In public elementary schools across the nation, students are taught that America is a land of equality and tolerance. We are all created equal, and we should treat each other with dignity and respect, regardless of race, gender or religion.

However, it appears that some of us have forgotten these grammar school lessons. We have turned our fear of living in a post-9/11 society into intolerance towards Arabs and Muslims. A poll done earlier this year by the Washington Post and ABC News found that 46 percent of Americans think poorly of Islam today, along with 33 percent that believe Islam helps to cause violence against non-Muslims. A more recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that nearly 40 percent of Americans admit to feeling at least some prejudice against Muslims and 22 percent wouldn’t want to have Muslims as their neighbors. Is this what tolerance passes for in a post-9/11 society?

But this anti-Arab racism isn’t just manifesting itself in poll data. As some of us know all too well, Pope Benedict XVI lashed out at Muslims around the world by quoting 14th-century Byzantine Christian Emperor Manuel II Paleologus, saying “Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman.” Although the Pope claimed he was only quoting this man, it seems doubtful that one would take the time to seek out and repeat a quote by a 14th-century historical figure if one did not believe in its central message.

Media personalities and politicians are weighing in on the subject as well. Bill O’Reilly of Fox News told viewers that “All young Muslims should be subjected to more scrutiny than Granny [at U.S. airports].”

In that same vein, Peter King, a Congressman from New York, told ABC News, “I think it’s time to end political correctness. To me, if a person is of Middle Eastern descent, it’s legitimate for the screener to ask more questions.” Apparently, to Mr. King, not being subjected to racial profiling is simply a courtesy, rather than a basic civil right.

Dan Gillerman, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, went so far as to say that “while it may be true —and probably is — that not all Muslims are terrorists, it also happens to be true that nearly all terrorists are Muslim.” Forget about the second part of his statement for now and consider the first half. He only thinks it’s probable that not all Muslims are terrorists, as though it remains a possibility that every follower of Islam is a terrorist.

Unfortunately, however, this anti-Arab and anti-Muslim feeling goes beyond mere words. Every day there seems to be reports of new actions against Arabs and Muslims. Over the summer, British and U.S. authorities claimed to have foiled a number of supposed terrorist plots. The men in question were always of Arab descent, but the evidence against any of them was scant. One group of three men in Texas was arrested for nothing more than having a large number of cell phones, which they claimed to have bought to resell at a profit. These men weren’t terrorists, they were capitalists.

I am not denying that there are individuals in the world that wish to do the U.S. harm. However, the U.S. government is not making arrests of men who pose a legitimate threat to our nation. Rather, they are arresting men of Arab descent and deeming them terrorists to constantly remind Americans of this threat and keep the nation paralyzed by fear.

Raed Jarrar, an Arab-American of Iraqi descent, was forced to remove a T-shirt with the slogan “We Will Not Be Silent” printed in both English and Arabic while attempting to board a plane at JFK Airport. Apparently unaware that the words are derived from a slogan of resistance against Nazi Germany, Jet Blue officials forced Jarrar to cover up his shirt and changed his seat to one in the back of the plane. One representative told him, “Going to an airport with a T-shirt in Arabic is like going to a bank and wearing a T-shirt that says, ‘I’m a robber.’” I wasn’t aware that, in U.S. airports, “We Will Not Be Silent” now translates to “I’m a terrorist.”

On September 10th, a group of more than 100 racists, mostly from far-right groups like the Minutemen, Save Our State (SOS) and the United American Committee (UAC), gathered to “commemorate” the fifth anniversary of the attacks of September 11th by hanging Osama bin Laden in effigy in front of the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, California. Participants at the event hung a noose around the effigy of bin Laden, then proceeded to beat the figure. That sounds suspiciously similar to a lynching. Does that remind anyone else of a less-than-stellar period in our country’s racial history? Beyond that, is a mock lynching any way to commemorate those who lost their lives on September 11th? I suppose a simple vigil or memorial would not have been adequate for these groups.

What we are seeing here is an epidemic of prejudice and hatred towards Arabs and Muslims. With no denouncement of these words or actions from either side of the aisle, it appears that our society has deemed it tolerable to hate Arabs and Muslims simply for their ethnicity and religion. Yes, Al-Qaeda is a terrorist organization, and Osama bin Laden can certainly be considered a violent fanatic. But we cannot blame the actions of individuals on an entire group of people. Arabs and Muslims are not to blame for what happened to our country on September 11th. We can no longer couch our own prejudices under the guise of patriotism.

Laura Taylor is a senior in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She can be contacted at lat34@cornell.edu. Kind of a Big Deal appears Tuesdays.