Fort Hood Shootings: Don't Let Racism Hide Truth

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Carl R. Darnell Army Medical Center, Fort Hood, Texas

BY NOW EVERYBODY ON THE PLANET KNOWS about the killing of 12 people and wounding of 31 others at Fort Hood in Texas. There's no doubt that this is a tragedy for the families and friends of the slain.

But from a tragedy like this there will inevitably issue forth a second tragedy - the racist, anti-Muslim hysteria that will follow because the man - Major Nidal Malik Hasan - was from a Palestinian background.

And that hysteria - already in evidence in online newspaper comments boxes - will obscure the real issues and the real reasons for this tragedy.

Hiding from the truth will only ensure more tragedies like this in the future.

So, let's go through some of the truths.

1) The sheer racism involved in immediately speculating on the religion of the shooter. Back in May, an Army Sgt. stationed in Iraq and suffering from PTSD shot and killed five of his fellow soldiers. That man's name - John Russell - was Anglo Saxon. Nobody speculated on the role of his religion in the killing.

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