[lit-ideas] Re: The Terrorist next door

Yes I read the piece Lawrence posted,  Eric -- and I always
thought OJ was guilty.   My point is that racism has led 
white people to think black
people guilty and white people not so much innocent
as to be found innocent.  
(Mississippi Burning, etc.)

We might want to note this particularly given the 
results e.g. lynchings and just might want to consider
it a factor in black people's perceiving OJ as unjustly
accused.

> That makes it similar to: "... members of the large Muslim 
> community there, many of whom work for the government, were 
> unfazed by the evidence aligned against Chandia. 

well now this is interesting as I know of no such stance by
the Muslim community here; following an arrest,
certain fellow Muslims who know the people concerned
may indeed say (they said re some of those arrested recently)
"such nice quiet young men, so religious..." (NB though I
don't recall any such testimony re the 7/7 and 21/7 people,
indeed the local mosques had already dissociated themselves
from the 7/7 men).  But then, one of the arrested men
apparently is (he's been released) indeed a nice quiet young
man etc. etc..  It is genuinely fascinating that Muslims
here *are" fazed by evidence against fellow Muslims
given that yours aren't.  

(er... "Muslim" is a religious classification, not a racial one.
Check out the people most recently arrested here.)

Judy

 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eric Yost" <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2006 9:39 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: The Terrorist next door


> >>Racism still motivates groups of people to assume the
> innocence of suspects.
> 
> Judy: as often as it leads groups of people to assume their 
> guilt?
> 
> Generally, yes I agree. In the OJ case however, there was 
> OJ's ridiculous slowmo car chase and lots of compelling 
> evidence. The country's opinions of his guilt split largely 
> along racial lines regardless of the evidence.
> 
> That makes it similar to: "... members of the large Muslim 
> community there, many of whom work for the government, were 
> unfazed by the evidence aligned against Chandia. After his 
> conviction, some 350 Muslims including Islamic scholars, 
> activists and other leaders, as well as government employees 
> and contractors, donated generously to his defense fund."
> 
> 
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