It’s the day after Martin Luther King’s birthday, and here’s a story that gives us an idea of just how much further we need to travel to get to the color-blind world he wished for. A cemetery in Camilla, Georgia took down an 85-year-old fence that separating the graveyard into “White” and “Colored” areas. But before anyone starts patting themselves on the back, looking at the small town in the state’s southwest corner as an example of the progress to a country Dr. King could be proud of, according to ABC News, it wasn’t taken down without a fight, (its not like the dead have suddenly started integrating), and the town, while 70% black, is still governed and policed by a largely white city council and police force.
On the plus side these days, Reuters reports that nearly two thousand Muslim clerics in Pakistan have issued a fatwa putting suicide bombings on the haraan list, meaning they are forbidden by Islamic law. It’s a nice first step, and according to Pakistan President Mamnoon Hussain, “provides a strong base for the stability of a moderate Islamic society.” Let’s hope the message reaches both the young disenfranchised men who are prime targets for radicalization, and the much older men who decide US policy towards Pakistan.
Finally, The Times of London has a story of one man who did not get the memo. Umar Haque, 25, has been accused to using his religious school to brainwash his students, telling them they were a “death squad” and were born to “avenge our Arab brother’s blood.” He put them through physical exercises shouting “Allahu Ahkbar!” and gave them role playing assignments where some boys took the part of police officers and others were jihadists with a car bomb bomb. According to prosecutors, he was planning to attack London landmarks, including Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament, and the Queen’s guards in front of Buckingham Palace.
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