A few years ago, a cable news producer asked me to appear on his television program to discuss a grisly murder in which, if I recall correctly, a Muslim immigrant had hacked someone to death in the name of Islam. I begged off, partly because I had no special expertise in the matter. But as a professional pundit, that doesn't usually stop me: not only would I have happily discussed a swing Senate race or corporate tax cuts, but, if invited, I would also have gladly weighed in on the upcoming NATO military exercises in Romania or the latest developments in the Canadian-U.S. softwood lumber dispute. Nevertheless there was something about being asked to pontificate on this particular subject that gave me pause. Did my Muslim origins somehow make me an authority on terrorist violence? My opinions on Islamic extremism were, frankly, not all that unique. There were plenty of other journalists who knew far more about homegrown terrorism than I did, so I passed a few names along and politely declined to take part myself.
- From Melting Pot or Civil War?: A Son of Immigrants Makes the Case Against Open Borders by Reihan Salam
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