During the 1960’s, I was a little girl growing up in the South. Prior to and during the Civil Rights movement, I witnessed blatant prejudices against African Americans. Though I was very young, I was a good reader. I remember signs that said “no coloreds” hanging over water fountains, and posted in restaurant windows. I didn’t understand what was wrong with black people and why white people were so nasty to them. I wanted to tell them I was sorry. I wasn’t sure what for exactly, except I knew I was privy to things that they weren’t allowed to enjoy.

It made me sad and ashamed.

In high school, I was exposed to another kind of discrimination, far more deadly. Our World History teacher ran a couple of weeks of World War II news reels depicting the atrocities of Nazi Germany. Day after day there were box cars stuffed to the rafters with Jews on their way to death camps, skeletal faces whose bodies were too starved to be saved, and inmates digging mass graves for piles of deceased friends and family; or for themselves.

I could barely wrap my mind around such hatefulness.

As a society we’ve had lots of hiccups over the years, when we haven’t treated each other as we should. But a recent story reminded me of the sort of intolerance I remember from long ago.

And it scares me.

The spotlight is on a Muslim community center scheduled to be built two blocks from Ground Zero; an area held sacred by thousands who lost loved ones when Muslim extremists from Al-Qaeda flew two separate airliners into the World Trade Center Towers. It was a day that no one will ever forget; September 11, 2001.

After the initial announcement about the community center, fur began to fly. There was blame cast on everyone from Barack Obama to Spongebob Squarepants for allowing the construction permit to be issued.

"Freedom of assembly is the right of all Americans," declared a brave Muslim citizen at a May 26^th Manhattan Community Board meeting.

Amid heckling and boos, a woman hollered, "Not at the World Trade Center!"

Public opinion hasn’t softened much since that meeting. In fact the voices are getting louder.

In spite of what is arguably a poor location, the Muslims do have every right to build there.

The United States Constitution says so in the First Amendment.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Last week I read a Facebook post from someone who had lost dear friends in the 9-11 attacks. She was understandably frustrated by government’s inability to do anything to stop the building of the Muslim community center. There was a plethora of commentary from various “friends” following her post; mostly angry inaccuracies spelled out or misspelled in capital letters denoting rage, and of course there was finger pointing at Barack Obama.

I should have known better to stick my oar in. They were already loaded for bear after slamming the President. (After all it’s his fault for everything that goes wrong in this country. If the sun isn’t out, if a bird craps on someone’s car, if it’s raining in Seattle, if McDonald’s shorts a drive thru customer’s lunch order, you can bet that Barack Obama had something to do with it.) 

But, I’m not always as smart as I should be. I offered my two cents worth, because I firmly believe that ignorance is dangerous.

SO I posted a kind, but well worded comment reminding all discussion participants of the First Amendment that guarantees freedom of religion. Like it or not, the Muslims have the right to build where they want in accordance with the law. I also said that the President was obligated to uphold the Constitution of the United States per his oath of office. If the Constitution and local ordinances say the Muslims can have a building permit, then it’s a done deal.

A few hours later someone who I never met before sent me a Facebook message calling me a “Hussein lover” (referring to Barack “Hussein” Obama) and gave me an ass chewing like I’d never experienced before in my life.

The reason?

I didn’t side with them. I sided with the law of the land.

Oh, and I was informed that I am anti-American too.  

(In case you didn’t know it, Facebook is fast becoming THE place to get a black eye.)

I didn’t lose a loved one in the 9-11 attacks as so many others did. I can’t begin to imagine how devastating it must have been for the families to watch each tower collapse in a fiery barreling cloud of dust and wreckage; knowing what was happening inside. It was hard enough for the rest of us to watch. I don’t think I stopped crying for two days after it happened.

No doubt when the families heard about the Muslim project, there were a lot of mixed emotions. Some probably felt like they’d been slapped in the face.

Yet the law, our law says that in spite of public sentiment, the project can go forth as planned.  

On August 14, 2010, President Obama said “In this country we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion." 

Nice words, but in real life we often fall short of that goal.

To intimate that all American Muslims are radical jihadists is not only stupid, but it goes against everything that we are as a country. With few exceptions, we all came from somewhere else; either recently or generations ago. Even within ethnic or religious groups there is diversity. America is a melting pot, and it’s our multiplicity that adds to our tenacity and strength.

What if the hijackers on 9-11 were Southern Baptists instead of Muslims? Would we assume that those responsible were an exception to the rule, an isolated band of dangerous crack pots? Or would we state that the entire Southern Baptist denomination was a cauldron of evil, and punish all members for the actions of a few?

If we stop Muslims from building two blocks away from Ground Zero based on what is or is not in good taste, what comes next? More controls, more censorship. Open that door a crack, and we may not like what comes back through it to bite us when some of our freedoms are revoked. 

I found the remarks of Colleen Kelly particularly intriguing. She lives in the Bronx, and lost her brother Bill Kelly, Jr. in the 9-11 attacks. 

She supports the Muslim’s right to build.

“The mosque is in many ways ... a fitting tribute. This is the voice of Islam that I believe needs a wider audience," said Kelly, who is Catholic. "This is what moderate Islam is all about."

Imagine that. If a woman who paid the ultimate price on 9-11 can forgive as well as see the inherent good in a group of people that so many Americans fear, then perhaps we should give it a try too.

Michelle Close Mills ©

During the 1960’s, I was a little girl growing up in the South. Prior to and during the Civil Rights movement, I witnessed blatant prejudices against African Americans. Though I was very young, I was a good reader. I remember signs that said “no coloreds” hanging over water fountains, and posted in restaurant windows. I didn’t understand what was wrong with black people and why white people were so nasty to them. I wanted to tell them I was sorry. I wasn’t sure what for exactly, except I knew I was privy to things that they weren’t allowed to enjoy.

It made me sad and ashamed.

In high school, I was exposed to another kind of discrimination, far more deadly. Our World History teacher ran a couple of weeks of World War II news reels depicting the atrocities of Nazi Germany. Day after day there were box cars stuffed to the rafters with Jews on their way to death camps, skeletal faces whose bodies were too starved to be saved, and inmates digging mass graves for piles of deceased friends and family; or for themselves.

I could barely wrap my mind around such hatefulness.

As a society we’ve had lots of hiccups over the years, when we haven’t treated each other as we should. But a recent story reminded me of the sort of intolerance I remember from long ago.

And it scares me.

The spotlight is on a Muslim community center scheduled to be built two blocks from Ground Zero; an area held sacred by thousands who lost loved ones when Muslim extremists from Al-Qaeda flew two separate airliners into the World Trade Center Towers. It was a day that no one will ever forget; September 11, 2001.

After the initial announcement about the community center, fur began to fly. There was blame cast on everyone from Barack Obama to Spongebob Squarepants for allowing the construction permit to be issued.

"Freedom of assembly is the right of all Americans," declared a brave Muslim citizen at a May 26^th Manhattan Community Board meeting.

Amid heckling and boos, a woman hollered, "Not at the World Trade Center!"

Public opinion hasn’t softened much since that meeting. In fact the voices are getting louder.

In spite of what is arguably a poor location, the Muslims do have every right to build there.

The United States Constitution says so in the First Amendment.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Last week I read a Facebook post from someone who had lost dear friends in the 9-11 attacks. She was understandably frustrated by government’s inability to do anything to stop the building of the Muslim community center. There was a plethora of commentary from various “friends” following her post; mostly angry inaccuracies spelled out or misspelled in capital letters denoting rage, and of course there was finger pointing at Barack Obama.

I should have known better to stick my oar in. They were already loaded for bear after slamming the President. (After all it’s his fault for everything that goes wrong in this country. If the sun isn’t out, if a bird craps on someone’s car, if it’s raining in Seattle, if McDonald’s shorts a drive thru customer’s lunch order, you can bet that Barack Obama had something to do with it.) 

But, I’m not always as smart as I should be. I offered my two cents worth, because I firmly believe that ignorance is dangerous.

SO I posted a kind, but well worded comment reminding all discussion participants of the First Amendment that guarantees freedom of religion. Like it or not, the Muslims have the right to build where they want in accordance with the law. I also said that the President was obligated to uphold the Constitution of the United States per his oath of office. If the Constitution and local ordinances say the Muslims can have a building permit, then it’s a done deal.

A few hours later someone who I never met before sent me a Facebook message calling me a “Hussein lover” (referring to Barack “Hussein” Obama) and gave me an ass chewing like I’d never experienced before in my life.

The reason?

I didn’t side with them. I sided with the law of the land.

Oh, and I was informed that I am anti-American too.  

(In case you didn’t know it, Facebook is fast becoming THE place to get a black eye.)

I didn’t lose a loved one in the 9-11 attacks as so many others did. I can’t begin to imagine how devastating it must have been for the families to watch each tower collapse in a fiery barreling cloud of dust and wreckage; knowing what was happening inside. It was hard enough for the rest of us to watch. I don’t think I stopped crying for two days after it happened.

No doubt when the families heard about the Muslim project, there were a lot of mixed emotions. Some probably felt like they’d been slapped in the face.

Yet the law, our law says that in spite of public sentiment, the project can go forth as planned.  

On August 14, 2010, President Obama said “In this country we treat everybody equally and in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion." 

Nice words, but in real life we often fall short of that goal.

To intimate that all American Muslims are radical jihadists is not only stupid, but it goes against everything that we are as a country. With few exceptions, we all came from somewhere else; either recently or generations ago. Even within ethnic or religious groups there is diversity. America is a melting pot, and it’s our multiplicity that adds to our tenacity and strength.

What if the hijackers on 9-11 were Southern Baptists instead of Muslims? Would we assume that those responsible were an exception to the rule, an isolated band of dangerous crack pots? Or would we state that the entire Southern Baptist denomination was a cauldron of evil, and punish all members for the actions of a few?

If we stop Muslims from building two blocks away from Ground Zero based on what is or is not in good taste, what comes next? More controls, more censorship. Open that door a crack, and we may not like what comes back through it to bite us when some of our freedoms are revoked. 

I found the remarks of Colleen Kelly particularly intriguing. She lives in the Bronx, and lost her brother Bill Kelly, Jr. in the 9-11 attacks. 

She supports the Muslim’s right to build.

“The mosque is in many ways ... a fitting tribute. This is the voice of Islam that I believe needs a wider audience," said Kelly, who is Catholic. "This is what moderate Islam is all about."

Imagine that. If a woman who paid the ultimate price on 9-11 can forgive as well as see the inherent good in a group of people that so many Americans fear, then perhaps we should give it a try too.

Michelle Close Mills ©