Last night I got together with some of the people from my old church for a friendly end-of-summer potluck. Anyway, all was going well, until one of the men, who is well-known for his strong political views, made a statement about those "ragheads" over in the Middle East.
Now, this is not the first time he has made bigoted remarks. And apparently no one else seems to be bothered by them because they just let it go by. But I did not. I said to him, "I have relatives who are from the Middle East, and when you talk about 'ragheads', you are talking about my family. And I do not appreciate hearing that kind of talk about members of my family."
You see, he has made a big mistake. He made an assumption. Now, how I came to have Middle Eastern relatives in my family, what their religious affiliation is, and whether or not I myself am of Middle Eastern Islamic descent is irrelevant. What is relevant is that because my relatives are from that part of the world, they are all vulnerable to being called "ragheads" by ignorant bigots like him.
He thinks the problem is "out there." It is not. I am bringing it right here, right now, to this living room. I am throwing it in your face. I am making it personal because it is personal. Call them that, and you call me that. Do you dare?
You pride yourself on your White American Christianity. You brand all Muslims from Malaysia to Morocco as being supporters of terrorism and child-rape just because Fox News tells you so. You have not broke bread with any of these people, you have not sat in class with them, you have not worked alongside of them. But you know what they are like. Well, I say, what about the Ku Klux Klan? Would you agree if someone said all Christians support the actions and words of the KKK? That that is the kind of people those Christians are?
What about the Jesus you worship as God? What would he say about that? You know, he kinda looks like one of those "ragheads" too. So maybe he wouldn't be welcome in your neighborhood either.
And they wonder why I left.
Now, this is not the first time he has made bigoted remarks. And apparently no one else seems to be bothered by them because they just let it go by. But I did not. I said to him, "I have relatives who are from the Middle East, and when you talk about 'ragheads', you are talking about my family. And I do not appreciate hearing that kind of talk about members of my family."
You see, he has made a big mistake. He made an assumption. Now, how I came to have Middle Eastern relatives in my family, what their religious affiliation is, and whether or not I myself am of Middle Eastern Islamic descent is irrelevant. What is relevant is that because my relatives are from that part of the world, they are all vulnerable to being called "ragheads" by ignorant bigots like him.
He thinks the problem is "out there." It is not. I am bringing it right here, right now, to this living room. I am throwing it in your face. I am making it personal because it is personal. Call them that, and you call me that. Do you dare?
You pride yourself on your White American Christianity. You brand all Muslims from Malaysia to Morocco as being supporters of terrorism and child-rape just because Fox News tells you so. You have not broke bread with any of these people, you have not sat in class with them, you have not worked alongside of them. But you know what they are like. Well, I say, what about the Ku Klux Klan? Would you agree if someone said all Christians support the actions and words of the KKK? That that is the kind of people those Christians are?
What about the Jesus you worship as God? What would he say about that? You know, he kinda looks like one of those "ragheads" too. So maybe he wouldn't be welcome in your neighborhood either.
And they wonder why I left.
