslims and still do.
Many Americans now feel sorry for the russian people.
Both groups were killing innocent people.

[Walleye]

1. Not me. I hate the Russians. Cheating and lying is their national sport

[Wingus Dingus]

4. I've been thinking about the tendency of Russian culture to not place

a high value on honesty or integrity. I think it's a coping mechanism, along with cynicism, to deal with 100-plus years of terrible rulers and dysfunctional government. The expectation that "everyone lies" becomes ingrained, and those who lie/cheat/steal actually do get ahead--there is less value in truth, it won't do you any good, and can even get you punished or killed. Their society is pretty warped.

[Walleye]

5. For 50 years the whole Soviet system was based on propaganda

Anyone raised in that system does not have the same kind of respect for honesty and fair play that we have. They just don’t believe in it. And I’m starting to think the Republicans have taken on the same philosophy

[Wingus Dingus]

6. I don't know that they always buy the bullshit, but it doesn't matter--

that's where the cynicism and low expectations come in, to help with coping. Yes, Republicans also don't value truth, and stopped believing in democracy--they like the authoritarian/strongman model, and will follow wherever it leads, even to the point of trying to thwart democracy and overturn an election for him.

Also just like in Russia and other former Soviet states, they (via Trump) latched onto the cynical "everyone's corrupt and the media always lies" campaign message: drain the swamp! Focus on corruption--that sure is inspiring, isn't it? Really makes me proud and hopeful for the future . I'm old enough to remember when Republicans were optimists who extolled American virtues and our form of government. Now they're trying to make American society more like Russian society: cynical, hopeless, do what you have to do to get by, fuck everyone else.

[Walleye]

8. Yes. This is the systematic destruction of our real values that have sustained us

[Wingus Dingus]

2. I neither hate Muslims nor the Russian people.

Right now the Russian people as a whole aren't exactly my favorite folks, but I know there's many decent Russians who wish this wasn't happening.

[Thomas Hurt]

3. We shouldn't be angry or hating on Muslims or Russians as a country or group, religion...

It is the extremists and government leadership who are responsible for this.

[SoonerPride]

7. I find the framing of this to be problematic

I think I know what you are driving at, but the way it presented is troublesome.

[The Jungle 1]

20. I am just asking fellow Americans for some self examination.

Why did our culture treat these two cultures differently?

[Lancero]

23. Not just in modern times, either. Remember what we did to Japanese-Americans during WWII?

We rounded them up and tossed em into camps in mass, meanwhile German-Americans were left free.

I can certainly think of one pretty big difference between the two groups then, and the two groups now.

[Crunchy Frog]

9. I'm not seeing a whole lot of sympathy for the Russian people.

I certainly don't have any right now.

[The Jungle 1]

22. Me either

But we as Americans are not going out of our way to attack russians the way Muslims in America were attacked.
I should probably say I am not asking for attacks on russians.
A little bit of irony with my use of capitalization: russia / Muslim. I am giving respect to one and not the other. I think I need a walk in the woods.

[Crunchy Frog]

24. Maybe not attacked, but stupid stuff like boycotting the Russian Tea Room.

I definitely think it could happen.

[old as dirt]

10. 4 decades ago

Many Americans hated all Muslims

My wife (now my ex) and I had a friend who was married to an Iranian student here at the university.

Sitting in my office, I could hear the shouts of ”USA! USA! Iranians Go Home!”

There was a restaurant in town with a “Iranians not welcome here” sign.

One day, our friend got into an elevator in the dormitories, and 5 white guys got on with her. By the time the elevator door opened, her face was covered with cuts and bruises, and she had several broken ribs.

We have families. We have friends. We have neighbors. If you don’t like our reactions, tough.

[The Jungle 1]

16. Correct and I have not heard of any russians being treated badly.

Which is what we should examine. Why is the reaction different?

[Caliman73]

11. Human behavior and the human experience are complex. A lot of Americans do not do nuance.

It is "interesting" but not surprising to anyone paying attention, that many Americans would react differently based on skin color, religion, etc...

Rwandan Tutsis faced a genocide of almost a million people in the 90's and the response was underwhelming. The Syrian refugee crisis sparked a major right wing backlash in Europe. We saw with the current situation in Ukraine how many media organizations were presenting the situation as a "difference" being suffered by members of a "European" people or "Civilized" as opposed to those Syrian, or Northern African refugees from a few years ago.

I do not hate Muslims at all. I find flaws within the belief system, but then again I find flaws within all Christian belief systems. I do feel sorry for Russians who are being basically forced to participate in this invasion often under fear of death or imprisonment. I feel sorry for the "boy soldiers" in African nations and other countries who are also threatened, or coerced, or tricked in to fighting in brutal wars, where they commit atrocities. I feel extremely bad for the victims of those atrocities.

We can have complex feelings about situations, BUT we DEFINITELY have to examine our biases and figure out why our reactions are different between groups.

All Muslims did not kill innocent people. Most innocent people killed by Muslims were OTHER MUSLIMS. A very small group of fundamentalist Muslims killed Americans and other foreigners. Similarly Christian groups and individuals have killed people but are NEVER clumped together as a group and blamed collectively. Then again this trend is well explained in Sociology, Social Psychology, and topics like Critical Race Theory, which certain people in this country do not want discussed or taught.

All Russian people are not killing innocents. Some Russians have bought into the propaganda, while many have not and are trying to protest as they can.

[old as dirt]

12. Word of the day: la Escopetarra

César López: Turning Guns into Guitars (Colombia)

Cultures of Resistance Films

Guitarist César López's home country, Colombia, has been plagued by civil war for the past five decades. Conflicts between the state, left-wing guerrillas, and shadowy ranks of for-hire paramilitaries have resulted in entrenched violence. Inspired to make his art part of the solution, López created the escopetarra, a guitar that is made from an AK-47, the most used rifle in the world. As he says, "If the weapon, which was designed to kill, if its use can be changed, then why can't humans change too?" This short film highlights López's efforts to reign in militarism in his country through music and political activism.

[The Jungle 1]

15. That is the examination I am asking for.

How we as Americans reacted to the two groups of people. We as a culture have reacted differently to the two groups.
Given similar circumstances.
I love the statement about human interaction being complicated. Yes very true

[Coventina]

13. Muslims are not a race.

In fact, the majority of Muslims are not Arabs, if that was your point?

This post is rather bizarre.

[The Jungle 1]

14. Well maybe

Race is defined as “a category of humankind that shares certain distinctive physical traits.” The term ethnicities is more broadly defined as “large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background.”
The point of the post was to look at ourselves and think some about the two distinctly different reactions to two "cultures" if you prefer.

[JI7]

17. Islam is an ideology

But the ones that hated all muslims and feel bad for Russians are white xtian racists.

There are liberals that feel bad for Russians that are risking their lives protesting Putin.

[The Jungle 1]

19. Well I had to look up xtian.

Ya got me with that one.
You also nailed my point. We must understand and accept all our racism if we want to move forward and past racism.
I don't like to study so don't make me. :0

[JI7]

18. There were people here that felt bad for Bin Laden being killed

and attacked Obama for it.

[SoonerPride]

21. That sounds about right.

Hopefully it was a very tiny minority.