Islam addresses South Dakota's culture of racism

Taneeza Islam is executive director of South Dakota Voice for Peace, a lawyer and human rights advocate.

She said Islam hadn’t been involved in local politics in South Dakota before the last session of the state Legislature in Pierre, where she found herself having to learn the ropes of lobbying against what she felt were harmful proposals. "This past session, I was alerted by some friends in Pierre that there were a lot of anti-refugee, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim bigotry going on, and it was coming from state legislators, and it was being drafted into not just resolutions but also bills which had the chance of becoming law," she said.

Get the story at the Yankton Press & Dakotan.

Hatred is a South Dakota value spread by an uncharitable christianic religionist majority masquerading as a big tent.

In a related story the extremist South Dakota Legislature won't investigate white people professing to be christians.

A request by South Dakota District 30 Rep. Tim Goodwin to study the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) compound in southwest Custer County was denied April 18 at a meeting of the legislature’s executive board. “To be honest, I couldn’t get traction from anybody else,” he said. “Most people have a yellow streak down their back, so I couldn’t get anybody to touch it.”

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A student organization at South Dakota State University is fostering a culture of understanding about Islam.

Thoughts? Prayers?