In Perspective

Karen Leonard on race and religion. Moorish identity first. Noble Drew Ali, etc. Turks were classified as Asiatics and Arabs (associated with Ottoman Empire) and therefore denied citizenship based on race. South Asians were also disqualified. All S. Asians were initially referred to as “Hindoos,” but not used in religious sense. S. Asian and Arab identity is internally ambivalent about identifying as white. New racialization of Muslims. Imposition of Arab phenotype. US Dept. of Transportation issued in Oct., 2001 indicates Arabs, S. Asian, Muslim and Sikh passengers should not be singled out for searches. None are racial categories. Islam is…

Today is Yom Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram, the day that marks the martyrdom of Imam Husayn. It looks like violence and bloodshed caused by Muslim on Muslim crime remains the order of the day.

I’ve been sitting on this poem for a while, wondering if I should share or not. It’s not a masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination, but I finally decided that’s the point of a blog, to share quickly and easily. It doesn’t necessarily have to be great.