Sunday Links -- 9/11, Hate Crimes, Executions and Rick Perry

By John Ballard

As Ron said, OBL may be dead but he scored a big win ten years ago with the WTC attack. It's no exaggeration to say that our children and grandchildren will be coping with the military and economic consequences of that event, not to mention the end of innocence and freedoms we thought were inviolate.

Rather than adding another load of words to the already endless commentaries today I submit the following thought-provoking links. At this writing the leading challenger to the Obama presidency is Rick Perry. He may or may not succeed, but either way the links are important.

?Muslim Hate Crime Victim Marks 9/11
(Eight-minute radio story at the link.).

After Sept. 11, many American Muslims felt the need to explain that they weren�t terrorists. 37-year old Rais Bhuiyan barely got the chance.

He�s a Muslim from Bangladesh and he was shot in the face by avowed white supremacist, Mark Stroman, who said he wanted revenge for the terrorist attacks.

Bhuiyan survived, but two others died at Stroman�s hand. Bhuiyan forgave his attacker and spent the last decade petitioning for him to be taken off death row� right up until Stroman was executed in Texas this past July.

?Rick Perry Signed Hate Crimes Bill in Texas by Kelly Holt  New American, August 31, 2011

Not long after Rick Perry became Governor of Texas, according to an Associated Press release on May 12, 2001 he signed the James Byrd Hate Crimes Act (HB 587) named for a black man in Jasper, Texas, who was dragged to death behind a pickup in 1998.

In a bill-signing ceremony on May 11, 2001 Perry said:  [Four months before 9/11]

As the Governor of our diverse state, in all matters it is my desire to seek common ground for the common good. In the end, we are all Texans and we must be united as we walk together into the future. That�s why today I have signed House Bill 587 into law. Texas has always been a tough-on-crime state. With my signature today, Texas now has stronger criminal penalties against crime motivated by hate.

President Obama signed a similar law, and the Texas statute signed by Perry does effectively establish a special �protected class� status including enhanced sentencing for crimes allegedly motivated by bias against it.

[snip]

...[Gary Glenn, President of the American Family Association of Michigan] echoed the thoughts of many Texans questioning why Perry, who positions himself as a conservative would find himself on the same side of this argument as President Obama, without regarding the constitutional concerns of this law...

?This video was broadcast the week before Stroman's execution.

?This is part of last week's GOP presidenbtial candidates debate.

 

?Rais Bhuiyan Wants Your Hate Crime Stories  August 30th, 2011 by Michael J. Mooney
From a Dallas news magazine blog.

You might remember Rais Bhuiyan, the man who sued Rick Perry and the state of Texas to stop the execution of the guy who shot him in the face. Bhuiyan�s efforts to stop Mark Stroman�s execution failed, but his campaign against hate continues. In the next two weeks, Bhuiyan�s organization, World Without Hate, will be launching a web site. On it, he wants to share stories from people who were personally affected by 9/11 or hate crimes, and how those people have learned to heal. You can contribute by emailing: contact@WorldWithoutHate.org. Bhuiyan says he�ll try to publish as many stories as possible.

Nothing I say will add much to these links.
Every time I listen to the spontaneous applause from the audience that Brian Williams mentioned it makes me sick. That crowd didn't applaud much during the debate which makes this instance particularly revolting.
I'm indebted to somebody at YAR for bringing this story to my attention. His personal reflections also make good reading, though I doubt many readers at this site will be impressed.