Rhetoric Race and Religion
Americans manifested staggering rudeness and aggression during a public gathering with the local Muslim community on June 4 in Tennessee. The event, sponsored by the American Muslim Advisory Council (AMAC), was titled, “Public Discourse in a Diverse Society,” but there was more shouting than discourse. And worse, when a speaker mentioned a 2007 arson attack which burned down a mosque in Columbia, TN, the audience broke into shouts of joy. Joy. Yes, joy. Invest 14 seconds of your time to watch, listen to, and feel the audience’s celebratory hoots and hollers over the arson of a house of worship in America, at 19:04-19:18 of this video.
By contrast, the America we will celebrate on July 4 rests on the firm foundation of our Constitution combined with Americans’ support for our Constitution and commitment to public civility in disagreements about our rights. We cannot take any of these for granted. Education and cultural engagement related to these are vital to maintaining the strength of our foundation.
One example of the latter is the way Rohina Malik, a young Muslim playwright in Chicago, is leveraging her talents to show the value of our Constitution, the importance of exercising individual responsibility to stand up for it, and how to foster public civility with our fellow citizens. Malik’s 2009 play Unveiled stands firm for all Americans’ civil liberties.
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