Something Rotten

“I wouldn’t vote for that Muslim,” the elderly cab driver told me.

It was past midnight, only hours after President Bush’s State of the Union address, and I had just missed the last Metro train back to Eastern Market, my apartment and my bed.

I was exhausted after filing a story earlier in the day and covering the presidential candidates’ reactions to the speech for the Medill News Service that night.

Now, however, the sickly scent of air freshener wasn’t the only thing making me slightly nauseous.

The driver was referring to Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, and, obviously, had heard the false story, spread by the Washington Times-owned Insight magazine, a Fox news program and several Web sites, that Obama had attended a madrassa or fundamentalist Islamic school during his childhood in Indonesia.

In certain countries, some of these schools are rumored to train terrorists.

However, the senator attended a public school with a large Muslim population for two years and a Catholic school for another two while in Indonesia, according to CNN.

This quarter, I’m reporting on religious issues, and I knew that Obama, D-Ill., belongs to the United Church of Christ, which I told the driver.

He ignored me, showing just how hard it can be for a journalist to correct misinformation - or prejudice.

“I may vote for a Muslim eventually,” he said. “But you see, it’s just like after World War II. I wouldn’t have voted for a Jap back then.”

As he pulled up to my apartment, I asked if he could wait until I was safely inside.

“Sure,” he said, with one last parting comment. “You’ve got to watch out for the Democrats.”

Bosnia: A House Divided

My Bosnia article has been published!

You can read it here if you're interested in hearing about my experience in the Balkans.