After Fox 9 TV reported claims that Somali American daycare facilities were guilty of fraud and sending the money overseas, a Star Tribune editorial stated, “While nothing can eradicate greed, there’s always room to improve fraud detection… The Fox 9 TV report underscored that ongoing responsibility. Senator Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, struck the right tone about this situation, saying scrutiny is not about ‘Islamophobia’ but about ‘fraudphobia.’”
Not even close, Tribune. What both you and Fox 9 TV have as an “ongoing responsibility” is to first be fair and balanced when investigating fraud within state programs — not to highlight, scrutinize, and sensationalize only the claims of fraud by people of color.
Their approach is Islamophobic, because they run it as a lead story, when the majority of fraud within state programs are committed by White people — especially when the majority of recipients of state aid, for all programs, is White people.
Most of this greed that the Tribune says is impossible to “eradicate,” is White people ripping off state programs, but that doesn’t get the GOP at the State Capitol fired up. Only when Somali Americans are accused of fraud do we hear the outrage.
And the Star Tribune, for some strange reason, goes along with it because they just love connecting the local Somali Americans to terror any chance they can get.
Frank Erickson lives in Minneapolis.
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