Krugman Downplays Post-9/11 Hate Experienced by Muslims
Washington, DC: On Sunday, Paul Krugman responded to his widely criticized tweets claiming that "there wasn't a mass outbreak of anti-Muslim sentiment and violence" after 9/11. In his response, Krugman posted a chart comparing FBI hate crime data of anti-Black, anti-LGBTQ and anti-Muslim hate crimes for 2000, 2001 and 2002 to bolster his original claim that there was no significant rise in anti-Muslim hate after 9/11. Krugman also said that the hate experienced by Muslims “didn’t loom that large compared with what Blacks face year in and year out.” The following is a statement from Muslim Advocates Public Advocacy Director Scott Simpson:
“Paul Krugman is yet again erasing the experiences of Muslims after 9/11. Instead of listening to the many American Muslims who shared their own traumatic, personal experiences and expertise, he doubled down behind a misleading chart that fails to even scratch the surface of the kinds of hate and discrimination that Muslims experienced and still experience today as a result of 9/11. He could have just apologized, but instead he went to great effort to justify his prior statements.
“As an economist, Krugman knows how numbers can be selectively used to distort reality. The chart that he shared severely undercounts post-9/11 anti-Muslim hate crimes as it only includes ones reported voluntarily by law enforcement. In fact, many cities reported no hate crimes at all and we know that’s not possible. Muslims are often targeted and mistreated by law enforcement and the government, so many of them did not report any hate crimes out of fear of retribution.
“His chart also fails to include other forms of hate and discrimination experienced by Muslims after 9/11 like bullying, workplace discrimination, discrimination in schools and other forms of state-sanctioned discrimination. After 9/11, for example, the FBI and NYPD spied on Muslims in their places of worship and businesses, and the NYPD even sent undercover agents to mosques and on school field trips. None of that is factored into Krugman’s presented concept of the Muslim experience after 9/11…”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
