Peter King owes an Apology | www.AmericansTogether.org
Dallas, Texas, July 7, 2015 – In a Radio address, Congressman Peter King called on fellow Americans to do this, “During the July 4th holidays, if you find any gathering of Americans by the pool, lake, park, or downtown, tell up the police.” I am appalled with such an irresponsible statement.
What if an innocent Sikh family is visiting New York and taking pictures? What if it is a Hispanic family? What if a Christian Lebanese or even Brigitte Gabriel is videotaping the parade? Could it be a Jewish family from Israel with an accent visiting the park to see what is going on? Is this racism in disguise? This is not a Muslim issue, this is an American issue.
This kind of fear mongering and pitting one American against the other can create chaos and destroy the social fabric of America. Is this what we want as Americans? If he is pandering to some group, as a responsible citizen he should tell them that it would be wrong to create chaos; it is not good for anyone in the long haul.
His exact words are, “... To a large extent, to the Muslim community in this region, because there is a threat, there is going to be something happening, it’s going to come from the Muslim community. So they among all others should, should they see something, if they see someone who is new to the neighborhood, who they don’t belong there or its unusual for him to be there, hard to be there, if they hear of any talk of anything happening, if they see different groups, gathering, tell up the police….”
Thank God he fell flat on his face, as he did that once before when he investigated Mosques in New York and did not find any material evidence. Indeed, most of the arrests of suspects by the FBI in recent years have been reported by American Muslim.
We want Representative King to know this clearly – American Muslims are heck of a lot more loyal to America than the average Joe, the freedom they cherish must be praised and appreciated. They have suffered more by the damned terrorist than any other group. In fact, they get it both ways – accusation for the acts they did not commit, and the brunt of the hate mongering that such irresponsible statements create. To know more about American Muslims, we urge Rep. Peter King to read our press release in the Op-ed News entitled “ Muslims and Americans: a shared heritage since July 4, 1776. ”
Representative King has violated two principles – innocent until proven guilty and pitting one American against the other.
Of course, it is the duty of all citizens to maintain law and order and protect the homeland. Hate is one of the many sources of disrupting the peace in a society and it is our duty to track down the source of such hate and work hard on mitigating it. Congressman Peter King knowingly or unknowingly appears to have become a source of racism and hate speech. We appeal to his civility as a good American and an elected official to apologize.
This is an American issue and we need to put an end to this kind of rhetoric from the elected officials. My safety and security hinges on ensuring the same for others around me. No American needs to live in apprehension or fear of the other. An apology by Rep. Peter King is the right thing to do in order to promote civic and racial harmony in America.
Quote1: "As Americans we demand an apology from Representative Peter King for recklessly pitting one American against the others. We will take a stand against all those whose mouths run loose." Mike Ghouse
Quote2: "African American and Jewish bashing is officially gone, now it is time to rid GLBT, Mexicans and Muslims bashing. Peter King’s language is not acceptable." Mike Ghouse
Mike is president of America Together Foundation; he is a speaker, thinker, writer, pluralist, TV-Radio commentator and a human rights activist committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His info in 63 links at MikeGhouse.net and writings at TheGhouseDiary.com
References:
- Radio Message - https://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5800/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=12853
- Global Research - http://www.globalresearch.ca/non-muslims-carried-out-more-than-90-of-all-terrorist-attacks-in-america/5333619
- Muslims and Americans: a shared heritage since July 4, 1776. http://www.opednews.com/articles/Muslims-and-Americans-a-s-by-Mike-Ghouse-American-History_American-Muslims_Declaration-Of-Independence_Democracy-150702-786.html
