Our Stereotypical World

The article, "Poll: Majority of NY voters favor moving mosque" simply summarizes what 751 New York citizens believe should happen with the Ground Zero Mosque. The majority of them, around 57%, think that the location of the mosque is "wrong". Well then, what is our definition of wrong? When I first read this I suddenly felt perturbed and uneasy. How can something be generalized as “wrong”? I can see them calling it immoral or simply just stating it to make a vast majority of the population feel uncomfortable, but wrong?

            My personal opinion is that nobody is wrong in this situation. Yes, the building of the mosque is like pouring salt on a fresh wound; nevertheless, none of those individuals caused 9/11. If an Irishman had crashed a plane into the twin towers I can guarantee that there would be many jokes in the media about Ireland, but how long would it last? They are like “us”; Christian, white, “normal” folk. We would be able to understand that these individuals were crazy, for lack of a better word; not the entire population of Ireland. Think of the KKK for instance. They did terrible things to people “not like them”, but they were our own kind. We didn’t condone it, but we also never blamed any of the people that looked like them because, well, they were us.

            The media perpetuates stereotypes and generalizations to an extreme. Admittedly, even people like me who recognize and identify stereotypes, still become a little bit uneasy when in the presence of a Muslim. I know that it is wrong and I shouldn’t, but since 2001 it has been pounded into my head that they are bad people. The article also brings up the fact that some people say the Muslims should voluntarily move it. This is an interesting point, because I think that at this point they may be just doing it to make a point. Should they be empathetic towards this race of people that has been so racist towards them? Some say yes, but what would you do? Have you ever known that you should probably change something, but you have already argued so much against it that if you change your side your dignity is at risk? We may never know, but for the moment, we need to respect the rights of others. The first amendment gives us freedom of religion, so it is not illegal, just in some eyes immoral. We cannot escape stereotypes, but instead we need to try to recognize and avoid them, no matter how hard the media tries to impose them.