This is a great piece about two Muslims driving around the south, visiting 30 mosques in 30 days. It's pretty uplifting and illuminating, though I want to specifically point out the story (near the end) about an unfortunate incident in Biloxi, Mississippi. So, go read this article on CNN first, then come back here.

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My mother lives in the Biloxi area (and my cousin Tom is part of the Harrison County Sheriff Department, which includes Biloxi-- for all I know, he's the officer referred to in the story, though I hope not). It's not bad there... the Mississippi Gulf Coast is a beautiful place, with extremely friendly people, gorgeous coastline (much of it still pristine and untouched by the oil spill) and fantastic food. I've always had a good time there and look forward to returning. But incidents like the one detailed in this CNN piece are just wrong. 

Sadly, I'd be lying if I didn't say that, during my last visit there (in 2007), I experienced a similar sort of racism first-hand. I was chatting with a police officer who took the time to explain the difference to me between "niggers" and "blacks"-- the former being the troublemakers, and the latter being "the good ones." Needless to say... I was flabbergasted. 

My take on the story in the CNN piece is that this isn't about political correctness or the fact that the two guys harassed were Muslim-- this is about people who don't look like everyone else in Mississippi feeling welcome. Did the cop really need to ask them a question about religion (which clearly could have made a huge difference in the outcome of the story)? Are the people of Mississippi interested in having visitors be comfortable and welcomed, or are they more interested in keeping things as white and Christian as possible?

I know it only takes one bad egg, and I know from my time there that of course, not everyone in Mississippi is racist... far from it. But it's the 21st century and not only do I believe the story in this CNN piece, I saw a shocking example of casual, intense racism myself.