Nothing described below should be surprising to anyone. This incident took place in Farmersville, Texas, a small town outside of McKinney with a white, Christian super-majority population.
When a local Islamic group purchased land on which to build a cemetery for the Muslim community, the denizens of Farmersville took to their local high school in vehement opposition.
Last night, a town hall meeting at Farmersville High School was the scene for a showdown that ultimately put the town’s venomous Islamophobia on display. Amidst worries that a Muslim-owned cemetery built on Muslim-purchased land would bring terrorism to the local Dairy Queen, the townsfolk of Farmersville pelted Islamic Association of Collin County spokesman Khalil Abdur-Rashid with tasty nuggets such as these:
“I don’t hate you. I don’t like your religion and I don’t even classify it as a religion.”
“You’re not part of our community.”
“With all of this opposition, why do you want to stay here?”
“Sometimes evil comes in sheep’s clothing, so that kind of bothers me.”
Cheers and applause rang through the crowd.
At the end of the meeting, Abdur-Rashid was greeted by some residents who did not share the sentiments of others, so it’s not as if all 3,300 people in the town are opposed.
The purchased land sits off Highway 380, actually outside of the Farmersville city limits, so it’s not like the bigots can do anything about the cemetery being built anyway. A Muslim-owned cemetery will be built on Muslim-purchased land, regardless of Farmersville’s feelings on the matter.
North Texas is no stranger to Islamophobic viewpoints. While it’s less common to see Islamophobia in places like Denton or Dallas, smaller towns run rampant with this ideological plague. It’s disturbing, in many ways, because the complaints the Christian populace use to justify their hatred of religious brown people can very easily be used toward them as well.
Christians are effectively the pot calling the kettle black.
Khalil Abdur-Rashid told NBCDFW that he believes the objections from the Farmersville populace aren’t necessarily about the purchased land or the cemetery specifically, but about fears they have toward Islam and the Muslim community. From the NBCDFW interview:
“This is about misinformation, and fear and hate. And until we confront that, in open honesty, it will continue to persist.”
While part of me hopes that a town like Farmersville could one day open their eyes and understand that Islam is not a religion to be feared upon itself, places like Farmersville frequently remind me of the way the denizens of South Park react during town hall meetings.
Rabble. Rabble. Rabble. Rabble. Rabble.
