I believe Payam's point is an important one. Although the attack in
Oklahoma City was also terrorism, I don't think people are jumping to
conclusions that this is probably the work of U.S. citizens. The
automatic inference when we hear "terrorist acts" (due to the schemas we
all share, whether we want to or not) is the attack is from a non-U.S.
and most likely Middle Eastern/Arab entity. We can correct for that
afterwards, based on what we know is possible (given Oklahoma City and
other information) but right now all of us are dealing with limited
information, and we will "fill in" what is missing automatically. And
the media fills in for us by using such language, which I think only
worsens the situation. I share Robin's fear for individuals in the
United States who are of Middle Eastern heritage.
Deb Hume
