Clarifying prejudice in the Boston Bombing
Here on campus, many show their concern for fellow Americans in general, still no prejudicial remarks are found amongthe comments from our local community.
A day after the Boston Marathon bombing, students and faculty members at Saddleback College commented on the widespread news event.
Patrick O’Brien, a retired journalism instructor said with this tragic event, whoever did this could not ruin our community.
“This is a sad irony, the more they try to divide us, the more they bring us together,” O’Brien said. “In regards to this country, it’s not really a conservative community, but it’s a creative community.”
He said, at his age, he has seen so many tragedies and he has seen how this country is constantly changing.
Niko LaBarbera, a 20-year-old political science major, wants to find out who was responsible for the bombing because he is always interested in finding the answers.
He said this alarmed him because he personally knew someone competing in the race.
“I had a close friend running the marathon there and she only finished 20 minutes before the explosion and was only two blocks away,” LaBarbera said.
Talal Eid, a chaplain at Brandeis University told the Boston Globe, “I am still worried because we are still labeled. Muslims and may be out of the red zone, but we are still in the yellow zone, not the green zone.”
If the terrorist turns out to be a disaffected survivalist, a white supremacist, or some other flavor of domestic extremist, he will stand in a courtroom alone, with only infamy for company. If he is a Muslim, thousands will be called upon to answer, by association and stereotype, for his actions.
As people show concern, authorities still do not have an answer. First off, discovering the type of bomb that was used may indicate a general idea of where the attack is coming from.
“This Boston bomb was a homemade device-a metal pressure cooker filled with nails, ball bearings, metal shards that were left in duffle bags similar to roadside bombs used against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Various news organizations reported.
And as of Jan. 17, 2011, “white supremacist Kevin Harpham put a backpack bomb along a Martin Luther King Day parade route in Spokane, WA., but it was found and disabled. “The pipe bomb was loaded with lead fishing weights coated in rat poison, which can inhibit blood clotting in wounds,” AOL.com reported. Harpham
Pakistani immigrant Faisal Shahzad left an explosives-laden SUV in New York’s Times Square, and other news reports said he put the fertilizer in pressure-cookers-like the Boston bombs.
History shows that the Norway Bomb had different characteristics altogether.
The Globe reported a Norwegian police official said there was at least one unexploded device at the youth camp where a 32-year-old man opened fire. The official said the gunman used both automatic weapons and handguns. However the suspect seems to have acted alone and does not appear to be linked to a terrorist group according to a police report.
Sensationalism in the media has been used against the right wing Tea Party, so taking a deeper look may help clarify the make up of this political group.
In the past, Lenny McAllister, a Republican commentator, author and Tea Party speaker and supporter, said he has seen racism within the movement and has confronted it by approaching people with racially derogatory signs of President Obama and asking them to take the signs down.
Tea Party member, Brice McAlester, told The Washington Post, “The people are speaking up and becoming more educated on the issues, but you have fringe elements that are defining this good thing with their negative, hateful behavior.” He said the movement is more diverse than news clips show.There is this perception that these are all old, white racists and that’s not the
An African-American conservative, Ward Connerly, associated with the Tea Party movement told a National Review column, “Race is the engine that drives the political Left. In the courtrooms, on college campuses, and, most especially, in our politics, race is a central theme. Where it does not naturally rise to the surface, there are those who will manufacture and amplify it,” Connerly said. “I am convinced beyond any doubt that all of this is part of the strategic plan being implemented by the Left in its current campaign to remake America.”
Do Tea Partiers blame the media for casting them as racists? Allen West, one of 32 African-Americans who ran for Congress in 2010 as Republicans, says the notion of racism in the Tea Party movement has been made up by the news media.
Here are some tweets posted from people directly related to the Boston Marathon from the Boston Athletic Association site. The race is scheduled for next year.
“Find the light in the darkness. Focus on the positive. Grow stronger,” Elizabeth Ardled tweeted RD @ElizabethEats 2h< /span>
“We are all in. We will be back next year. We will show them. #prayforboston #BAA @boston,”
Chris Marshall tweeted @goNUchris 2d
“My thoughts, prayers and sympathies are with everyone at #BAA #bostonmarathon today,”
Ann Bartlett @AnnBartlett 2d
“Boston is strong. Boston is resilient. Boston is our home. And Boston has made us enormously proud in the past 24 hours. The Boston Marathon is a deeply held tradition – an integral part of the fabric and history of our community. We are committed to continuing that tradition with the running of the 118th Boston Marathon in 2014.” said Thomas Grilk, Executive Director of the Boston Athletic Association.