Rants by Magic

I posted this over on reddit and received quite a few upboats:

I live in NYC. I live right by the World Trade Center. I walk past the site every day, sometimes several times a day.

Ever since this “mosque business” started there have been a plethora of idiots all over the streets crying about it and screaming about “Real Americans”, whatever that means. My message to these people is always the same: SHUT THE FUCK UP, AND GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY.

What really pisses me off is the people that come from out of town to protest. Why do you care? What the fuck is wrong with you? Do I come to your town and protest against building a new church? No, I don’t. Now pack up your shit and go home.

I, for one, fully support anyone who wants to build something in Manhattan that provides some kind of public space. Some people are trying building a community center a few blocks away from the 9/11 site with a prayer room. That’s it. Do you have any idea how hard public space is to come by in this city? It’s hard to find a clean place to shit with a door on it.

If you don’t live in NYC, particularly downtown Manhattan, you shouldn’t care about this. This isn’t a national issue. If you really care about stopping the spread of Islam, start in your own city. Hold protests all over your “Real American” city, but get the hell out of mine and stop taking up sidewalk space.

/rant

What the fuck is a, “Real American”? That term used to refer to honest blue-collar workers. Now it has been perverted, like so many things, by the Tea Party to mean: Anyone who is a white bigoted idiot. It used to be such that, if you were born in America it didn’t matter where you came from, you were an American. Now there are two classes of Americans: Real Americans and Not-so-real Americans. You’re a Real American if you’re white and subscribe to Jesus Christ. You’re not a Real American if you’re brown. You’re whatever makes you brown first (black, Hispanic, Persian, etc.), and then you’re a little bit American second. According to the Tea Party, if you’re a Muslim then you’re a terrorist first, and an American second. This kind of bigotry is already worming its way out of politics and into policy. Just look at the ridiculous policies in Arizona now—if you look vaguely Hispanic you’re an illegal immigrant first, and an American second.

*sigh*
What are we doing?