Dear Editor,
On behalf of the Muslim Student Association at the University of New Mexico, we would like to express our concerns and disappointment about many of the comments posted in response to the article, “UNM’s Islam classes teach non-Muslims fear, hatred” published online on Oct. 26.
Many comments posted in response to the article eluded discussing the issue the author of the article was presenting. Instead, the comments slowly drifted to discussing Islam as a religion, which is not a problem. We live in a free country, and our freedom of speech is one of the many qualities that define this great nation. But freedom of speech should not be abused to slander and vilify a people or religion.
Our organization found that may of the comments posted on the Daily Lobo’s Web site can be characterized as extremely racist:
November 7 at 9:50 a.m. by ‘slowhike’
… It would be better for all if any and all Muslims in the USA renounced their religion or left the country. They are a cancer in our society with the potential to spread …
November 7 at 11:52 a.m. by ‘Melissa V.’
… I agree with slowhike. Whose side are they on? If they think their religion is more important than their country and its Constitution and its freedoms, then they do need to just leave to a country that follows their ideals …
November 8 at 5:14 p.m. by ‘Teach non-Muslims fear?’
… Yes, we should fear Muslims as their actions and words teach hatred toward every American …
January 4 at 1:47 p .m. by ‘Islam attacks on Christmas Day!’
… A man did not attack on Christmas Day, a religion did!
These types of racist comments should not be allowed to remain on the Web site’s comments list. UNM policy does not permit racism and racist comments. We’ve flagged many of these racist comments and found that the Daily Lobo editors took no action.
These racist comments still continue to be posted, as you can see from a comment posted as recently as January 7th.
UNM’s Daily Lobo should be a beacon of intellectual insight and learning with healthy discussions about a variety of issues, not a place where intolerable lies and ideologies are spread. These types of comments completely disagree with the University’s policies, and require proper attention. Please remove them.
University of New Mexico Muslim Student Association
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