When radio host Jerry Klein suggested that all Muslims in the United States should be identified with a crescent-shape tattoo or a distinctive arm band, the phone lines jammed instantly.
The first caller to the station in Washington said that Klein must be "off his rocker." The second congratulated him and added: "Not only do you tattoo them in the middle of their forehead but you ship them out of this country ... they are here to kill us."
Another said that tattoos, armbands and other identifying markers such as crescent marks on driver's licenses, passports and birth certificates did not go far enough. "What good is identifying them?" he asked. "You have to set up encampments like during World War Two with the Japanese and Germans."
At the end of the one-hour show, rich with arguments on why visual identification of "the threat in our midst" would alleviate the public's fears, Klein revealed that he had staged a hoax. It drew out reactions that are not uncommon in post-9/11 America.
"I can't believe any of you are sick enough to have agreed for one second with anything I said," he told his audience on the AM station 630 WMAL (http://www.wmal.com/), which covers Washington, Northern Virginia and Maryland
"For me to suggest to tattoo marks on people's bodies, have them wear armbands, put a crescent moon on their driver's license on their passport or birth certificate is disgusting. It's beyond disgusting.
"Because basically what you just did was show me how the German people allowed what happened to the Jews to happen ... We need to separate them, we need to tattoo their arms, we need to make them wear the yellow Star of David, we need to put them in concentration camps, we basically just need to kill them all because they are dangerous."
The show aired on November 26, the Sunday after the Thanksgiving holiday, and Klein said in an interview afterwards he had been surprised by the response.
"The switchboard went from empty to totally jammed within minutes," said Klein. "There were plenty of callers angry with me, but there were plenty who agreed...."
Those in agreement are not a fringe minority: A Gallup poll this summer of more than 1,000 Americans showed that 39 percent were in favor of requiring Muslims in the United States, including American citizens, to carry special identification.
Roughly a quarter of those polled said they would not want to live next door to a Muslim and a third thought that Muslims in the United States sympathized with al Qaeda, the extremist group behind the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington....
posted on December 22, 2006 04:07:10 PM new
That's really a sad commentary on how people in this country feel. It also shows how far reaching ignorance is. How pathetic those people are.
posted on December 22, 2006 05:15:05 PM new
Mingo: "Who's next" is right! During WWII my father, a protestant minister in a small town, had to deal with some bad behavior just because he/we had a German-sounding surname. It never got to violence, but it was a bit hard to take.
Our daughter married a Japanese-American 10 years ago, the most wonderful man in the world! We've said if he weren't married to our daughter but just lived in our town, we'd want to be good friends with him. His parents and their extended families were sent to the internment camps during WWII, leaving everything behind and getting none of their belongings back. It was a shameful period in American history, and to their credit, they're not bitter about it. They're very sweet people, but the stories of the hardships in those cold-winter camps is difficult to listen to.
I hope we never again do that to any particular racial, ethnic, or religious group. Jeez, we fought WWII because the GERMANS did that!
posted on December 22, 2006 08:17:41 PM new
Roadsmith, history should teach us everything we need to know but not everyone is capable of learning(and we have a prime example of that in here).
My grandparents had a similar situation to your family's. My grandfather, a German immigrant, fought for the U.S. in WWI but experienced predjudice when he came back !
posted on December 23, 2006 08:33:39 AM new
Detroit would love to round up all the Toyotas and Hondas and put them in camps.
Just remember,the cars not the drivers,so drivers have to go out and buy a Detroit made car.
posted on December 25, 2006 07:22:13 PM new
I agree, Hwahwa and maybe we should round up all the burritos, tacos and enchiritos and do away with them as well. Send 'em back across the border.
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posted on December 26, 2006 11:54:00 AM new
"It was a shameful period in American history, and to their credit, they're not bitter about it."
Not all American's agree with that opinion.
Many of us feel it was the right thing to do at the time. AND it DID WORK....it stopped Japan in it's tracks and probably saved hundreds of thousands of lives.
And of course many of the Japanese are not bitter about it. THEY recognize THEIR part in what took place BY Japan.
"While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation": "What would a Democrat president have done at that point?"
"Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack."
posted on December 26, 2006 01:02:31 PM new
Fascism alert is correct!
linduh is back from celebrating the birth of her god with her usual stupidity, hatred, vitriol, bigotry, narrow-mindedness, inability to use logic or reason or learn and general all over disagreeability.
oh well, it was a nice respite...too good to last......
posted on December 26, 2006 01:20:18 PM new
But I noticed you couldn't STOP speaking about me while I WAS gone.
Obsession.....
"While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation": "What would a Democrat president have done at that point?"
"Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack."
