By:
Dr. Asad U Khan,
President Islamic Education Foundation of Manitoba Inc.
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Barak Obama has completed the first hundred days in the office, and in spite severe economic upheaval has maintained good rapport with the electorates.
During the 2008 presidential election a day did not go by without the words 'Muslims' and 'Obama' being mentioned in the same sentence.
A few weeks before election, the Clarion Fund, a non profit group, distributed throughout the United States, and anti Muslim DVD titled 'Obsession' in the Sunday edition of papers. The copies were also mailed to various individuals in swing states.
According to Paul Barret, former editor of Wall Street Journal, it was a rough election season for Muslims and Arab Americans.
The Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) a media watch-dog group also commented that the mainstream press did not do enough to challenge the election related smears of Islam.
American Muslims, just like other minority groups, are striving to enter mainstream political system and are finding that American political environment has very high entry barriers. But more than external barriers, there are certain characteristics of the American Muslim community itself which have erected internal barriers to political cohesiveness and effective mobilization. The single most important barrier to political cohesion is the inability of the community to prioritize its political agenda and create a widely accepted short list of political goals.
American Muslims emigrated from many parts of Muslim world and with the growth of community several subgroups have emerged. The two largest of them are Arabs and South Asians. Both of these groups are unable to break away from the politics of old countries. There is an attempt by both Arab and South Asians to organize themselves to pursue a parochial agenda rather than to work toward achieving the overall goals of community and this as well is true in Canada.
According to Zafar Bukhari, Director of Pew Foundation, the Muslim community in North America wants to be seen as a leader in several areas. One is to function as a minority group seeking to protect its rights, another is to represent larger Muslim community in the world.
In 2008 Democratic national convention of the parties 4,000 delegates present 47 were Muslims who formally endorsed Barak Obama's nomination as the party's presidential candidate. This was the first time that Muslim activist and office holders established a network of Muslim Democrats in order to form a visible presence at the convention and increase their influence within the party.
According to Newsweek magazine, a pole conducted by the 'American Muslim Taskforce' found that 600 Muslims surveyed from 10 states including Pennsylvania and Florida, 98 percent of Muslims cast their votes in this presidential election for Obama and 2 percent for McCain. Another pole taken by Gallup organization reported that more Muslim American supported Obama than Hispanic Americans.
Did Muslims have their own apprehensions about Obama? One concern shared by American Muslims was that Obama never defended them when the word Muslim was used as a slur, instead it took others like CNN's Campbell Brown and former Secretary of State Colin Powel to ask the question "so what if he was a Muslim"
In an another incident, two Muslim women wearing headscarves were barred from Obama's rally by his staff, but this incidence was quickly resolved following the criticism of Congressman Keith Ellison and other Muslim organizations, Barak Obama called the two young women to apologize and assure them that the decision to bar them did not in any way reflect his policy.
According to the Arab American Institute's Dr. James J Zogby, a well known pollster , the initial post-election response in the Arab American community was heart warming with many sharing moving anecdotes of their campaign experience, their reaction to victory and their hopes for change. Zogby cautions that "the Arab Americans need to ground their expectations in political realities and be wary of slanderous attacks smacking of anti-Semitism, the campaign is now over and President Obama is playing on the world stage with more than one audience at stake."
It will be fair to conclude that Muslims and Arabs are far from being fully integrated into American society. The full integration appears a distant goal and so does their full acceptance as member of American citizenry.
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