While the US waited with baited breath for information on the culprits responsible for the horrific Boston Marathon bombings, speculation began about the suspects. What race/color/religion were the suspects, and did their ethnicity or religion play a role? Every minority probably began to hope or say a little prayer that it was not a member of their group. They know bad things, like increased profiling, harassment, assault and violence, can happen when visible minorities commit high profile crimes.
When CNN’s John King stated that he was told by an official in law enforcement that the suspect was “a dark skinned male,” which was later found to be inaccurate, two groups began to worry….Blacks and Muslims. Upon identification of the suspects, both of these groups, to varying degrees, breathed a collective sigh of relief. In the words of Aasif Mandvi, “Muslims all over America said, ‘Thank God thy are not Muslim!’” Of course the two suspects are Muslim, but they are also white, which Mr. Mandvi addresses in the following clip.
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-april-22-2013/arrest-development—caucasian-terrorists
White Muslim American citizens committing acts of terrorism?! That makes it difficult to profile and stereotype people. Apparently, it no longer holds that the darker the person, the greater the threat because these two white guys killed three and wounded over 160 other people. The cognitive dissonance is significant. So now, I guess we Americans will have to determine a person’s proclivity for terrorism or crime by their past actions and the content of their character. That, or begin a Muslim registry (read sarcasm due to its unconstitutional nature) because I seriously doubt that we will begin to racially profile and stereotype white males.