The shifting weathervane yields a twofer
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
The New York Post, known as the right-leaning tabloid in New York City (the Daily News is the left-leaning one) had a startling front-page headline yesterday. It read, “Muslim Refugee Runs Over, Stabs Ohio State Students.” Not “lone assassin,” not “crazed attacker,” but “Muslim refugee.” Two toxic identifiers in one headline. This is the new climate we find ourselves in. In recent decades, we have not seen “black rapist” or “Hispanic shooter” or “Jewish killer” in headlines. I have not seen a person’s ethnicity or race, let alone religion, named in a headline in my recent memory; in fact, it’s been obvious that the news media has been careful not to do that. Now all of a sudden, there has obviously been a decision to go for the groups most feared: Muslims and refugees.
Pity the members of the Somali community who are mostly hard-working and law-abiding. They have particular disadvantages to begin with–they are black, they are Muslim, they are “Obama’s refugees.” Many will feel that it is open season on them now.
