One can dream...

"Obama, please phone the Muslim 'street vendor hero' too"

Professor Hamid Dabashi addresses an open letter to President Obama about the NY "street vendor heroes" -including a Somali man- who alerted police to the Times Square bomb threat earlier this month.

New York (CNN) -- "Dear Mr. President: How good of you, sir, to have personally telephoned two New York heroes whose timely diligence prevented a lunatic from causing a catastrophe in Times Square.

We New Yorkers are happy to hear you called Mr. Lance L. Orton Sr. and Mr. Duane Jackson to thank them for their vigilance. But there is a third vendor, Mr. President, whom you forgot to call. His name is Alioune B. Niass, and he is an immigrant from Somalia who said he was the first person to notice the smoking Nissan Pathfinder.

There is another reason besides fairness. Mr. Niass is a Muslim from Somalia, and some of us Muslim-Americans have a suspicion that your staff might not have brought him to your attention because the idea of a Muslim hero in New York does not quite dovetail with the stereotype..."

Link for full article.

Photo courtesy LA Times blog.