{"id":1848,"date":"2003-12-17T02:05:45","date_gmt":"2003-12-17T07:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/?p=1848"},"modified":"2003-12-17T02:05:45","modified_gmt":"2003-12-17T07:05:45","slug":"in_bushs_backyard_an_american_muslim_wins_houston_election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/in_bushs_backyard_an_american_muslim_wins_houston_election\/","title":{"rendered":": In Bush&#8217;s Backyard, An American Muslim Wins Houston Election"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><table cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\">\n<tr>\n<td><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/houston_khan.jpg\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"right\">\n<div class=\"caption\"><\/div>\n<p><\/p><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p>Given the dismal <a href=\"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com%2Fpolitics_comments.php%3Fid%3DP803_0_10_0_C\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">post 9\/11 record<\/a> of Muslims running for political office in America, it\u2019s not surprising that skepticism surrounded M. J. Khan\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pakistanchronicle.com%2Fhouston%2Ftriumph_masrurkhan.htm\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">decision to run<\/a> for Houston City Council.  But this candidate was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mjkhan.com\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">different<\/a>, showing dogged perserverance in securing one <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chron.com%2Fcs%2FCDA%2Fstory.hts%2Fpolitics%2Frecommendations%2F2216228\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">endorsement<\/a> after another, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chron.com%2Fcs%2FCDA%2Fssistory.mpl%2Fmetropolitan%2F2252743\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">taking on<\/a> issues important to the district in which he lives.  \u201cI never thought of myself as some sort of statement-maker,\u201d said Khan, a Houston resident for over 20 years. \u201cI always thought of myself as a Houstonian.\u201d  But on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chron.com%2Fcontent%2Fchronicle%2Felectioncentral%2Findex.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">election night<\/a>, Khan beat the son of a former Houston mayor to become the first Muslim <a href=\"http:\/\/www.localvoter.com%2Fcityhouston.asp\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">elected<\/a> to Houston\u2019s City Council, joining a short but <a href=\"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com%2Fpolitics_comments.php%3Fid%3DP669_0_10_0_C\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">growing<\/a> list of Muslims winning local and state elections.  The election comes not long after a local mosque was <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pakistanchronicle.com%2Fhouston%2Fhoustonmasjid_vandalized.htm\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">vandalized<\/a>, showing the lengths Khan had to go to secure the trust of the voters and reach beyond his natural Muslim constituency.  \u201cIf anybody is supporting me just because I\u2019m a Muslim,\u201d said <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sfgate.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Farticle.cgi%3Ff%3D%2Fnews%2Farchive%2F2003%2F11%2F19%2Fnational1420EST0650.DTL\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Khan<\/a>, \u201cI would consider that as a disrespect for myself because I bring a whole lot more to the table.\u201d  While most of Khan\u2019s votes didn\u2019t come from the Muslim community, much of his support network did.  \u201cMuslims do not feel alienated,\u201d said demographic researcher Mohamed Nimer. \u201cThey actually feel more urgency to become more involved in the public square, and their political activism is increasing.\u201d  As Khan readies himself for his new duties, he is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chron.com%2Fcs%2FCDA%2Fssistory.mpl%2Freligion%2F2293190\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">keenly aware<\/a> of the burden he is carrying.  \u201cNo matter how much I don\u2019t emphasize it, people do see me as the first Muslim elected to City Hall,\u201d he said. \u201cIf, God forbid, I falter, (criticism) may not just be limited to M.J. Khan the councilman.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><i><\/i><\/p>\n<p>Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.\n<\/p>\n<p><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An American Muslim wins election to Houston&#8217;s city council, proving that the electorate can look past negative images of Muslims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":530,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-briefings"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>: In Bush&#8217;s Backyard, An American Muslim Wins Houston Election<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An American Muslim wins election to Houston&#039;s city council, proving that the electorate can look past negative images of Muslims.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/in_bushs_backyard_an_american_muslim_wins_houston_election\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\": In Bush&#8217;s Backyard, An American Muslim Wins Houston Election\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An American Muslim wins election to Houston&#039;s city council, proving that the electorate can look past negative images of Muslims.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/in_bushs_backyard_an_american_muslim_wins_houston_election\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"altmuslim\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2003-12-17T07:05:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.altmuslim.com\/ee_images\/houston_khan.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shahed Amanullah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/in_bushs_backyard_an_american_muslim_wins_houston_election\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/in_bushs_backyard_an_american_muslim_wins_houston_election\/\",\"name\":\": In Bush&#8217;s Backyard, An American Muslim Wins Houston Election\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2003-12-17T07:05:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2003-12-17T07:05:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#\/schema\/person\/0e0efbb645cc461c721083358f82f945\"},\"description\":\"An American Muslim wins election to Houston's city council, proving that the electorate can look past negative images of Muslims.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/in_bushs_backyard_an_american_muslim_wins_houston_election\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/in_bushs_backyard_an_american_muslim_wins_houston_election\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/2003\/12\/in_bushs_backyard_an_american_muslim_wins_houston_election\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\": In Bush&#8217;s Backyard, An American Muslim Wins Houston Election\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/altmuslim\/\",\"name\":\"altmuslim\",\"description\":\"Global perspectives on Muslim life, politics &amp; 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