Cartoonist: Clay Bennett
Chattanooga Times Free Press
http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/category.asp?C=125220&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5068186&flvUri=&partnerclipid=
On the night of August 29, 2010, one piece of construction equipment was destroyed and three were damaged at the future site of a Muslim mosque in the community of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, due to a rising sense of fear. This destruction happened a few months after the city council approved the building of a mosque. Digging of the foundation had begun, but no building had been erected at this point. It was reported to the police around 1:30 in the morning, but by the time law enforcement arrived on the scene, the criminals had vanished leaving no trace to follow.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?template=zoom&Site=DN&Date=20100829&Category=NEWS01&ArtNo=8290365&Ref=AR
Opposition to Muslims
Protesters:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXGSskiNVak
Islamophobia is rapidly spreading through the region as the mosque continues to be built. Opposition believes that the mosque will not only be a place of prayer, but a new place to train terrorists which will eventually overthrow the American government. Bob Sheldon, a citizen in the Murfreesboro area told a CBS reporter his views about Muslims: “They are not a religion. They are a political, militaristic group.” Adding to Sheldon’s remarks, Evy Summer added, “No mosque in Murfreesboro. I don't want it. I don't want them here. Go start their own country overseas somewhere. This is a Christian country. It was based on Christianity.”
Muslims in Murfreesboro
For over 30 years in the community of Murfreesboro, Muslims have been able to worship in a small community center, not large enough for their congregation. In those 30 years,acts of violence have rarely been reported, as they were allowed by First Amendment to worship as they pleased. Soon after the fire, a local Muslim and spokesman for the ICMTN (Islamic Center for Murfreesboro) Camie Ayash spoke in behalf of the Muslims on their website:
“This atrocious act of terrorism has shaken our community and left many frightened, especially the children. However, we place our at most trust in our local and federal law-enforcement authorities and know that justice and truth will ultimately prevail. The members of the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro maintain their strong will while practicing their constitutional rights and they just wish to reside in peace within this great community. Although we feel heartbroken that we have been a victim of yet another shameful crime, however, we are grateful to the majority members of this community who expressed their support. We believe that this event was instigated by the hate campaign that our Muslim community has been subjected to recently.”
http://icmtn.org/cgi-bin/links/news.cgi?a=article&ID=1283134642
http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/tenn-mosque-spokeswoman-is-convicted-felon/
As Ayaish stated, a sense of fear has now been brought into the homes of different Muslim families. On the website for ICMTN, a list of activities offered by the Muslim community center is published for everybody to see. On this list, activities like taekwondo, children donation day, and meals for the homeless shelter are included. Anti-Muslims would see this list as tactics to begin terrorism. John Stewart on the Daily Show aired a segment on the outburst of anti-Muslim attitudes in the Murfreesboro community.
John Stewart - 4:45-End
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-august-25-2010/tennessee-no-evil
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Tennessee No Evil | ||||
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Cartoons Representation
In this cartoon, Clay Bennett took the actual scene of the fire and labeled the fire starters as ignorance, hate, and bigotry. As defined by MAC dictionary:
Ignorance – Lack of Knowledge
Bigotry – Obstinately convinced of the superiority of correctness of one’s own opinion to those of different opinions.
Hate – Feeling intense of passionate dislike
Bennett used these words to portray the emotions that were involved in what was termed as ‘arson.’ This shows a positive portrayal for the Muslim race in America. With this cartoon, a viewer would be able to recognize the faults in our society by stereotyping Muslims as terrorists because of the way it is framed. In this framing, a sense of sympathy is presented in the hate crime. Many people make decisions upon passion and emotion without thinking of the consequence. This equates to the cultivation theory, making us think about what the consequences were based upon the actions.
Posted by Jaron Dunford
Posted by Jaron Dunford
