So, this is a thing that happened.
CBS is reporting that a mosque in northern California received a threatening letter (see above). And this is not an isolated incident.
Right now I’m not incredibly interested in assigning blame for this. To what degree Trump and/or some of his supporters may be responsible — directly or indirectly — for threats like this, I don’t especially care. Whether it was sent as a serious message or as a prank, I don’t know. It’s even possible that some disgruntled crackpot liberal sent the letter to make Trump look bad — although I should emphasize that there’s no evidence of that.
Regardless. Blame is beside the point.
The point is: If you’re a Muslim, how does this make you feel?
Forget “offended,” forget “politically correct.” We’re talking about roughly 3 million Americans who see stuff like this and have to wonder if they and their husbands and wives and children are safe — and if they’re welcome here.
The one good thing about all this is that most Americans, I think, do believe Muslims are welcome here. To quote that CBS article again:
Faisal Yazadi, who is president of the [Islamic] Center’s board of directors, said there has been an outpouring of support from neighbors and from Police Chief Eddie Garcia, a Catholic bishop and the NAACP, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The support made him feel unfazed, he said.
“Without their support I don’t think I’d be talking to you so strongly now,” he said.
I didn’t know anything about this story when my friends and I sent our own letter, but it makes me glad we did.
Brian D. Buckley 