Thank you Aftab On Wed, May 12, 2010 at 1:35 PM, Afthab Ellath <aftha...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Obama, please phone the Muslim ’street vendor hero’ too > > * > http://newyorknewstoday.com/obama-please-phone-the-muslim-street-vendor-hero-too/021152 > * > > *Editor’s note: Hamid Dabashi is the author of “Iran: A People > Interrupted.” He is the Hagop Kevorkian professor of Iranian studies and > comparative literature at Columbia University in New York. * > > *New York (CNN)* — Dear Mr. President: How good of you, sir, to have > personally telephoned two New York heroes whose timely diligence prevented a > lunatic from causing a catastrophe in Times Square. > > We New Yorkers are happy to hear you called Mr. Lance L. Orton Sr. and Mr. > Duane Jackson to thank them for their vigilance. But there is a third > vendor, Mr. President, whom you forgot to call. His name is Alioune B. > Niass, and he is an immigrant from Somalia who said he was the first person > to notice the smoking Nissan Pathfinder. > > “I thought I should call 911,” Niass later told a reporter, “but my English > is not very good and I had no credit left on my phone, so I walked over to > Lance, who has the T-shirt stall next to mine, and told him. He said we > shouldn’t call 911. Immediately he alerted a police officer nearby.” > > Here in New York, Mr. President, we are not particular about which one of > these great New Yorkers saw that deadly car first, alerted the police and > prevented a disaster. The Big Apple has a big heart, and the magnificent > city of New York has room for plenty of heroes. But we are also very fair > people. So we would be grateful if you could kindly call Mr. Niass and thank > him for us. > > There is another reason besides fairness. Mr. Niass is a Muslim from > Somalia, and some of us Muslim-Americans have a suspicion that your staff > might not have brought him to your attention because the idea of a Muslim > hero in New York does not quite dovetail with the stereotype. > > If there is an American of Muslim descent who commits, or tries to commit, > a criminal act, as Faisal Shahzad apparently did, we Muslims feel we are all > suddenly suspects. We feel we need to explain ourselves. Yet if there is a > hero among us whose love for our city does not fit the stereotype, he is > ignored. This is not fair, and we believe you, as our president, can do much > to alleviate this burden on us and our children. > > Imagine millions of Muslim children who go to school across America every > day, just like your own children. Imagine how proud they would feel if you > were to call Mr. Niass. That pride of place, that we and our children > deserve, would go a long way to alleviating the pain of the bigotry and > racism that is aimed at us. We too would feel at home here and be even more > diligent in safeguarding and protecting our cities from criminal atrocities. > > You recall, Mr. President, during your presidential campaign you were, and > still are, repeatedly “accused” of being a Muslim — as if being a Muslim > were a crime. We were hoping every time you denied being a Muslim that you > would add, “and if I were a Muslim, there is nothing wrong with it.” > > Finally, it was former Secretary of State Colin Powell who came out and > said so when answering people who claimed you are Muslim: “He’s a Christian; > has always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, ‘What if he is? > Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country?’” We were > relieved and grateful. > > We, too, Mr. President, are America. We have our share of criminals > amongst us, as do any other people. But we are not all terrorists, and we > are tired of feeling false guilt or shame every time a criminal among us > does something insane and stupid. We are ordinary people — soldiers and > scientists, scholars and students, homemakers and teachers, businessmen and > lawyers, physicians and engineers, greengrocers and vendors. And you are our > president too. > > We who claim Mr. Niass as one of our own also have a dream. We dream that > our children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by > the faith of their forefathers but by the content of their character. > > When the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — the visionary who said these > immortal words I paraphrase — uttered that phrase for the first time in > 1963, scarcely anyone could have imagined that you would be our president > today. > > But now you are and can do your share to change perceptions. It is possible > that a Muslim might become president some day. For all we know, that > president might be an American kid of Afghan, Pakistani, Arab, Iranian, > Somali, or Indonesian parentage who is reporting to school this morning. > Imagine how proud she would be if you were to call Mr. Niass today and thank > him. His business is located on the corner of 45th and Broadway, two tables > down from Lance’s. I can give you his phone number. > > *The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Hamid > Dabashi.* > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Green Youth Movement" group. > To post to this group, send an email to greenyo...@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<greenyouth%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > . > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send an email to greenyo...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to greenyouth+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB.
