Friday, December 17, 2004

Muslim-Americans Are the New Japanese-Americans

From AP today by William Kates, Associated Press Writer

"ITHACA, N.Y. - Nearly half of all Americans believe the U.S. government should restrict the civil liberties of Muslim Americans, according to a nationwide poll.

The survey conducted by Cornell University also found that Republicans and people who described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support curtailing Muslims' civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less religious.
'It's sad news. It's disturbing news. But it's not unpredictable,' said Mahdi Bray, executive director of the Muslim American Society. 'The nation is at war, even if it's not a traditional war. We just have to remain vigilant and continue to interface.'

The survey found 44 percent favored at least some restrictions on the civil liberties of Muslim Americans.... The survey showed that 27 percent of respondents supported requiring all Muslim Americans to register where they lived with the federal government. Twenty-two percent favored racial profiling to identify potential terrorist threats. And 29 percent thought undercover agents should infiltrate Muslim civic and volunteer organizations to keep tabs on their activities and fund-raising. "

So this would be similar to US restriction, and eventually internment, of Japanese-Americans during WWII?

But with 60 years hindsight, isn't that considered one of the most shameful US government discriminatory mistreatments of an ethnic group's civil and property rights in American history?

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