People are more than willing to admit that terrorists are a problem. You'd be institutionalized to saying otherwise, and rightfully so.

But whenever you so much as mention the connection between Islam and terrorism, you're suddenly a xenophobic asshole. You get things like #TerrorismHasNoReligion and #NotAllMuslims. And these things are true. Absolutely. Not all Muslims are terrorists, and discriminating against those who follow Islam is not the way to go about it. I have friends who are Muslim, friends who detest the actions perpetuated by these radicals and live in constant fear of reprisal for the actions of a few nutjobs with nothing to lose. I'm not saying all Muslims are terrorists or that they condone what is happening.

But remember the Dylan Roofe incident. After it became clear that his actions were perpetuated by an ideology of racism and white supremacy, people started questioning the culture that led to that ideology. Rebel flags were removed from State capitol buildings and so on. It led to a conversation about how Southern culture (the half-joking, half-serious "South will rise again!" sentiment) perpetuates racism and ultimately lead to Roofe's atrocious actions. And this is speaking as a Mississippian - it was about goddamn time we had that conversation and started making progress.

My question is this: why aren't we having that same conversation about Islam?

Because we can't. Because it would be racist. Xenophobic. How dare you insinuate that these radical acts of horror are perpetuated by a larger, more intricate system of beliefs that need to be discussed and addressed? Fucking Islamaphobe.

So yeah, it's a problem.