If you have ever taken a ride on the Knight Bus, chances are you have met Stan Shunpike.  Although he is creepy, unequivocally boastful and rather unintelligent, Stan is completely harmless.  Yet, it is Stan’s own vain nature that ultimately gets him into trouble, bragging to a friend that he was given secret information regarding Death Eater plans.

We all know that the Dark Lord would never trust an incompetent wizard like Stan Shunpike with his Chocolate Frog, let alone his plans.  So, why does Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgeour insist on keeping Stan in Azkaban despite the fact that interrogations showed that Stan has no link with the Death Eaters?  The answer is quite simple: to show to members of the wizarding world that the Ministry is indeed making progress in stopping terrorism by the Death Eaters.

Before I continue, it is important for you to know that J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series can be related to all aspects of everyday Muggle life.  Let’s take a look at an example.  On March 16, a Muslim woman dressed in a headscarf was removed from her Southwest Airlines flight after a flight attendant overheard her say “It’s a go” whilst on a cell phone.  Naturally, since the woman on the cell phone was Muslim the flight attendant assumed that the woman’s statement “It’s a go” inferred a terror plot.  Yet, after being removed from the plane, the Muslim woman told reporters that she actually said “I’ve got to go” moments before the plane’s departure.

I am all for the “see something say something” idea, but this situation begs the question: what if the flight attendant over heard a Caucasian woman saying “It’s a go” on a cell phone? Would the flight attendant have had the same reaction?  It has not been confirmed that the Muslim woman was removed from the airplane simply because of her headscarf and in effect, her religion, but it is not an outlandish accusation to fathom.  Like Stan Shunpike, the Muslim woman was falsely accused of possible terrorism. 

The Southwest Airlines incident comes just days after Representative Peter King (R-NY) began his controversial hearings regarding Muslim Radicalization in America.  In an interview with CNN’s Senior Congressional Correspondent Dana Bash, King said that as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee “I have no choice, I have to hold these hearings, these hearings are absolutely essential.” 

King notes the increased radicalization of Muslims in the years post 9/11 citing Muslims as uncooperative and unwilling to condemn the acts of al Qaeda. 

In the weeks leading to the hearings, critics accused King of bigotry and compared his hearings to those of Senator Joseph McCarthy who used his Congressional power to engage the country in a Communist witch hunt during the 1950s.  King denied the claims, assuring Bash that the hearing “will be a thoughtful, meaningful, very fair hearing.”

The hearing showed a clear divide in Americans’ portrayal of homegrown Islamic terrorism.  The New York Times reported that the hearing painted “divergent portraits of Muslims in America: one as law-abiding people who are unfairly made targets, the other as a community ignoring radicalization among its own and failing to confront what one witness called ‘this cancer that’s within.'”

Clearly a partisan issue, Republicans harped on the idea that Muslims are uncooperative with law enforcement while Democrats argued that it is because of Muslim cooperation that many terror plots have been thwarted.  Still, at the conclusion of the emotional hearing, King found the hearing a success and will lead to successive trails throughout the year.

Although King sees no problem with the trials, it is apparent that his actions are racial profiling at its worst.  Yes, the 9/11 terror attacks were the acts of Islamic extremists, but that does not mean that all Muslims are extremists.  In fact, there are extremists in all religions.  The Westboro Baptist Church, not a terrorist organization, certainly holds extreme beliefs. 

In the same regard, not all acts of terror on American soil can be attributed to Islamic extremists.  In 1995, Timothy McVeigh’s Oklahoma City bombing took 168 lives.  Before his execution, McVeigh received the sacrament of anointing of the sick.  Does that mean Catholics should have been put on trial for possible terrorism?

Although he denies it, King’s hearings are pure religious bigotry.  The basis for his claims are clear—Muslims were responsible for the 9/11 attacks, thus all Muslims have extremist tendencies.  King’s claims are just as bizarre as Minster of Magic Scrimgeour’s claims against Stan Shunpike, as both create a façade of progress on an issue plaguing society.  Fortunately for King, the Dark Lord isn’t watching his every move.

To contact The Ionian’s Amanda Kelly, e-mail her at [email protected].