January 14, 2016 4:52 AM

Move along, sheeple; no racial double standards here....

Bearded, armed men are occupying government property for “as long as necessary” and they say they’re ready to use violence, if necessary. That’s what the situation in Oregon looks like today. Yet no SWAT team is on the scene and no police officer has fired on the protesters. The only reason for that, argues Wajahat Ali, is that the protesters are not people of color or religious minorities. Ali is a writer, attorney and consultant who writes regularly for The Guardian. He’s the lead author of the investigative report Fear Inc: The Roots of the Islamophobia Network in America…. “If 15 Muslim Americans held up a 7-Eleven while drinking Masala Slurpees, holding BB guns, I think you’d have some presidential candidates right now suggesting that they carpet bomb the parking lot and/or send in a drone strike,” he says.

I suppose if nothing else we should be grateful to the Bundy Brigade for unwittingly spotlighting our collective hypocrisy when it comes to race. Just imagine for a moment how differently events may have proceeded if those who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon were radical, bearded Muslims or Black Lives Matters protestors. Not only would the response from law enforcement and the media been significantly different, but the demands from the public to resolve the matters expeditiously and firmly would be intense.

As it, the wildlife refuge is occupied by a bunch White wannabe soldiers who forgot to bring snacks, guys who carry guns and speak in military acronyms but have no real clue as to how to conduct a military operation more involved than playing with G.I. Joe action figures. They’re described by the media as “armed insurrectionists” or “constitutionalists” or other labels which most definitely wouldn’t be used to describe African-American or Muslim occupiers, who would undoubtedly and with suitable gravitas be described as “terrorists.”

Perhaps it’s time to own up to the truth that we don’t address issues involving race with equal consideration. We need to recognize and admit to the reality that we live by a definition that which holds that folks can’t be terrorists while minorities absolutely can be and in fact are. The fundamental dishonesty we allow media and government to indulge in when it comes to race is as toxic as it is unprincipled. Until we begin to honestly discuss actions such as that undertaken by the Bundy Brigade using the same yardstick regardless of race, we can’t hope to have any hope of reconciliation and greater understanding.

Good luck with that one.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on January 14, 2016 4:52 AM.

When facts become too burdensome and inconvenient.... was the previous entry in this blog.

Worst President EVER...amiright?? is the next entry in this blog.

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