You have succeeded in your quest

Submitted by mohamed (United States), Mar 15, 2006 at 10:26

Dear Mr. Pipes,

History will remember you as the man who started the slippery slide into decades of discrimination and harassment and second class citizens status for Muslims in this country. You demonize their religions, you question their allegiance and very soon everyone start treating them like second-class citizens. They hold a US passport, yet they get treated with suspicion everywhere. They are stuck between two worlds, none of which will accept them. They can't go back to their home country because they grew up here and people back home see them as "too Western". They are not accepted here because there is always a chance that they can turn against us. The next steps is for the general populace to start thinking like you. Then politicians (who of course need to check which way the wind is blowing before doing anything) will pass laws targeted specifically at them. They get finger printed. They get arrested on suspicion of terrorist activity, held incognito for months without charge and if and when the government goes to court and has no crime to charge them with, it comes up with the old immigration violation trump card. It matters none that there are 10 million illegal Mexicans in this country and none of them get arrested.

This is personal to me. My son was beaten up because of his heritage. So thank you for making me question whether this country will ever accept me after 30 years here. Thank-you for making my son (who should feel 100% proud American), question whether he wants to spend the rest of his life here.

Bravo.

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