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Badger herald opinion - January 18, 2007
Muslim representation vital for Congress
by Andy Granias
If you were to pick three words to capture the political zeitgeist of the post-Sept. 11, 2001 era, what would they be? I would go with something like "Muslim," "American" and "conflict."
Now, if you were to pick three words that capture the mood of the conservative response Jan. 4, when Keith Ellison, D-Minn., became the first Muslim to be sworn in to the House of Representatives -- doing so with the Quran nonetheless -- what would those words be? I would go with something like "Muslim," "American" and "conflict."
You see, the significance of Ellison becoming the first Muslim to be elected to the House of Representatives is monumental along two different fronts in American society. The first is that Ellison's election is quite possibly the most significant symbol of American democracy at work since the 1916 election of Jeanette Rankin, R-Mont., when she became the first woman to serve in Congress. With nearly 5 million Muslims in the U.S., a population greater than that of Jews or any other religious group other than Christians, the moderate majority voice of Islam finally has a significant representative in the Western world, and it couldn't have come at a more vital time.
But the second and more socially exposing aspect of Ellison's monumental position is the underscored misunderstanding of said moderate Muslim voice that prevails among many in the conservative coalition of this country. And the frontrunner, the commander of this fleet of false impression, is U.S. Rep. Virgil Goode, R-Va.
When it became clear that Ellison would be sworn in using the Quran, the first to do so in American history, Goode sent out a public letter that stated that Ellison's taking oath under the Quran was a dangerous threat to "the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America." But nothing could be further from the truth. Except maybe what conservative columnist Dennis Prager said when he wrote: "If American citizens don't wake up and adopt the Virgil Goode position on immigration there will likely be many more Muslims elected to office and demanding the use of the Quran." Close, but no cigar, Mr. Prager. Try if American citizens don't wake up and realize the importance of electing more Muslims to Congress, then we will have lost a fundamental aspect of our democracy: that of representation.
What Mr. Prager and Rep. Goode have highlighted is a common misconception that Islam and its followers are more prone to fundamentalist tendencies than those who follow more "traditional values and beliefs in the U.S." (We call these people Christians.)
The funny thing is that the terminology of religious fundamentalism was born from Protestant Christianity. It arose in this country when Protestants aimed to halt the seeming monopoly that science was claiming on truth by reverting to the fundamentals of the religion, which manifested itself in the literal interpretation of the Bible. Religious fundamentalism was therefore born, and remains still, as a reactionary position. It is a position no more prone to one faith over the other. You must understand, Commander Goode, that Islam is fully American.
The most glaring evidence of this reality conveniently arose during the swearing-in ceremony of Ellison -- also Minnesota's first African-American representative -- when he used Thomas Jefferson's 1764 copy of the Quran that had been translated into English. This was not only a savvy political move but also a meaningful reminder to all those who may have lingering confusion about the place of religious freedom in American society. After all, Jefferson did originate from Albemarle county of Virginia's 5th Congressional District, currently represented by none other than Mr. Goode…..
Andy Granias is a sophomore majoring in political science and international studies.
http://badgerherald.com/oped/2007/01/18/muslim_representatio.php
Washington Informer – January 18, 2007
It’s time to stop ‘hatin’ on Muslims in Washington
By Askia Muhammad
I really thought things were going to be materially better for people with “funny” names like mine when Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) came to Washington. And they have been.
Since he’s been here I have noticed an appreciable mellowing of people on the telephone. I’ve gone from typically hearing the indignant “who!!?” whenever I would leave my name, to a curious “will you spell that please?” nowadays.
So, as a Muslim, who has encountered my fair share of religious bigotry, I thought things would be similarly better when the first Muslim was elected to Congress – especially one with a “normal” name.
No such luck.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) did not have time for much more than measuring the drapes for his new office before receiving his very own religious insult over his intention to perform a strictly ceremonial oath of office, using the Islamic book of scripture, called the Holy Quran, instead of a Holy Bible. Although Ellison is a Detroit-born, Catholic-bred Muslim convert, he and Muslim immigrants in general were singled out for scorn by Rep. Virgil Goode, a Republican member of the U.S. House from Virginia.
I thought Ellison’s election would have just the opposite effect.
With a Muslim member coming to Congress, I thought: “Gone are the days ...” like the time in 1977 when I got a call from my editor. It was just weeks after I had re-established the Washington office of The Chicago Daily Defender.
Ofield Dukes, a public relations consultant who had been a personal assistant to Vice President Hubert Humphrey, was my mentor. He gave me the classic, 30-second Washington power orientation.
“When you call these government offices,” Dukes told me, “tell them that Louis Martin (then editorial director for The Defender) told you to call.” Practically everyone in Washington’s Democratic Party power-elite knew Louis Martin, and would return his call, he explained. None of them knew me, he said, so “use your boss’s name.”
One day I got an unusual call from my boss.
“What is your real name?” Martin asked.
“Askia Muhammad” was my reply.
“What was it before that?” he persisted.
“Why?” I wanted to know.
It seems that Patricia Roberts Harris, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, had called him demanding to know: “What are you doing having a Black Muslim call my office!!?”
With a Muslim member coming to Congress, I thought: “Gone are the days ...” like when a former president of the National Press Club tried to get me kicked out because of my affiliation with The Final Call newspaper, published by Min. Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam. As a freelancer, I have a variety of news media clients, “more jobs than Tavis Smiley” is how one colleague described me.
The chair and co-chair of the Press Club Speakers Committee on which I served, that committee’s full membership and all of the club’s officers unconditionally defended me. The former president’s xenophobic suggestion was repudiated, as it should have been.
Article VI of the U.S. Constitution is clear and unequivocal concerning Ellison. “The Senators or Representatives ... shall be bound by an oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under the United States,” it says.
That is the point Mr. Ellison emphasizes again and again, in his high-road, civil-tone response to the brouhaha. Every member of Congress swears his or her oath, to uphold and defend that same Constitution on whatever book (or no book) they choose! The Muslim member, the Christian members, the Jewish members, the two new Buddhist members, the agnostic members all pledge their true faith and allegiance to uphold that same Constitution.
But there is another uneasy point to be clarified here. Muslims in America do not constitute a secret “Fifth Column” of support for al Qaeda, or Iran, or Syria, or Sudan, or Somalia or any of this country’s enemies, real or imagined, any more than African Americans in general are organized in secret cells to fight for Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco, South Africa, Tanzania or Zimbabwe.
It is well past time that this country had a Muslim American member of Congress, and a Muslim American cabinet secretary, for that matter. To be perfectly honest about it, bringing more Muslim Americans into the political process should be the goal of everyone who thinks now is the time for “all hands to muster on deck,” for the good of the country, not something to be avoided because of religious bias.
As it turns out, Mr. Ellison had the last laugh. I was there at the Capitol when he took the oath and silenced all his critics with an act of political genius. He borrowed, from the Library of Congress, the Quran that was once owned by none other than Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence. Genius!
[Askia Muhammad is editor of National Scene News Bureau, which provides editorial, audio and photographic content for broadcast and print clients, including The Final Call, National Public Radio, Soundprint, WPFW-FM and the Informer. His email address is askia99@verizon.net.]
http://news.ncmonline.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=b15af77e979558c02bf66b39421abc68
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