Source: The Chicago Tribune
On November 21, 2001, The Chicago Tribune reported that "in Amarillo [Texas] as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began, the rodeo crowned a new steer-roping champion and the Kiwanis Club sponsored a Bible-reading marathon. Such is life in this city of 220,000, a Bible Belt town in cowboy boots that is doing its best to make way for a swiftly growing Islamic community. While the terrorist attacks Sept. 11 in New York and near Washington have tested American tolerance around the country, this conservative, mostly white Texas town whose Islamic Center is doubling in size with new construction has provided a litmus test like few others. Amarillo's changing demographic landscape and proximity to Oklahoma City, site of the 1995 bombing, could have made it ripe for a volatile reaction, but it has passed the test, many here say."