Why do we tend to treat people of color like puppets and think we can control them?

As a little girl, I watched the anger grow to a crescendo due to oppression and discrimination. The more they were pushed around, the more angry they grew - to the point of sheer hatred. It got really scary.

My fears were relieved when Martin Luther King showed up. He walked the talk like no one I'd ever seen before - 'cept of course my dad. He sounded like Jesus to me (hey, I was only 5). I was so ashamed when my neighbors threw rocks at him and called him a monkey. I returned to a state of terror when he was assassinated. It was pretty ugly around here. Some places have never recovered, many still carry that hatred - on both sides. Many still kill each other.

For the last 7 years, I've been watching the anger grow in the Arab/Muslim community. From the very beginning, I've been screaming as loud as I possibly can - no one hears me.

My neighbors here still hate black people. We have a rather large Arab/Muslim population around here now. My neighbors let them in long ago and said "at least they're not n*****s and most of them have good jobs. Good people, even if you can't understand them." Only a few called them "sand-n*****s" or "camel jockeys."

The tables turned immediately after 9/11. My son's 17-year-old Jordanian friend committed suicide that following Christmas Day because of the abuse he received. It had never been there before - he had always been accepted. Even adults and teachers taunted him. I'd known the kid since he was a little kid - a second son to me.

I realize they are very scary to some people, but is it really wise to mock and ridicule people who are really angry? Is it wise to profile them and blow up their belongings - just in case? Is it wise to tie them up with strings in attempt to control them?

They won't have a Martin Luther King show up to the rescue.

It makes me angry when people lump all Arab/Muslim/Middle Eastern people all together and think they can control them. They have centuries and centuries of experience over the blacks we had to deal with in the 60s.

We'll never be able to force peace through intimidation and force.

Sorry - had to spit after watching the news and seeing a VERY angry face who didn't want to be treated like a puppet or dog. It's scary. Ima go hide now.

It's ignorance and a false sense of entitlement KathyM. We are "dumbing down" America and will end up paying a very high price. It would enrage me if it didn't depress me so.