There's a short review in today's New York Times of a new book about the 1863 draft riots in New York (scroll down). You know about the draft riots, don't you? There were

at least 105 fatalities in four days of rioting.... A volunteer with Fire Engine Company No. 33 had been one of the first men to fall subject to Lincoln's new federal draft, prompting Peter Masterson, the foreman, and his crew to pledge "to destroy the draft office with the records containing their fellow fireman's name." ... Blacks were lynched and white sympathizers singled out by largely Irish immigrant mobs that had the city under their control ...

It's a good time to be reminded of that moment in history. Right now a lot of right-wingers are in high dudgeon because of the cartoon riots in the Muslim world. There's no justifying the violence -- but what we're hearing from the right is that Islam is the problem (that's the meaning of all the sneering references to the "religion of peace," e.g., here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

We should always remember the draft riots at moments like this. We should have been talking about them when riots erupted after the Rodney King verdict and it became acceptable in polite society to suggest that maybe non-white are just "like that." Now we're being told by large numbers of conservatives -- actually, we have been since at least 9/11 -- that Muslims are hopelessly bellicose and unable to conform to our standards of decent behavior.

In 1863, one might have said the same thing about the Irish in New York -- they were naturally inclined to drink and brawl; we could never expect them to be civilized citizens. (Many people did say that, of course.)

We know how that's turned out. The Irish moved up the ladder and fully assimilated. A century and a half later, the descendants of those Five Points Irish immigrants are 100% American.

So, sure, denounce the individuals and groups who are engaged in violence and violent threats in response to the Muhammad cartoons -- I'll second that. But I don't want to hear that this conflict is ingrained in anyone's DNA, or that any ethnic or religious group is innately sociopathic.