The woman approached me at the boarding gate for a flight from New York City to Cleveland, Ohio. I was flying out there before the primary to canvass for Barack Obama and had a few tell-tale stickers festooned to my bag and a "Barack Obama" button or two on my jacket. She was Muslim and she asked me to give Barack Obama a message. I can't remember her exact words but she said something along the lines of, "I am Muslim, I am proud to be Muslim. I like Barack Obama and he needs to know, we are his friends. He doesn't have to be afraid of us." She expressed concern at the way in which he had been dealing with the Muslim "smear" campaign being launched against him by the crazies on the right. "It is not a bad thing to be Muslim," she said, "and while of course I understand that he is not Muslim, he should not have to distance himself from us."
Last week, two Muslim women clad in headscarves were asked to get out of the backdrop at an Obama rally in Detroit, Michigan. Earlier this week, the New York Times ran a front page article describing the way in which Muslims across America are feeling snubbed by Barack Obama. One of the reporter's key sources was one of Barack Obama's key supporters in the Muslim American community, Minnesota Congressman, Keith Ellison who said he would never forget the quote delivered to him by an aide of Barack Obama's, sent to his office to ask him not to appear at an Obama rally at a mosque in Cedar Rapids, Michigan, because the campaign was afraid it would stir controversy, "We have a very tightly wrapped message," the aide said.
Now I understand the logic. It's all about fear and the fear of what some right wing Republicans will do with a picture of Barack Obama and, god-forbid, a Muslim, shaking hands or, heaven-help-us, hugging at a fundraiser, or a rally, or a town hall meeting. One image of Barack Obama entering or leaving a mosque and, oh-sweet-and-merciful-lord-in-heaven, he's part of a terrorist cell or "working for the Iraqis," as one smartly dressed and apparently cultured local told a fellow-canvasser in Eastern Pennsylvania.
"Are you sure he's not part of a sleeper cell?" I was asked by a woman I met, again in Eastern Pennsylvania, a woman who was really and truly worried that we were all being duped by this man with the funny name. She seemed like a smart woman, affluent and informed, but not so well-informed as it turned out.
"Yes," I said. "I'm sure."
The other night, I argued back and forth with some friends. One said, and he has a point, "do you know what the right wing will do with a picture of Obama and two Muslim women sitting in the background?" His wife argued that Obama is smarter than that, more charismatic, and that he would succeed in talking over that kind of chatter.
I agree with her.
There is no doubt that the messengers of disinformation are extremely effective. But that does not mean that the Obama Campaign should wave the white flag and surrender.
Up until now, the Obama campaign has been smarter, more agile and swift in their dealings with controversy. It must not succumb now to this, the most destructive and divisive of strategies. This is a new class of racism, one which, of course, stems from the terrorist attacks of 9/11. It is the exploitation of people's ignorance and people's differences and it cannot be allowed to succeed. It harkens back to the internment of Japanese Americans during World War 2. It is exchanging Muslim for Black, or Hispanic, or Irish or Tutsi in the long sorry history of humanity and its propensity for finding one race or religion superior to all others.
Barack Obama's campaign is about inclusion, not exclusion. He can win this thing without making the cowardly and politically expedient calculations that so disappoint those of us who genuinely believe in a better way forward for this country.
How's that for a tightly wrapped message?
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larry lynch
You have met Muslims probably every week of your life and just don't know they are Muslims. They are probably your physicians
Do I need to walk around with a sign saying "Hello, I am a Muslim - please feel free to come talk to me and ask me anything. I'm funny, smart, principled and a loyal friend."
in a secular state, the measure of a leader should be his words and deeds, not religious affiliatio
and this isn't just about the ways discrimina
senator obama needs to employ some of his extraordin
If we voters were as knowledgab
I support his doing so because we have voters who to this day think he is a muslim despite the Rev. Wright controvers
What we need to do is to talk to these ignorant voters and let them know the truth. That Obama is the best choice for president.
THANK GOD, MORE AMERICANS ARE SEEING THE LIGHT.
& to point it out? would make me a racist, right?
if you don't believe that, consider what Nader was TRYING TO SAY when he was clipped into a vapid sound byte that de-emphasi
Would Obama be more effective against the stagnant influence of corrupted money & power if he showed up in a dashiki?
you only hear about Nader if the MONEY & POWER WHO OWN THE MEDIA FEEL FIT TO TELL YOU SOMETHING THAT CAN REQUIRE MORE THOUGHT than the average person is willing to put into news media analysis
clips are pared down to their most emotive, least contextual or explanator
a nano-secon
At least Nader gets media - look what they did to Kucinich
Dean disappeare
there is more money & protection in Obama selling out than there is for him standing & being a TRUE humanist
Konservati
what is *our* best interest?
There is no 'we' in corruption
Will it be when he gets in the White House and THEN they will worry that everyone will believe that they've been duped by him ?Will it be after 2 years, 4 years - the next election in 2012? When will it ever be the right time to stop doing the wrong thing?
Neither candidate has even so much as accepted a SINGLE invitation by any Muslim mosque or araganizat
So many Muslims are already ready to switch gears to a third party candidate NOT because they don't llike or believe in Obama but because Obama doesn't believe in us. Frankly, I have a hard time casting my vote with someone who doesn't want to be associated with me. I think THAT's more than fair.
I understand your frustratio
It is indeed bigotry, and not something the "muslim voting bloc" will come anywhere close to overcoming overnight, especially by pinning their hopes on presidenti
He is a man of conviction
White America is going to need a slow introducti
White America is going to need a slow introducti
While Obama does champion a new politics, we as a voting public aren't quite there yet. Giving FUD (Fear, Uncertaint
Obama has inspired us, but I have no confidence that we, as Americans, are yet above the fray. He is so inspiratio
Its hard enough to be black and to run for president - Lets not ask too much out of John Q. Public just yet.