Muslim Reporter: Texas GOP Conventioneers Ridiculed Me
Texas is decidedly not the land of multicultural acceptance and openness among empowered Republicans:
The Texas Republican Party’s annual convention ended a week ago, but it’s still managing to make headlines.
The GOP gathering first attracted national attention by fast-tracking a new platform that includes endorsing “reparative therapy” for gays. Some of the more moderate Republicans in attendance had hoped to address the matter, but the anti-gay topic was never allowed to come up for debate.
Now, a reporter who was covering the convention says she was targeted and taunted because of her Muslim headdress.
Heba Said, a senior at the University of Texas at Arlington, is the opinion editor of the school paper, The Shorthorn. The 22-year-old said she applied for media credentials and attended the convention hoping to share with her readers what it was like to sit in on panel discussions with delegates.
Instead, Said writes, “I discovered a cult-like hatred that is simply disgusting.”
From her report:
As I walked through the halls, people stopped in their tracks and frowned and shook their heads at me. Panelists threw the word “Islamist” around as if it were perfectly OK, and one man even asked if I felt alone at a meeting. I was referred to as “you people” and “y’all Muslims” more times than I can count. The worst part was the way delegates looked at me, as if I were something to fear when I approached them.
“I did not observe any of this,” said Steve Munisteri, Texas GOP chairman. “I never heard a single anti-Muslim statement, and I never saw any anti-Muslim activity.”
arc99 June 14th, 2014 at 11:02 am
Typical right wing response.
It did not happen to me. I did not see it.
The person who does not look like me and does not pray like me is probably lying.
Remember a few years ago, just before he went to hell, the late Andrew Breitbart said that since there was no video of any TeaPartier calling members of Congress a n*gger, then, then Rep. John Lewis who made the accusation was obviously lying.
I will shout it from the rooftops until I am blue in the face to you right wingers whining about black folks being on a “Democratic plantation”. We want no part of a philosophy or a political party that harbors the kind of bigotry that you people are too dishonest to even admit exists in your party.
And don’t give me any lame BS about Allen West or Ben Carson how you love them so much. Hundreds of thousands cheered for the late boxing champ Joe Louis. Outside of the ring, he did exactly what white people wanted him to do and said exactly what white people wanted him to say.
For a much more accurate analogy, take a look at a contemporary of Mr.Louis, Paul Robeson who did not give a rat’s behind what white people thought of him. In any case, I suspect that even the people who cheered Joe Louis in 1936 did not want him moving in next door or dating their daughter. . It is the same principle in 2014. Conservatives love minorities who behave themselves by being faithful sycophants of the right wing agenda. But god help them if they dare to have a different point of view.
They will question your religion. They will accuse you of wanting to destroy America. They will question whether or not you are really black. They will demand proof that you are even an American. Ordinarily I would provide a link to back up this point, but for some reason in this particular instance, it just doesn’t seem necessary.
Roctuna June 14th, 2014 at 11:12 am
All true words. The mainstreaming of bigotry in the gop is a sight to behold, especially here in Texas. That being said, it’s too early on a lovely weekend to let the rwnj’s rile you up so much. They are beneath contempt. Go hug a redwood or something and chill. You are in northern Ca, right?
fahvel June 14th, 2014 at 11:52 am
damn right unnecessary. you a absolutely on target.
jasperjava June 14th, 2014 at 12:34 pm
Thanks for bringing up Paul Robeson, a supremely talented and courageous man and one of my personal heroes.
Laura June 14th, 2014 at 3:09 pm
So, It’s your opinion that no black person could possibly have a genuinely conservative viewpoint? That’s what amazes me about you liberals. You all scream about free speech……. until it doesn’t match yours. Are you also insinuating that two extraordinarily educated black men can have an opinion invalidated because it doesn’t meet YOUR expectations? It sounds to me Ike the Dems have some bigotry issues to work on.
Bunya June 14th, 2014 at 4:16 pm
You consider Allen West to be an extraordinarily educated black man. Wow, your bar is set pretty low. If you would have cited Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers or Malcolm X as extraordinarily educated men, I would’ve given you a pass. But Allen West????? That’s the best you have? Come back when the GOP can produce somebody of character and substance .
We have Barack Obama, Carol Moseley Braun and Corey Booker (to name a few) – and you have Allen West. It is to laugh!
arc99 June 15th, 2014 at 11:56 am
no that is not my opinion and is not what I said.
when you are ready to respond to what I wrote, and not some delusional right wing fairy tale, let me know.
OldLefty June 14th, 2014 at 11:09 am
(Formerly TiredOfThemAll, aka MorganLaFay)….
To all the old Liberallanders;
Years ago, I was on more personal website that used Disqus, under the screen name MorganLaFay (my favorite character from King Author), and came to find out a person whom I know personally is also on that site, so that when Alan switched to Disqus, I wanted to these two things separate, (rather than private).
Now I come to find out that there is also a porn person with the MorganLaFay name so I have to change that again.
I was happy to be able to figure out how to get my :OldLefty name back, though.
I apologize if there has been confusion.
Shades June 14th, 2014 at 12:18 pm
And they probably went home and bragged to their friends about how they “showed her.”
William June 14th, 2014 at 1:07 pm
OK lets review. Texans mocking a Muslim woman because of what she wears on her head.
MMM-Kay.
Bunya June 14th, 2014 at 3:56 pm
Of course, the only thing “big” in Texas is their hats.
Laura June 14th, 2014 at 2:07 pm
What did Ms.Said expect? To MANY of us the headdress she so proudly wears is a symbol of oppression towards women, violence on a level this nation had never seen prior to 9/11, and a culture invading this nation to benefit from it’s freedoms while refusing to espouse OUR values. I challenge Ms. Said to think how a gathering of Jews would feel if someone entered the room wearing a swastika on an armband. As long as you “share the tent” with a religion bent on our destruction, don’t whine about not being accepted by the ones in the Muslim crosshairs.
jasperjava June 14th, 2014 at 2:23 pm
If you think a hijab is the same thing as a swastika, you’re nothing but an ignoramus.
So if someone is wearing a cross, I should accuse them of sympathy for all the crimes and genocides committed by Christians?
jasperjava June 14th, 2014 at 2:27 pm
“a religion bent on our destruction”
Islam is not “bent on our destruction”. Crawl back into your hole, idiot freak.
Fiffles June 16th, 2014 at 11:52 pm
Have somebody read Sura 7 of the Koran to you, and see whether you then can DARE to say that Islam is not bent on our destruction. Furthermore, you might try correspondence without name calling.
jasperjava June 17th, 2014 at 2:48 am
YOU obviously haven’t read it. There are far worse things in the Christian Bible: murder, incest, genocide, torture, deception, all celebrated for the glory of God.
As for name-calling, there are worse things than being called an idiot freak. Such as an ignorant right-wing bigot.
I have known many Muslims, an nearly ALL of them are far, far better people than right-wing conservatives. Kinder, more gentle, happier, more generous, better educated, and friendlier.
jasperjava June 14th, 2014 at 2:33 pm
“a culture invading this nation to benefit from it’s [sic] freedoms while refusing to espouse OUR values.”
That’s what they said about every wave of immigrants since the founding of the Republic. The Irish. The Jews. The Italians. The Japanese. The Chinese. The Mexicans. It’s always been the justification for exclusion and bigotry.
Bunya June 14th, 2014 at 3:55 pm
Yes well, we’re all too familiar with YOUR values. The crusades, the inquisition, witch burnings, throwing Jews in ovens, gay bashing, bombing clinics, killing doctors, starting unnecessary wars for profit under the guise of “God’s will”. Yep, no hatred, bigotry intolerance there.
But hey. Kudos to you “chrischuns” for your excellence when it comes to projecting your hatred onto others.
AAASuperPatriot June 14th, 2014 at 4:16 pm
>> I challenge Ms. Said to think how a gathering of Jews would feel if
someone entered the room wearing a swastika on an armband.
That fact that you think a head covering is like a swastika tells us that you are Islamophobe.
Here is the more accurate parallel:
How would a gathering of Jews feel if someone entering the room was wearing a cross on their necklace?
Most would not even think about it and, the few that did, would assume the person was a Christian, not a terrorist.
Jews tend to be smart that way. 😉
jasperjava June 14th, 2014 at 5:26 pm
This is the same mentality as the white supremacist who killed eight people at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin. He didn’t know anything about the Sikh faith, probably didn’t even know that they were neither Arab nor Muslim. All he knew is that they wore some kind of “headdress”, and had to die because of it.
AAASuperPatriot June 14th, 2014 at 4:12 pm
>> “I never heard a single anti-Muslim statement, and I never saw any anti-Muslim activity.”
Did you ever know a racist who perceives racism?
FieryLocks June 15th, 2014 at 7:10 pm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbWmBUONtFY