Last year about this time there were demonstrations in New York city in opposition to the building of a community center which would feature a mosque, among other places of worship, at Park 51. Islamophobes whipped up anti Islamic fervor and garnered a lot of media attention surrounding their racist rants. We were inundated, regaled with news articles like this and this and this. One could make the case that such constant exposure in the media was an incitement to the mosque’s opponents to continue their assault against the First amendment to the Constitution. The New York city demonstrations were duplicated in other cities across the country, taking the form of “anti-sharia” protests, intimating that as the number of mosques grew in America the possibility of Americans being ruled by Islamic law would increase too. Faulty assumptions built on racial prejudice, that were never called that and magnified under the full light of America’s media and gobbled up by America’s darkside, the Ground Zero mosque debacle was fully embraced by America. One year later and Park 51 mosque has opened, people are praying there, life is still being lived and America is no worse for that event taking place as it should have. It is correct to point out, albeit more pointedly than a writer here that the furor over the Park 51 mosque was indeed racist, fueled by a racist media, and particularly FoxNews, that journalistic anathema that has soiled the American conscious.
A year later and what has changed is this, there is a ground swell against the nefarious activity of Wall Street bankers who have profited greatly at the expense of the American economy through business transactions which solely benefited them. What has also changed is the American media’s ignoring these protests which have been equally vociferous and as well attended but which have far more impact on the lives of every American than the building of a place of worship in New York city. Media some say serves as a source of intelligence for the public about what is or should be important to them but it has failed miserably in the two instances for this piece, over emphasizing Park 51 demonstrators while ignoring Occupy Wall Street protestors. It appeared media’s intent was to neglect the protests in hopes they would fizzle out, disperse and quietly go away. That hasn’t happened, I’m sure much to the chagrin of a lot of hand wringing execs in news rooms who must now cover these protests.
If you want to know what are the goals of these demonstrations, why are they being held and what it is the people taking part in them want, you can find that information below.
Miscellany101's Weblog 