Religious and Racial Intolerance in Congress

Congressman Virgil Goode (R-Va) sent a letter to his constituents recently. In this letter he made his anti-Muslim and anti-Immigration position very clear. What he also made very clear to a lot of people is that he is a bigot and a racist. He was apparently upset by the fact that a Muslim, elected to the House, wanted to be sworn in using the Koran instead of the Bible.

"When I raise my hand to take the oath on Swearing In Day, I will have the Bible in my other hand. I do not subscribe to using the Koran in any way. The Muslim Representative from Minnesota was elected by the voters of that district and if American citizens don’t wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Koran. We need to stop illegal immigration totally and reduce legal immigration and end the diversity visas policy pushed hard by President Clinton and allowing many persons from the Middle East to come to this country."

The Muslim Representative that Goode referred to in this letter is Rep.-elect Keith Ellison (D-MN). The first and only elected Muslim in Congress. Goode also tries to link being a Muslim with being an illegal immigrant and by association un-American. Keith Ellison was born in Detroit, Michigan and converted to Islam when he was 19. He is both a lawyer and a politician. He is also the first Black elected to the House from Minnesota.

The letter was made public by John Cruickshank, the chairman of the Piedmont group of the Sierra Club in central Virginia, who had received it after writing to Goode about environmental issues. Duncan said that Goode's office had sent the letter to Cruickshank by mistake. The reaction to the letter was swift. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-N.J., wrote to Goode on Wednesday saying that he was "greatly disappointed and in fact startled" by Goode's letter.

"I take your remarks as personally offensive to the large community of Muslim-Americans I represent in the Eighth District of New Jersey," Pascrell wrote.

Goode's views should not come as a surprise to his fellow Members of Congress:

Goode’s bigoted views are no secret, and he uses them to justify more than his hardline immigration policy. Earlier this year, he announced that he opposed increasing the minimum wage because it would “be a magnet for illegal aliens to come to this country. We do not need a strong magnet to lure illegals here.”

Condemnation also came from The Council on American-Islamic Relations.

"Representative Goode's Islamophobic remarks send a message of intolerance that is unworthy of anyone elected to public office," CAIR's national legislative director, Corey Saylor, said Tuesday night. "There can be no reasonable defense for such bigotry."

Congressman Goode was however defiant and steadfast. He refused to apologise for his remarks:

Goode spokesman Linwood Duncan said Wednesday that no apology was forthcoming. "The only statement the congressman has is that he stands by the letter," Duncan said.

What amazes me personally, is that such a person like Virgil Goode, could get elected to Congress in the first place. He is supposed to represent all the people in his district. I am sure that Virginia has more than just a few Muslim citizens. Goode has managed to offend all American Muslims, all people of Middle-Eastern descent, all people of Color and Everyone else who has a sense of justice, decency and tolerance. How can a bigot and a racist represent the American people?

Comments

[waseemrao]

Everybody has the right to be sworn on the Holy book on which he/she has the belief. It should not hurt the feeling of anybody. Will any christian ready to be sworn on Quran.