Don't Let Them Turn Tragedy into Racism
A Public Forum featuring Richard Seymour & Khury Petersen-Smith
The horrific images of the bombings at the Boston Marathon on April 15 shocked everyone. The brutal attack has left 3 dead and 127 people injured. In the face of these attacks, though, we have seen images of hundreds of ordinary people, doctors, nurses and other caregivers rush into action to help strangers in need--all signs of our city pulling together after an act of unspeakable horror.
After 9/11, racist and anti-Muslim attacks skyrocketed - both by individuals, and by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. Similarly, after Monday's attacks, the police raided the house of Boston students of Saudi descent, detained an Arab witness to and victim of the crime, and grounded two planes with Arabic-speaking passengers aboard. We can't let them turn our grief into hatred or racist 'community' surveillance.
More than 10 years after 9/11 and the invasion and occupation of Afghanistan, President Obama has continued Bush's 'War on Terror' by increasing wars abroad and repressing civil liberties at home. It is in this context that the notion of terrorism has been deeply racialized. What will it take to stop tragedy from turning into racism?
Thursday, April 18
Featuring internationally-acclaimed socialist blogger and author RICHARD SEYMOUR of Lenin's Tomb and KHURY PETERSEN-SMITH of the International Socialist Organization.
Sponsored by:
International Socialist Organization; Haymarket Books; Harvard Socialists at GSAS; United National Antiwar Coalition (Boston); and Verso Books.