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I was talking to my 4-year old the other day, and asked him a simple question: \u201cWhat do you want to be when you grow up?\u201d His innocent, yet ambitious response was: \u201cA baseball player, soccer player, doctor, hafiz (one who memorizes the entire Quran) and an elevator-man\u201d \u2013 He is obsessed with pressing the buttons on elevators, so much that he has apparently made this his lifelong dream \u2013 so who am I to stop him? As a parent, I admire the youngster\u2019s energetic, wide-ranging dreams \u2013 I told him if he becomes all those things, he could eventually have his own elevator in his house. My belief is that with hard work, sincerity and determination, any professional aspiration is achievable.<\/p>\n
But when the time comes, what if either of my children tells me that they want to be the President of the United States? What do I tell them? Do I tell them, \u201cSorry boys \u2013 we\u2019re Muslims, and that is not a reachable goal? \u201c The current state of race relations in the U.S. tells me that it would be a potential dream-deferred.<\/p>\n
As children, we seemingly all used to have the same list of future potential jobs: athlete, astronaut, doctor, and President. Even as a child born and raised in the Deep South \u2013 I never felt a doubt that my professional aspirations would ever be limited. With a family that has roots in the U.S. since the 1950\u2019s, I felt as much as part of the fabric of America as anyone else. But now, we are living in the post-9\/11 reality \u2013 with Muslims constantly under the microscope. The term \u201cIslam\u201d has been co-opted, and turned into a political poker chip in order to spread fear and distrust of the American Muslim community.<\/p>\n
When my father went to work each day in Opelika, Alabama in 1966, his co-workers didn\u2019t ask the question on whether or not he was plotting against them. The handful of Muslims that gathered in a house to do Friday prayers in Auburn, Alabama weren\u2019t being watched by the FBI \u2013 to see whether they were spreading a militant message. But this was the same Islam being practiced in the 1960\u2019s, as is being practiced today \u2013 so why the change in perception? The answers simply boil down to the fact that it has become politically beneficial to embed fear among the public, along with a sense of \u201cotherness\u201d of the Muslim community.<\/p>\n
Cain Enablers<\/b><\/p>\n
In the last 40 years, bigotry and xenophobia have resided mainly beneath the surface. It was considered taboo and a career-killer to insinuate that you would not hire a person based off race or religion \u2013 that was until the most recent wave of Islamophobia has infected the American landscape. For an example of how this paradigm has shifted, just examine the case of Presidential candidate Herman Cain.<\/p>\n
As the former Godfather\u2019s Pizza CEO and talk-radio host hit out on the campaign trail, Cain was asked by an interviewer whether he would be comfortable appointing a Muslim cabinet member or Supreme Court Justice. His reply:<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I would not. And here\u2019s why. There is this creeping attempt, there is this attempt to gradually ease Sharia law and the Muslim faith into our government. It does not belong in our government. This is what happened in Europe. And little by little, to try and be politically correct, they made this little change, they made this little change.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Cain\u2019s short statement was a litany of right-wing talking points, bigotry and factual inaccuracies \u2013 a statement that should have raised a firestorm of criticism from left and right.<\/p>\n
More disheartening than the actual comments was the actual response from the public and news media. We have seen many recent instances of anti-Semitic, homophobic or misogynistic comments from talking heads or celebrities be punished heavily in the court of public opinion \u2013 and rightfully so. In those instances, jobs have been lost, fines have been levied and careers have been derailed. In the case of Cain, there was hardly any outcry \u2013 and in fact, we saw his early poll numbers rise. Media outlets such as Fox News, who find any reason to be outraged, threw their support behind Cain \u2013 declaring him the \u201cwinner\u201d of a recent televised debate.<\/p>\n
Even though Cain is still considered by many to be a fringe candidate \u2013 many other high-profile Republicans have shared similar vitriol toward Muslims \u2013 with Donald Trump referencing a \u201cMuslim problem\u201d in the world, and Newt Gingrich comparing Muslims to Nazis on multiple occasions. Tim Pawlenty, Rick Santorum and Michelle Bachmann have also made disparaging remarks about Muslims, in light of the faux-shariah threat that has engulfed the political world. In fact, a prominent fringe talk-show host Bryan Fisher recently stated that Muslims are not subject to 1st Amendment rights \u2013 an extreme position to say the least. Rather than distancing themselves from Fisher\u2019s incendiary comments, many of the aforementioned candidates continue to appear on his radio show, pandering to his audience. Thankfully my children are not old enough to understand the level of hatred that is being kindled in mainstream politics \u2013 Will they grow up in amongst a public that hates them, based upon what faith they belong to?<\/p>\n
Birther Control<\/b><\/p>\n
We now have a black President with an exotic sounding name. Halfway through his inauguration speech, when Justice John Roberts flubbed a line \u2013 we had a birth (excuse the pun) of a new movement to delegitimize this President. Many from the far-right wing have spread the rumor that Barack Hussein Obama \u2013 is a secret Muslim. Political operatives have spent the past few years planting seeds of doubt in the public, so much so, that nearly a quarter of Americans believe that Obama is a Muslim. This is aside from the fact that he has continually professed to be an adherent of the Christian faith for years. From the left, we have seen many commentators come to his defense \u2013 but the question is: Why does this question even need to be defended?<\/p>\n
Of course we know that Obama is a self-professed devout Christian \u2013 which is should end the discussion right there. But what if the President or a prominent politician happened to be a Muslim? Would that delegitimize him as a person, or make him unfit to lead? One of the few prominent figures in the political world who has properly addressed the nuance of this subject matter was former Secretary of State and General Collin Powell. When approached by an interviewer on the topic of Obama\u2019s faith, he said:<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, he\u2019s not a Muslim. He\u2019s a Christian. He\u2019s always been a Christian. But the right answer is, well, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in America? \u2026Is there something wrong with some seven year old Muslim-American kid believing that he could be president?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
As General Powell so eloquently stated, the issue shouldn\u2019t be whether Obama is a Christian or a Muslim. In the 21st century, the public discourse should have advanced far beyond the race or religion of an individual. The same opportunities that are afforded to all U.S. citizens should be afforded to Muslim-Americans. Sadly, it appears that Powell\u2019s words reflect the exception in American politics, rather than the rule.<\/p>\n
The Rise of the Opportunists<\/b><\/p>\n
So in this era of anti-Muslim rhetoric, how will it be possible for Muslims to gain a voice in the American political spectrum? Are we just guests of the state, who should be happy that we are allowed to partaking in the American Dream? Unfortunately, many talking heads believe that this is the case \u2013 and some of these voices happen to be Muslim.<\/p>\n
In recent months, there has been a dangerous term that has been coined, known as \u201cPolitical Islam.\u201d This term is being thrown around like verbal confetti by pseudo-scholars and social commentators as a perceived threat to western civilization. These talking heads are then invited to speak to government employees or appear on the aforementioned media outlets to scare\u2026I mean educate their audience on the dangers of so-called militant Islam. In the past, I have written about other terms that have been coupled with the word \u201cIslam\u201d in order to build negative perceptions in the public\u2019s minds. Terms such as \u201cIslamo-fascism\u201d and \u201cIslamism\u201d have previously been the go-to words in the right-wing lexicon.<\/p>\n
To Muslims, this is very troubling and insulting \u2013 that the word Islam \u2013 something which we perceive as beautiful, and our source of meaning \u2013 has been co-opted for political gain, and being coupled with negative connotation. Anyone who has studied psychology and propaganda knows that coupling a target word \u2013 Islam in this case, with other words of negative connotation will in-turn foment a negative perception among the target audience. The same has been done with \u201csharia\u201d fear-mongering in the US. Take one look<\/a> at the imagery depicted at the protests. When politicians and mainstream news outlets enable and cater to the public\u2019s fear, it is no wonder that the public discourse turns in such a negative direction.<\/p>\n
The term \u201cPolitical Islam\u201d is thereby a loaded one. Those who have coined and continue to use the term have also enacted a campaign against the most visible and active Muslims groups in the U.S. We have seen groups like the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Political Action Committee targeted by these very critics \u2013 in an attempt to tie their political activities into something much more sordid and grey. These groups have unfairly been criticized for not speaking up after terror attacks, or a perceived lack of denouncing violence in the name of Islam. These allegations are obviously false \u2013 and it is clear to those who have interacted with and have received these groups\u2019 communications throughout the years. But once again for the general public, perception becomes reality. In an attempt to paint the only politically active major American Muslim groups as some sort of fifth column, or \u201csoft on terror,\u201d it gives credence to the negative connotations created by the terms \u201cPolitical Islam.\u201d Various anti-Islam websites keep dossiers on these groups, along with prominent Muslims who are involved in politics, in order to create further panic. For many who are profiting off the Islamophobia business, Americans should be alarmed at the sheer existence of Muslim Congressional Staffers, lobby groups, Muslim political party activists.<\/p>\n
After looking at the precedents that have been set for American Muslims, there is definitely an uphill battle that we face moving forward. And while the voices of hate and ignorance are seemingly getting a free pass when it comes to making anti-Muslim comments \u2013 we are seeing that their character flaws ultimately catch up with them. Just ask Newt and Trump, who used anti-Muslim rhetoric for short term gain, however ended up marginalizing themselves from the race due to continual lies and moral ambiguity. The same can be said of Cain \u2013 who is now distancing himself from his divisive comments regarding Muslims. Even the Pizza Man realizes that he has no hope in getting elected on an agenda of fomenting hatred and xenophobia.<\/p>\n
But what do I tell my sons? After seeing the level of anti-Muslim sentiment, along with the depths that individuals are willing to sink to in order to discredit Muslims at any level within the political spectrum \u2013 do they have any hope for the future? My hope is that the answer is YES. In American history, we have seen fear and political marginalization of many groups \u2013 much worse than that which Muslim-Americans are experiencing. In the past, we have seen the black community being counted as 3\/5th\u2019s a human being \u2013 along with a struggle for political acceptance that persists even today \u2013 as in the case of the President Obama \u201cbirther\u201d movement. We have seen the Irish and Catholic communities struggle for political acceptance \u2013 as recently as the 1960\u2019s. When he was campaigning\/elected for President, John F. Kennedy was being viewed by many as a stooge for the Vatican. The Muslim community is now being faced with the same bias \u2013 with many questioning the loyalty and enacting those fears into illogical hypothetical doomsday scenarios.<\/p>\n
When the time comes, we must be able to tell our children that history is on our side. While it is true that we are seeing many who are benefiting from the denigration of Muslims today, their gain is only short term in nature. Although we may encounter more hurdles than other groups \u2013 we must teach our children that the same things that make Islam great: Strength, Loyalty, Integrity and the ability to overcome obstacles \u2013 are also attributes of great leadership. And even though we are living in a time of great fear and misinformation \u2013 the dreams and aspirations of American children should include the dreams and aspirations of American Muslim children.<\/p>\n