Dallas Morning News
Originally Posted: May 8, 2015
For some North Texas Muslims, Sunday’s attack on Garland’s Curtis Culwell Center was yet another moment to brace against anti-Muslim sentiment expressed either online or in hateful personal encounters.
“My first reaction was ‘Crap. Here we go again,’” said Carole Sturm, 50, of Arlington, who converted to Islam in college.
But among the more than 150,000 Muslims who live in the area, many say such encounters are not a part of daily life.
“My experience has been that in Texas, we are incredibly diverse and that diversity is for the most part either celebrated or just very much accepted,” said Amir Omar, 43, a former Richardson City Council member who may have been the state’s first Muslim elected official in 2009. READ MORE