And Now We Can Exhale: White Conservatives Relieved that the Times Square Bomber is a “Pakistani”

[marmar]

via AlterNet:




Posted by Chauncey DeVega at 1:00 pm
May 7, 2010

And Now We Can Exhale: White Conservatives Relieved that the Times Square Bomber is a “Pakistani”


The boo hoo white conservative victimology parade continues…

Black and brown folks share a common experience–the “please God don’t let that criminal/thief/murderer/terrorist be one of us” moment when breaking news appears on the television. Why? Because racial minorities in America are not allowed the luxury of being individuals, and thus, the behavior of one reflects on all.

Now it seems that Jonah Goldberg and other Conservatives can share our pain in the aftermath of the attempted Times Square bombing. Initially, a white man was the suspect, quite likely (a reasonable claim given the near seditious, gun toting histrionics of the Fox News crowd) connected to the militia/tea bagger wing of the Republican Party. Now, a Pakistani American is in custody. Seemingly vindicated for the moment, the tea bag brigands, their Right wing bedfellows in the media, and Vox populi enablers can exhale.

I do wonder if this will be a transformative moment where Goldberg and his kin will now empathize with folks of color who intimately know what it is like to be immediately suspect for committing any crime, in any locale, at any time?

Who knows, perhaps the Right will see the injustice of the Arizona anti-immigration bill and its invitation to harass those who “look like” illegal immigrants? Ultimately, will this moment of white male Conservative anxiety (where they held their breath praying that the Times Square bomber was not one of their own) lead to a sense of what Lani Guiner calls political race–an alliance across the colorline to work towards the common good?

Probably not. But a brother can dream can’t he?


http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/05/07/and-now-we-can-exhale-white-conservatives-relieved-that-the-times-square-bomber-is-a-pakistani/

[bluestateguy]

1. Not so fast

I'm sure they would have loved for him to have been an illegal immigrant; the fact that he is a US citizen puts a bit of a crimp into their narrative.

And the fact that it was another Muslim-American who first tipped off the police to the smoking SUV also seems to have been conveniently ignored.

[oh08dem]

2. In their eyes...

the difference between a "freedom fighter" and a terror loving terrorist is skin color. Plain and simple. They stick up for maniacs like Tim McVeigh and David Koresh, but condemn any person of color that attempts to do the exact same thing.

ALL should be punished equally and fairly.