Hate, Terrorism and America's Religious Pluralism
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Investigators are trying to determine why Wade Michael Page shot up a Sikh house of worship in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. We hear the latest on the killer and the disturbing questions raised by the history of American intolerance of a major world religion. Also, Iran pledges support after Syrian defection, and the British bank Standard Chartered is accused of illegally laundering $250 billion worth of Iranian money. What does it mean for America's financial system?
Banner image: Mourners prepare for a candlelight vigil at the Sikh Temple in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Photo by John Gress/Reuters
Making News
Iran Pledges Support after Syrian Defection ()
Yesterday, Syria's newly appointed Prime Minister slipped into Jordan, and today White House spokesman Jay Carney concluded that "Assad cannot restore his control over the government because the Syrian people will not allow it." But, also today, Syrian President Bashar Assad appeared on television for the first time in weeks. He was accompanied by Iran's security chief, who said Iran would not allow the two country's ties to be shaken by the internal uprising or by outside foes. Damien Cave is in Beirut, Lebanon for the New York Times.
Guests:
- Damien Cave: New York Times, @damiencave
Main Topic
Personal Rage, Hostility and Deadly Gunfire ()
America's latest mass killing took the lives of seven people, including the gunman, who shot up a Sikh house of worship in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. Law enforcement agencies want to know if Wade Michael Page acted alone. We talk with a criminologist who knew him as part of the hate-music scene. Since they first arrived in the US more than 100 years ago, Turban-wearing Sikhs have experienced brutal discrimination. They were the first targets of retaliation in the US after the attacks of September 11. Was this a hate crime or an act of domestic terrorism? How could it happen in a country based on tolerance of religious pluralism?
Guests:
- Don Walker: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, @DonWalkerJS
- Pete Simi: University of Nebraska at Omaha, @unomaha
- Brian Levin: California State University, San Bernardino, @proflevin
- Rajdeep Singh: Sikh Coalition, @sikh_coalition
- Vijay Prashad: Trinity College, @vijayprashad
- Paul Raushenbush: Huffington Post, @raushenbush
Links:
- Southern Poverty Law Center on Page as a former member of a Skinhead band
- SPLC on hate and extremism
- Rep. Joseph Crowley requests FBI to collect data on hate crimes against Sikhs
- California AB 1964 on discrimination in employment
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on shooter's odd behavior
- MJS on hate groups uneasy history with Fort Bragg
- Simi's 'American Swastika: Inside the White Power Movement's Hidden Spaces of Hate'
- Prashad's 'Uncle Swami: South Asians in America Today'
- Sikh Coalition on how to offer support to Oak Creek shooting victims
- Sikh Coalition on Sikhism
- Raushenbush on why distinguishing between Muslims and Sikhs misses the point
- US Commission on Civil Rights
Reporter's Notebook
British Bank Accused of Laundering $250 Billion for Iran ()
Standard Chartered is the British bank being called a "rogue institution" by New York's State Department of Financial Services. The bank is accused of helping to "sustain a threat to global peace and stability" by laundering $250 billion for Iranian banks and corporations. How did that happen? Jessica Silver Greenberg is Business Day reporter for the New York Times.
Guests:
- Jessica Silver Greenberg: New York Times
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