Not for the first time, some Republicans are giving into their darker impulses and seeking to divide Americans based on ethnicity and faith. But, while some may choose to stoke fear against “the other” in a cynical attempt to exploit misconceptions regarding members of a minority faith, others are embracing the vision that we are one America, made strong through our multitudes within.
Just last month, former Congresswoman Michele Bachmann attacked presidential candidate Carly Fiorina on social media for “praising Muslims” because as CEO of HP, Fiorina spoke out against hate crimes and reprisals directed towards Arabs and Muslims in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy. And Sunday, presidential hopeful Ben Carson told NBC News’ Chuck Todd on Meet the Press that he “would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.”
These remarks followed a troubling exchange last week in New Hampshire when a Donald Trump supporter attending a Trump rally ranted: “We have a problem in this country, it’s called Muslims. We know our current president is one. You know he’s not even an American ... when can we get rid of ‘em?” Trump said he would be “looking at that”.
Just days after the 9/11 tragedy, President George W Bush visited an American mosque and warned against reprisals and hate crimes against Americans of the Muslim faith. Bush’s concern was real; attacks on Muslims, Arabs and those perceived to be Muslim – the first victim was a Sikh man in Arizona who because of his turban, was thought to be a Muslim by his attacker – spiked days after 9/11.
In an address to a joint session of Congress, Bush drew a distinction between violent extremists and the vast majority of mainstream Muslims, stating: “The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics - a fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam”. Bush had genuine concern for the security of all Americans, including Muslims, and drew a sharp distinction between those who attacked New York and the Pentagon and the world’s 1.5 billion adherents of Islam.
Bush’s concern stemmed from having worked with Muslims in Texas where he served as governor, and from his aggressive outreach to Muslim Americans throughout the 2000 campaign. Having met with Muslim American leaders in Austin and visited a Michigan-area mosque – the first and only major presidential candidate ever to do so – Bush soon earned the endorsement of eight major Muslim American organizations and won more than 70% of the Muslim vote, including 46,200 ballots in Florida alone, prompting many senior White House staff to remark “Muslims got us here.”
The stalwart leadership of the Bush administration in the somber and chaotic days post-9/11 assured Americans, including the nation’s six-plus million Muslim Americans that ours was leader who sought to unite the country against a hateful enemy who made no distinction based on race or faith, only that we are Americans.
This goodwill came under strain soon after 9/11. A few days after the attacks, Ann Coulter wrote: “We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.” Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo in 2005 recommended bombing Muslim holy cities including Mecca. Virginia Republican Congressman Virgil Goode complained that the 2006 election of Muslim Americans such as Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison only further demonstrated the need for immigration reform (ignoring that Ellison was born in Detroit to Catholic parents).
One popular columnist, Michelle Malkin, opened the door to internment. And in 2007, after Bush included Islam alongside Christianity and Judaism in the Abrahamic religious tradition, columnist Cal Thomas protested: “How can the president say that we all worship the same God when Muslims deny the divinity of Jesus?” In seeking to exclude Muslims, Thomas relied on time-honored attacks long made against followers of the Jewish faith.
By 2008, Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin and other prominent Republicans stridently voiced their opposition to a proposed Islamic center project near ground zero in lower Manhattan, reflecting a broader and ever-growing criticism of Islam and Muslims. When asked about putting a Muslim American in his cabinet, Mitt Romney replied that he “cannot see that a cabinet position would be justified” based on the relatively low percentage of Muslim Americans. Some elected officials even went as far as claim suggest “Islam is not even a religion” thereby denying Muslim Americans constitutional protections under the First Amendment.
But there are glimmers of hope. When, in 2008, the GOP presidential nominee Senator John McCain was confronted with a supporter at a rally who said: “Obama is an Arab,” McCain was quick to respond “No, ma’am, no ma’am. He’s a decent family man, citizen, that I just happen to have disagreements with on fundamental issues.”
And today, both Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls – Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Lindsey Graham, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, Chris Christie, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders – all swiftly rejected the idea of prejudicially judging a candidate based on their faith. “You know, the Constitution specifies there shall be no religious test for public office and I am a constitutionalist,” Cruz said on Iowa public television.
But perhaps the strongest condemnation came from Graham who tweeted that Carson “is not ready to be Commander-In-Chief. America is an idea, not owned by a particular religion.” “[Carson] needs to apologize to American Muslims,” Graham wrote. “He is a good doctor but clearly not prepared to lead a great nation.”
Graham, an Army reservist for over 22 years, knows well that Muslim Americans have served with distinction and honor in every conflict since the Revolutionary War, and that there are over 3,600 serving in uniform today. There were Muslim NYPD and FDNY first responders who saved their fellow Americans on 9/11.
Their patriotism stands eloquently for itself and underscores, as Graham stated: “America is an idea” – an idea embraced by millions of all races, creeds and faith traditions. And it is thanks to that fact that we may be confident that the American experiment will endure, no matter what the fear-mongers might like us to think.
