Down Here Below, by Martha Thomases – Brilliant Disguise | @MDWorld

December 14, 2015 Victor El-Khouri 3 Comments

Does Donald Trump even live in New York City?

I mean, i know that, to many people who are not New Yorkers, he seems as if he does.  He grew up in Queens, and that is part of New York City.  He has plastered  his name over many buildings in Manhattan, most of which happened before he branched out to other cities.  I suspect that his apartment in Trump Tower, on Fifth Avenue and 57th Street, is his official voting address.

(Unless he uses Florida instead, for the tax breaks.)

And yet, despite his tough-guy, Queens accent, and his over-the-top hyperbole (things that make him seem like a New Yorker), he doesn’t seem to really know the city in which he built his brand.  His entire presidential campaign thus far has been predicated on a mistrust of immigrants.

We are a city of immigrants.

According to a full-page ad in the New York Times last week, there are more than three million immigrants in New York.  To quote the article in the link, “In large block type, the ad focuses on the number ‘3,160,471.’ Below the number, it says: ‘That’s the number of New Yorkers who came to our city from another country. Regardless of their place of origin or religious affiliation, we welcome their contributions to the strength and vitality of our great city. Just as we have since 1768.’”

That ad was placed, not by a bunch of commie hippies, but by the Partnership for New York City, whose co-chairs are Philippe Dauman (President and CEO of Viacom) and James P. Gorman (President and CEO of Morgan Stanley).

For at least a decade, there have been more halal food carts than Sabrette’s hot dog stands.  Real New Yorkers know Mexicans and Muslims and immigrants from other countries as part of our daily lives.  They work at the next cubicle, or they ride the same subway, or they run our favorite take-out places.  Some we like more than others, just as they like some of us more than others, just as we all make a gazillion micro-judgements about each other every day.  I’m more likely to dislike a stranger for wearing a backpack in the subway than for wearing a head scarf.

I think it is human nature to stereotype people, especially people we don’t know.  I understand with the reasonable part of my brain that there are seven billion individual humans on this planet, but I get dizzy when I think about each one, with hopes and dreams and disappointments and loves and struggles that are unique to that person.  Therefore, when I first meet a new person, I tend to unconsciously assign that person a type.  If I get to know that person better, the type will get refined into a more complex and interesting individual.  And, because I do this, I assume you do, too.

Apparently, there are too many Americans who can’t get to the refining part when it comes to Muslims.  And while it’s impossible to legislate thoughts, to make anyone more open-minded, it is possible to prosecute those who act on their thoughts to not only physically harm some people, but to threaten even more.

It’s not only wrong to stereotype Muslims, but harmful as well.  This story, from a British soldier who was wounded in battle by a Muslim radical.  And then a series of other Muslims saved his life.

Maybe you live in a place where there aren’t many Muslims, and you don’t personally know any with whom to have a conversation. In that case, I recommend you read this, because you’ll get a look inside of the thought processes of an educated, articulate American Muslim.  He’s not that different from you or me (except that he’s really funny and sharp, something to which I can only aspire).

Treating Muslims or Mexicans or any other group as vile and evil people bent on our destruction only encourages (some of) them to act that way.  I well remember fights with my parents when I was a teenager, when they would accuse me of taking drugs when I wasn’t.  It made me really really really want to take drugs.  If I was going to get punished anyway, I might as well enjoy myself.  If we are going to treat every American Muslim as a fundamentalist terrorist, and not as an American, then they may act in just as spiteful a way as I did.

In any case, there have been far more acts of terrorism in this country from white guys than any other group.  I eagerly await the GOP’s presidential candidates; demand to bar them from coming into this country.

Especially Trump.

Media Goddess Martha Thomases apologizes for being late with this column, but she’s going to be a mother-in-law and that is very time-consuming.