US Muslims raise $30,000 to help repair black Christian churches destroyed by fire

[Sgman91]

[QUOTE=Levelog;48159957]I think a very large part of charity is giving money to something you empathize with. Obviously she empathized with this black community. Likewise there are certainly people who would empathize with a poor white church that did not donate any money to this one.[/QUOTE]

I agree, people are more likely to donate to things that they empathize with, but I still think it's odd to empathize based on skin color. I could understand empathizing based on type of victimization (for example, rape victims giving to rape based charities) because you understand how hard it is, or on religious identity (Muslims giving to Muslims) because of agreement on basic fundamental ideas, etc., but the color of one's skin doesn't really imply much similarity. There are poor black people, rich black people, liberal black people, conservative black people, etc. Being black isn't what makes a person who they are. To empathize with black people BECAUSE they're black is to assume that all black people are similar.

[Big Dumb Patriot]

[QUOTE=sgman91;48157560]Honestly, it seems more like black people who happen to be Muslim helping other black people. In the article she clearly states that she identifies with them as a black person, and the HelpGood page where the donations are being accepted is based on helping a black church specifically. Here's the only section typed in bold from the donation page:

"We must always keep in mind that the Muslim community and the black community are not different communities. We are profoundly integrated in many ways, in our overlapping identities and in our relationship to this great and complicated country. We are connected to Black churches through our extended families, our friends and teachers, and our intertwined histories and convergent present."

and a quote from her personal twitter (basically every tweet she's done is about racial activism): "Black lives - and churches - matter" ([URL]https://twitter.com/faatimahknight/status/618819218507702272[/URL])

Sadly, I don't think this would have happened if the churches had been white churches.

With all that said, I still applaud her for going out of her way to help those in need.[/QUOTE]

Does her advocating a social cause somehow make spearheading a charity drive irrelevant or unworthy of comment? Yes, she is pretty obviously pushing to advance a social agenda of the empowerment and unity of black folk in an effort to foster a greater sense of community so that they can fight against racism in a more collective sense, and no, she might not have done the same for a white church that burned down under differemt cor imstances, because she might well have less connection to the event.

What of it? She is Muslim, she is black, and she is trying to make the world a more accepting and pleasant place for other black people and Muslims, because black people and Muslims are heavily persecuted in this country and around the world. A charity having specific goals and intentions does not undermine the gesture. ALL charities have specific goals, after all. Would you criticize a charity geared towards improving the lives of homeless people for not giving equal attention to Childrens' leukemia, something completely unrelated to their specific objectives?

[editline]9th July 2015[/editline]

[QUOTE=sgman91;48160013]I agree, people are more likely to donate to things that they empathize with, but I still think it's odd to empathize based on skin color. I could understand empathizing based on type of victimization (for example, rape victims giving to rape based charities) because you understand how hard it is, or on religious identity (Muslims giving to Muslims) because of agreement on basic fundamental ideas, etc., but the color of one's skin doesn't really imply much similarity. There are poor black people, rich black people, liberal black people, conservative black people, etc. Being black isn't what makes a person who they are. To empathize with black people BECAUSE they're black is to assume that all black people are similar.[/QUOTE]

The common bond here is not that they happen to be black, it's that they happen to be black in a society that marginalizes black people. As you pointed out in your own example, there is nothing curious about rape victims donating to charities that promote awareness of rape and benefit victims of it, so why is there something unjust about victims of persecution based on skin color donating to charities that promote awareness of racism and benefit the communities that suffer from it?

[hellothere12]

guys, im going to repeat a statement someone said earlier:

Its a pillar of islam to give money