Americans Quietly Biased Against Muslims

Barack Obama is not a Muslim. Yet, as many as 10 percent of the people polled across the country think he is.

Odd, isn't it, that a person whose pastor caused him such fits is still thought not to be a Christian, but a Muslim.

I was at a social gathering last spring on the West Coast. The conversation turned to politics, and son of a gun, a seemingly well-informed woman of a certain age declared well the fact remains he's a Muslim.

Huh?

I tried to dissuade her, but to no avail.

I have a theory about all of this and I don't think it's too far-fetched. Prejudice against Muslims is still quietly accepted in the United States. They attacked us on Sept. 11. We're fighting them in Iraq and Afghanistan. No, we'd never publicly show bias toward a person of color. But it is permissible in some quarters to be anti-Muslim.

It's a convenient canard-easier to hate someone for something he inconveniently is not than to hate him for something he actually is.