Skeptical of discrimination against muslims

Although this is about my latest diary on DKos, I find this touches on skepticism more than politics. First off, the story is about an African-American muslim who has alleged sexual harassment while at a university in Connecticut, that the admins did nothing to help, and that they reported bogus rumors that she was a terrorist to the FBI in retaliation when she reported the harassment to the police.

Now, I harbor no particular sympathy for islam or its adherents in general. But I’d have to be blind to the wave of antipathy towards muslims in America since 9/11. In fact I am not blind, although my prescription is pretty strong.

Likewise, although I do not have to believe in the allegations, it is enough for me that I find them believable.

Nevertheless, it was interesting that a few Kossacks (out of the few that ever read what I write, heh) decided to piss all over the diary with their skepticism and dismissal. You’d think that the muslim in question must be a loony, and me as well for even mentioning it, for that matter.

I see the pattern of skepticism and dismissal in other areas as they relate to discrimination, like the treatment of the Skepchicks in the wake of their ‘elevator-gate’. Skepticism seems to become a shield of sorts, allowing all manner of callous and denigrating remarks in the name of ‘wait and see.’ Ignoring the pattern, in this case, of anti-muslim discrimination, crime and violence.

I guess today I’m for listening to a complaint about discrimination, at the risk of looking a touch gullible. It’s strange – I don’t think of myself as that empathetic. Still don’t, really.

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