NYU may soon get a new Islamic Center, which would serve more than 1,500 students. (Christopher Sedowski - NY Post)One of the amenities that has been proposed is special “foot-bath” facilities, which would prevent Muslim students from awkwardly lifting their feet into sinks for pre-prayer rituals.

This sounds like an excellent idea, on many counts. However, at least one enlightened NYU undergrad believes the notion just wouldn’t whistle in Dixie:

“I think most people would really approve of that,” said senior Pia Clive, 20. “It’s NYU. If we were at Alabama State, it would be a different story.”

Now, wait just a minute here. I know many Alabama State University alumni, and they would be offended by the notion that they would somehow discriminate. Does Pia Clive intend to insinuate that students at historically-black institutions like ASU are less cultured, nuanced, and tolerant than the rest of the country? As a non-prejudiced American, should I allow this kind of insensitive remark to go unchallenged?

[tags]Ike Pigott, Occam’s RazR, journalism, news, prejudice, media bias[/tags]