【Mingdi】
Author: Bai Fan (Unit: Institute of Frontier Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
Since the end of March 2021, the United States has taken the lead in leading the governments and news media of Western countries to hype the "Xinjiang cotton issue" in China, recklessly accusing it of so-called "forced labor", violating human rights, and even slandering the existence of "religious discrimination" against Islam in China. The United States and its Western allies have used this ulterior motive to smear China, intending to incite friendly relations between China and Muslim countries while posing the United States and the West as protectors of Muslims. In response to this hypocritical performance by the United States, Iranian Ambassador to China Keshawarzzadeh said in an exclusive interview with the Global Times reporter on April 14 about the so-called "Xinjiang Cotton Incident" concocted by the United States and the West, "Since 2001, the United States has launched wars and military acts in about 80 countries around the world in the name of combating terrorism, taking more than 800,000 lives, including 330,000 civilians, and causing tens of millions of people in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other countries to leave their homes and be displaced." "So if the United States really cares about the rights of Muslims, it should deeply apologize to these Islamic countries and stop killing Muslims by bombing their territories." The fact that the United States is the greatest perpetrator of the Muslim nation of the modern world has been exposed. Curiously, however, the United States is full of malice towards Muslim countries, so does it care about the protection of its Own Muslim citizens? If we look deeper, we can still find a disgraceful fact that "hostility to Muslims" is actually a long-standing political tradition in the United States since its founding.
Slavery for Religion: Discrimination against Muslims in the United States is engraved in the DNA of its founding
As we all know, the problem of racial discrimination in the United States is deeply rooted, but the fact that religious discrimination against Muslims in the United States actually coexists with its racial discrimination is slightly hidden. In February 2015, then-U.S. President Barack Obama spoke at the International Counterterrorism Summit at the White House in which he mentioned that "Islam has been intertwined with this country since the beginning of the nation." It lifted an ugly lid that had long been hidden in The History of the United States, causing an uproar in the United States. The political discrimination and oppression of Muslims in the United States coincides with its founding history, and the roots of this story are also rooted in the evil slave trade in the Americas. Historically, many parts of Africa have been conquered by the Arab Empire, so the Islamic faith has a considerable influence in Africa. Thus, there were many Muslims among the African slaves trafficked to the Americas, and it is speculated that the number of Muslims who were brought into the country as slaves in the 18th century was about the same as the number of followers of many other religions at that time. Obama is pointing to a history that white American elites have been deliberately hiding.
If this story stops there, the enslavement of Muslims in the United States is only a collateral consequence of racial discrimination. However, as a Virginia decree of 1682 declared, "Negroes, Moors, mestizos, etc., as well as those born in non-believers, idolaters, non-believers, Islamic families or kingdoms, may be purchased, resold or otherwise acquired as slaves, whether now or in the future." The decree makes it very clear that the "legitimacy" of the enslavement of those of the Islamic faith is specified. The American journalist and novelist Peter Mansoe also pointed out that "the original slave law actually emphasized the beliefs of forced laborers rather than the color of the skin." In short, discrimination against the Muslim faith, like the deep-rooted racist ideas in the United States, has been deeply imprinted in the DNA of The founding of the United States from the very beginning.
The fear of trafficking in Muslims remains a good play for the current American political elite
On March 21, 2019, a 55-year-old man in the United States named Patrick Carinho called the office of U.S. Muslim congresswoman Ilhan Omar, the Guardian reported. Carinho spoke fiercely to the phone worker and said, "Do you work for the Muslim Brotherhood?" Why do you work for her? She's a terrorist, and I'm going to shoot her in the head. "Why is American society so hostile to Muslims so hostile to Muslims who dare to make such a death threat to a Muslim who has the status of a congressman? According to a 2017 Pew Research Center survey, the U.S. Muslim population has reached 3.45 million, or about 1.1 percent of the U.S. population, and the vast majority of them (92 percent) still believe in the "American Dream." Supposedly, the American Muslim community with such a high degree of recognition of the United States should not invite the Omar-esque dilemma, but the reality is so cruel! According to a 2019 Pew survey, 82 percent of U.S. adults acknowledged that Muslims in the U.S. were discriminatory, and 56 percent of them believed that U.S. Muslims suffered severe discrimination.
Why are American Muslims in such a bad position in the United States? The reason for this is closely related to the fear of Muslims that the POST-9/11 U.S. political elite and the media have occasionally hyped up. Former U.S. President Trump, who has just left office, is one of the most famous politicians who hype up Muslim fears. In early 2017, shortly after he took office as president, Trump signed an executive order restricting citizens of seven countries with predominantly Muslim populations from entering the United States. Trump's move is undoubtedly based on religious bias, and Trump's religious prejudice against American Muslims is consistent. Just hours after the arrest of Carinho, who threatened to kill Omar, Trump specifically mentioned Omar in a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, where he actually said: "Oh, I forgot, she didn't like Israel, I'm sorry." She doesn't like Israel, right? Trump's sarcastic comments about Omar sparked laughter among Jewish Republicans present. This scene is a good confirmation of the judgment of the Pew report that investigated the situation of American Muslims in 2017, who is discriminating against American Muslims? The report concludes that "Republicans, white evangelical Christians and less educated people in the United States currently have the deepest stereotypes about Muslims and Islam."
It can be seen that in the action of discriminating against American Muslims, Trump is not fighting alone, but whether among civilians or politicians, he has a huge ally army, and they support each other in the ugly act of stigmatizing American Muslims. Although American Muslims have their hearts set on the United States, it is difficult to resist the influence of the political operations of American politicians to sell Muslim fears, and as a result, they have to be in an unfavorable situation in the United States: "I would have set my heart on the bright moon, but the moon would shine in the ditch."
Now, we can clearly see that in both historical and contemporary realities, the United States' hostility to the Islamic faith, and thus its discrimination against the American Muslim community, is its deep-rooted political tradition, and this ugly spiritual inheritance is truly heinous. However, under such circumstances, the US political circles and media went so far as to wantonly hype up the existence of "religious discrimination" against Muslims in our country, which is obviously the act of the wicked first suing and the thief shouting to catch the thief. We should always be vigilant against such despicable tactics used by the United States, and if necessary, resolutely counter them, and expose this American hypocrisy to the public at home and to people with conscience around the world.
Guangming Daily (2021.07.11.08 edition)
Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily