What do you think the national reaction would have been if Jared Loughner had been Latino?

The real question is: What if he was a Muslim?

Here is an editorial I heard last night on All Things Considered on NPR. It is a really interesting take on the subject.

Everytime a white person commits a murder, white people everywhere rally to get him freed, regardless of his guilt.

Actually, my mistake, thats black people and O.J. Simpson.

To answer the question, those who have a brain would have exactly the same reaction as they do now: This guy is an insane, murdering scumbag who should be locked up forever.

Those without one would no doubt blame his race for his actions. But they’re dumb so who cares.

@syzygy2600 I wouldn’t rally to get a murderer freed.

@Afos22 The Muslim thing could be it’s own question.

@SuperMouse That editorial was what made me think about it. Found I was still thinking about it today, so I asked the question. I didn’t link it because I didn’t want to bias anyone with someone else’s ideas.

@cazzie Blow me. It’s thought provoking. The reaction would likely be very different and it’s interesting to contemplate the reasons why.

EDIT: @supermouse But don’t think I’m implying you shouldn’t have, sorry if it appeared that way.

@cockswain I apologize. When I reread what I wrote, it seemed to belittle your question. I assure you, that wasn’t the intent. :-P

@Afos22 I didn’t take it that way at all. I just meant that there would be such a vastly different reaction had the killer been Muslim that it needs it’s own thread. But the root ignorance would be very similar.

Sorry, but the defence’s argument goes toward conjecture… and if you want to delete this entry fine, but the poster’s response was ‘blow me’? come on…....

Let’s get even more interesting… what if he was a man sent back in time from the future!

(are we forgetting the name of the man who saved the Congresswoman’s life here? What if his name was ‘Smith’.....)

When I first heard about the killings, I wondered if the shooter was Hispanic, for obvious reasons.
When I heard the shooters name was Jared, I wondered if he was Muslim.
When I saw his picture, I wondered if he was connected with the tea party, or if this was one of the districts that Sarah Palin put gun-sites on.
That is why it is a good idea to wait for accurtate information, and not to jump to conclusions.

@filmfann I’m slightly disgusted by your response. Is that normal in the US?

@cazzie – We are all affected by what the media shows us. The fact that @filmfann reacted emotionally at first, but waited before any conclusions were made, is laudable, not disgusting.

I would hope that @filmfann‘s response was normal in the US. Honest about irrational fear, and yet reserved in drawing conclusions. How great is that?

In the days following 9/11, Bush wanted to attack Iraq over it. He just couldn’t get any evidence that they were behind it.
I am telling you what my train of thought was at that time. It’s not like I immediately went out and bombed a mosque, or a… taqueria?

I don’t think it matters, but I assume the reaction would be, ‘OMGZ! The illegals!’.

It’s an unfortunate aspect of our society that when something bad happens we look for someone to blame. In this case the victim (primary) was a Democrat so the first impulse was to blame a conservative or Republican. With no other facts that started within hours. I have no doubt that if it had been a Latino that committed the crime it would have quickly shifted to Latinos. Muslim same thing. When no evidence of any group surfaced, the blame game went with the conservatives. But if you’re astonished with the idea that Latinos may have been the target of disparaging comments had a Latino been the perpetrator, you should be equally astonished at the blame that was focused at the conservatives.

I think most of us wait for the whole story before making up our minds. That doesn’t mean we are immune to the fear that the whole thing will be misinterpreted. It seems that a portion of society, however small, is hell bent on misinterpreting everything to gain an advantage.

@cockswain it didn’t appear you were implying anything, no apology necessary!

Anyway, that editorial got me thinking too and I really think she made some very valid points. In a lot of ways I think she hit the nail on the head. It is sad but true that when stuff like this happens we are all looking – first and foremost – for a scapegoat. This habit inevitably leads to negative stereotyping of an entire group of people. Unless of course we are talking about hate mongerers on the right, they deserve no blame whatsoever for their nasty rhetoric.

Probably some asinine reaction like this
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/01/12/BA1M1H5SVK.DTL

“It’s painfully ironic that a gay Latino man came to the aid of Representative Giffords in the storm of gunfire. If a judge hadn’t blocked provisions of Arizona’s SB 1070 law, however, the intern’s surname would have easily qualified him as a target for police under different circumstances on Saturday.” This is a perfect example of the propaganda model of manufacturing consent.

I am increasingly disturbed by all the details they are revealing about this guy’s life. Personally, I think the less attention to him we pay the better. I hate hate HATE how this country sensationalizes psychopaths like they are these enigmatic, romantic, yet horribly depraved characters. The disgust with their behavior is completely masked by this sick fascination, like they’re Dracula or something. It gives them power. And it paves the way for more to follow.

Had he been Latino, I don’t know what the national reaction would have been. Perhaps there would have been increased racism towards other Latinos, but certainly not a fixation like the media has been riding the waves of.

I think people would be even more confused than they already are.

@iamthemob I guess I’m glad I’m spared the outrageousness of the US media.

A more pertinent question might be what the national reaction would have been if a Muslim had placed a map on his website with crosshairs over politicians and one of them was shot.

Actually that is the first thing that came to mind when I heard of the shooting. I thought for sure it was the Mexican drug cartels. It was quite a relief that it wasn’t them, because that would mean that we really are under siege from Mexico.