1488
“We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.” ~David Lane
“What we must fight for is to safeguard the existence and reproduction of our race and our people, the sustenance of our children and the purity of our blood, the freedom and independence of the fatherland, so that our people may mature for the fulfillment of the mission allotted it by the creator of the universe. Every thought and every idea, every doctrine and all knowledge, must serve this purpose. And everything must be examined from this point of view and used or rejected according to its utility.” ~Hitler, Mein Kampf
On January 16 2017, the number 1488 was spray-painted on the sign of an Islamic school in Peoria, IL. That same school used to be across a cow pasture from my house, and my wife spent a few months working there. We have a boatload of friends, who are some of the most thoughtful and generous people I know, that attend the mosque that was recently erected adjoining the school. They have hosted non-Muslims two years in a row to break fast with them during Ramadan. Up until the third week of January, as far as I know, nothing like this has happened to this community.
If you aren’t aware, as I wasn’t until doing some research, the number 1488 is classic white supremacy. The number 14 refers to the first words quoted above from David Lane, a terrorist in his own right. The number 88 either refers to those 88 words from Mein Kampf, or for ‘Heil, Hitler’, as H is the 8th letter of the English alphabet. For this to be however poorly spray-painted on the sign at a peace-building mosque such as the one in Peoria, IL is terrifying. That this happened on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is even more troubling.
The recent increase in anti-Islam, anti-Semitic, racist sentiment in America is deeply disturbing. Much of this has been lurking beneath the surface for quite a long period of time. To be sure, Islamophobia, loosely defined as the fear and hatred of Muslims, has been a culturally accepted ‘ism’ ever since 9/11, despite the effort made by then President George W. Bush to stave off any form of discrimination against the American Muslim community with these words:
“I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the world. We respect your faith. It’s practiced freely by many millions of Americans and by millions more in countries that America counts as friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah. The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself. The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends. It is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists and every government that supports them.”
Unfortunately, President Bush also installed a Muslim registry called N-SEERS that cause those words to ring hollow for 3 to 5 million Muslim Americans. Because Islamophobia became so normalized, not only by terrorists and the war on terror, but also by news media and television shows depicting Muslims as dangerous (such as Homeland), it is considered to be rational by many Americans who don’t have any contact with Muslims.
When open fear and hatred of a particular religious group becomes normalized (which I believe it has), it can give people in the majority license to openly fear/hate/discriminate against any minority group. What should have happened in 2015 when Jon Ritzheimer and his armed neo-Nazi pals descended upon a Phoenix, AZ mosque wearing ‘Fuck Islam’ t-shirts is swift and direct condemnation from all people everywhere. Instead, people started having conversations and arguments about ‘free speech’, and his actions became a victory for folks whose hope is in the Constitution of the United States.
Or when Pamela Geller organized a Prophet Mohammad Cartoon Drawing Contest in Texas in 2015, she should have been condemned and shamed for her outright and crystal clear motive of hatred for Muslims. However, we gave her a platform to celebrate a victory for ‘free speech’, which became the theme of the year. We became so obsessed with being able to say and do whatever we want to whomever we want that we lost sight of how hurtful and destructive these sorts of events are for American Muslims.
It should come as no surprise that now we are seeing an outcropping of swastikas and other symbols of white supremacy spray-painted or carved on Jewish and Muslim businesses and places of worship. We have allowed this sort of fear and hatred to boil for the past 16 years, almost completely unchecked (not to discredit the efforts of so many of my friends to fight this pattern of fear and hatred). When the majority feel empowered to ‘take back’ their country by a political candidate, this ugliness is given special license.
I, for one, hope this isn’t a sign of things to come. I am sad and frustrated and angry and sitting a thousand miles away from my friends whose place of worship was just vandalized. I wish I could stand in solidarity with them. I wish I could shout ‘PEACE!’ from the rooftops in Peoria. This is the best medium I have to express these thoughts from afar.
May peace reign supreme as we walk and fight together against all injustice against any human being, no matter the cost.
