Small fringe provocations can dominate national public attention

Evidence

In the summer of 2010, the attention of Americans was riveted by two controversies that erupted over the presence of Islam in the United States. One was the theatrical announcement of Pastor Terry Jones, leader of a small religious group in Florida, that he had put the Qur’an on trial for “crimes against humanity” and was planning to burn copies of it on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks against American targets. This threat attracted worldwide condemnation, as well as pleas from international leaders and American officials to abstain from a highly provocative action, and ultimately Jones abandoned that particular plan. — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 21

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: A small repertoire of performances can weave into widespread rebellion. — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 610