MOHAMMED AZHAR ALI KHAN President Barack Obama said he was “heartbroken" by the horrible attack on a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin that killed six innocent people. Most people would agree it's tragic that a holy place was violated and worshippers slain by a racist or bigot, or however one describes Wade Michael Page – his arm had a tattoo commemorating the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack in the US. However, two weeks earlier James Holmes murdered a dozen people at a movie house in Aurora, Colorado. Holmes had not targeted people of a different faith but average citizens. When confronted by such a tragedy, we think of the US as a violent society ruled by the gun lobby. We recall the killings of Abraham Lincoln, John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., the Columbine high school massacre, the Jonesboro killings and other murders in malls, high schools and other public places. Americans still cringe at the thought of Charles Manson, whose cult followers in the 1960s murdered celebrities Sharon Tate and others. In reality, modern communications amplify crimes as well as inaugurations, sports, cultural events and the like. The US, with its population of 311 million very diverse people, does experience violence but it's safer, for its common people, than many countries. However, from its infancy, the US has been beset by contradictions – a haven for the persecuted as well as a hotbed of crime. America's Founding Fathers portrayed the country as a promised land for the persecuted where everyone had the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But those leaders themselves owned slaves and concubines and treated them as sub-human without any compunction. It took a civil war to rid the US of the scourge of slavery. American leaders' affirmation of justice and rule of law also did not deter them from grabbing the lands of the Aboriginals, the so-called Red Indians, whom the white people termed as savages though it was the white man's savagery, theft and killings that devastated them. US leaders also had no hesitation in seizing the lands of neighboring countries, forcing on them unjust treaties and exploiting their resources. They ousted leaders of countries who had dared to seek justice for their people. The history of the US and of Mexico, Panama, Chile, Guatemala and other Latin countries records this saga. That's the US – a symbol of independence and democracy, which generously assisted other countries facing food shortages or poverty, fought world wars in defense of freedom, hosted and provided the bulk of the funding for the United Nations and welcomed millions of immigrants and granted them equal rights as citizens. But it's also a country where gangsters thrived, slavery flourished, corruption was omnipresent, and the Ku Klux Klan segregated and burned black people, and it is a country which bullied other countries, exploited them and killed or ousted their leaders – while proclaiming itself as the land of milk and honey and of freedom and democracy. Most Americans are decent. But the country has its share of bigots and racists. So while the country elected a president who is black, has a Muslim name and came from humble origins, its black population suffers far more from severe unemployment, crime, discrimination and police harassment than the white population does. Blacks face discrimination even in religion and a church in Jackson, Mississippi this month refused a black couple's request to get married in its sanctuary. After an uproar, it apologized. Millions of Muslims live in the US in peace and security but they also suffer discrimination and ridicule. This intensified after 9/11, but some church leaders, politicians and the media demonized Muslims long before that attack. Americans blasted OPEC and portrayed oil-producing countries as greedy even though the revenue the oil-producing nations received represented a fraction of the taxes the Western governments collected on that oil. Meanwhile, Americans never considered themselves greedy when they charged astronomical amounts for their goods and services. Some American leaders emphasize that most Muslims are constructive and that Islam preaches human brotherhood, justice and peace. But many media pundits, church leaders and politicians habitually vilify Muslims and Islam for the crimes of a few. They never blame all Christians and Jews for the extremism of some Christians and Jews. American media and leaders never seriously analyze their own policies which harm millions of people in other countries, including those in the Middle East. This approach deludes them into believing that those who oppose US policies are not victims of American policies but are jealous of the American way of life which is what drives them to seek to harm the US. This demonizing of Islam and Muslims aids racists and bigots, fuels Islamophobia in America and produces tragedies such as the one in Wisconsin. The Council on American-Islamic Relations reports that since 2010 at least 88 American mosques have been targeted by hate. In Joplin, Missouri, a suspicious fire destroyed the Islamic Society's mosque. – Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a retired Canadian journalist, civil servant and refugee judge. He has received the Order of Canada, Order of Ontario, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Award and the Queen's Golden Jubilee Award.
