Teaching in NY

Opinion: After 9/11, reaction to Muslim Americans more nuanced However, whatever we learn about them does not tell us why they did what they did – only parts of who they are. It is easy, in the initial aftermath of the bombings, to make careless associations between identity and motive, similar to post 9/11 reaction. But this time, there is a change in rhetoric of how  potential suspects are identified, particularly if they are Muslim. It is because of this change we are learning to move past paralyzing fear and maturing in how we think of what it means to be…

OK, the news has broken. The Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo accused of espionage has apparently been charged with adultery and downloading pornography. Not quite espionage. I think TPM has it right in his analysis: it might be that all the information against him cannot be released, but would you then see him back on active duty? The Boston Globe discusses how the charge against Yee, the chaplain in question, might be the result of hysteria. I think they might be on to something. I could go on about how this really is a quest for the Justice Department, who now…

57 Organizations Call on White House to Investigate Offensive FBI Trainings Today, Muslim Advocates, working in coalition with 56 Muslim, Arab, and South Asian organizations, requested that the White House create an interagency taskforce to investigate bigoted and offensive trainers and materials used in trainings for counterterrorism agents and law enforcement. Wired magazine first reported in July that the FBI was using materials that stated that Prophet Muhammad was a "cult leader," and that Islam is a religion that "transforms [a] country's culture into 7th-century Arabian ways." Recently disclosed materials show that these grossly inaccurate and inflammatory training materials extend…