The other day at work, ((Disclaimer: I work for Walmart, and the views expressed in this post may or may not reflect those of Walmart or anyone else but me.)) a fairly long political discussion broke out, largely centered around Barack Obama.
What I found most interesting was the bit about one of my coworker’s family members having had read Dreams from My Father
I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift.
Short and to the point, no?
And if an American politician is saying something like that, that is cause to be concerned. I know I’m grossly simplifying things here, but it’s not terribly difficult to see fundamental differences between so-called “Muslim nations” and “Christian nations.”
Today, I tried to find more information about the quote. Well, turns out that not only was that quote a far-too-paraphrased excerpt of a larger quote, but it also came from an entirely different book!
In actuality, the quote in question comes from The Audacity of Hope, and it goes a little something like this:
Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9⁄11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese interments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.
Bottom line? If American politics got ugly and hatred for Arab or Pakistani (read: not necessarily Muslim!) Americans started to grow, would you want a leader who would stand up for them or who would allow them to suffer the same fates as Japanese Americans did decades ago?
I don’t necessarily support Barack Obama — indeed, I disagree with him strongly on certain issues — but if you’re not going to vote for him, at least vote against him because of truth. ((If truth is not on your side, you’re just wasting your time. Period.))
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