Six days after the 9/11 attacks by Islamic extremists claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 Americans, President George W. Bush made a singular statement by visiting a mosque in the nations capital. The image of Bush’s strong stand against harassment and hatred, seen around the world, was a proud moment for the grieving nation, one that undoubtedly headed off an even uglier backlash.
Bush wasn’t being “politically correct.” He was upholding the nation’s values and protecting its security. America is far safer if the battle against Islamic extremism is focused not on the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims but on the tiny fraction who become radicalized.
In the aftermath of the recent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., a dose of that sort of statesmanship is needed as an antidote to escalating bigotry against Muslims living in the USA and as a reminder that America stands against guilt by association.
Since 9/11, Muslims, who represent about 1% of the U.S. population, have suffered discrimination and violence at the hands of those who lump them in with terrorists because they share the same religion. Subtle prejudice is most prevalent. Looks of distaste or fear that greet Muslims on the streets. Opposition in Virginia or Tennessee or New York City, or most anyplace Muslims seek to build a mosque.
And since the Paris attacks last month, the U.S. has seen an ugly outbreak of hate speech and some troubling attacks against Muslims. The Anti-Defamation Leaguesays it has received reports of three dozen incidents. In Pittsburgh, a cab driver was shot by a passenger who questioned him about the Islamic State. Near St. Petersburg, a man was arrested for leaving threatening voice mails at an Islamic center. In New York City, a food mart owner said he was beaten by a customer who promised to kill Muslims. Outside Austin, people smeared an Islamic center with feces.
Such actions appear more scattered than rampant, but even this many are intolerable in a nation that prides itself on inclusiveness and religious freedom.
Sadly, these actions, as well as Internet hate-mongering against Muslims, often fall on fertile ground. The fear and suspicion felt by many Americans should not be brushed aside as irrational. They have watched beheadings of innocents by ISIL fanatics, cold-blooded killings in Paris and now a massacre at a holiday gathering in San Bernardino by a radicalized couple who left behind their six-month-old daughter.
Americans are understandably on edge, a vulnerability that peddlers of hatred can exploit to make converts. That makes it all the more important to simultaneously commit the resources to crush the enemy and stand up for the country’s core values.
In this war, American Muslims have a responsibility to denounce the extremists in their midst, cooperate with law enforcement and purge those who would hijack their religion for evil ends.
As for U.S. political leaders, its fine that many have strongly denounced Donald Trumps offensive call to slam the door to the USA in the face of all Muslims. But reacting is not enough.
More need to remind Americans that bigotry will only be exploited by ISIL in its effort to provoke an apocalyptic showdown between Islam and the West.
More need to stand up and demonstrate that Muslim Americans are indeed our friends, our neighbors, our co-workers and our military servicemembers.
Better yet, show up at a mosque, as President Bush did, and show the world what tolerance and unity really look like.
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