Obama, Being Called a Muslim Is Not a Smear - Updated

Hillary Clinton denied leaking the photo of Barack Obama wearing a turban, but her campaign manager says that even if she had, it would be no big deal. "Hillary Clinton has worn the traditional clothing of countries she has visited and had those photos published widely."

Sure, she did. And George W. Bush put on a fetching Chamato poncho in Santiago, while Paul Wolfowitz burned up YouTube with his antimalarial African dance routines when he was World Bank prez. The obvious difference is this: when white politicians go ethnic, they just look funny. When a black presidential contender does it, he looks foreign. And when the ethnic apparel in question is vaguely reminiscent of the clothing worn by Iraqi and Afghan fighters (at least to many Fox viewers, who think any headdress other than a baseball cap is a declaration of war on America), the image is downright frightening.

The turban "scandal" is all part of what is being referred to as "the Muslim smear." It includes everything from exaggerated enunciations of Obama's middle name to the online whisper campaign that Obama attended a fundamentalist madrassa in Indonesia (a lie), was sworn in on a Koran (another lie) and if elected would attach RadioShack speakers to the White House to broadcast the Muslim call to prayer (I made that one up).

So far, Obama's campaign has responded with aggressive corrections that tout his Christian faith, attack the attackers and channel a cooperative witness before the House Un-American Activities Committee. "Barack has never been a Muslim or practiced any other faith besides Christianity," states one fact sheet. "I'm not and never have been of the Muslim faith," Obama told a Christian News reporter.

Of course Obama must correct the record, but he doesn't have to stop there. What is disturbing about the campaign's response is that it leaves unchallenged the disgraceful and racist premise behind the entire "Muslim smear": that being Muslim is de facto a source of shame. Obama's supporters often say they are being "Swiftboated," casually accepting the idea that being accused of Muslimhood is tantamount to being accused of treason.

Substitute another faith or ethnicity, and you'd expect a very different response. Consider a report from the archives of The Nation. Thirteen years ago, Daniel Singer, the magazine's late, much-missed Europe correspondent, went to Poland to cover a hotly contested presidential election. He reported that the race had descended into an ugly debate over whether one of the candidates, Aleksander Kwasniewski, was a closet Jew. The press claimed his mother had been buried in a Jewish cemetery (she was still alive), and a popular TV show aired a skit featuring the Christian candidate dressed as a Hasidic Jew. "What perturbed me," Singer wryly observed, "was that Kwasniewski's lawyers threatened to sue for slander rather than press for an indictment under the law condemning racist propaganda."

We should expect no less of the Obama campaign. When asked during the Ohio debate about Louis Farrakhan's support for his candidacy, Obama did not hesitate to call Farrakhan's anti-Semitic comments "unacceptable and reprehensible." When the turban photo flap came up in the same debate, he used the occasion to say nothing at all.

Farrakhan's infamous comments about Jews took place 24 years ago. The orgy of hate that is "the Muslim smear" is unfolding in real time, and it promises to greatly intensify in a general election. These attacks do not simply "smear Barack's Christian faith," as John Kerry claimed in a campaign mailing. They are an attack on all Muslims, some of whom actually do exercise their rights to cover their heads and send their kids to religious school. Thousands even have the very common name Hussein. All are watching their culture used as a crude bludgeon against Obama, while the candidate who is the symbol of racial harmony fails to defend them. This at a time when US Muslims are bearing the brunt of the Bush administration's assaults on civil liberties, including dragnet wiretapping, and are facing a documented spike in hate crimes.

Occasionally, though not nearly enough, Obama says that Muslims are "deserving of respect and dignity." What he has never done is what Singer called for in Poland: denounce the attacks themselves as racist propaganda, in this case against Muslims.

The core of Obama's candidacy is that he alone -- who lived in Indonesia as a boy and has an African grandmother -- can "repair the world" after the Bush wrecking ball. That repair job begins with the 1.4 billion Muslims around the world, many of whom are convinced that the United States has been waging a war against their faith. This perception is based on facts, among them the fact that Muslim civilians are not counted among the dead in Iraq and Afghanistan; that Islam has been desecrated in US-run prisons; that voting for an Islamic party resulted in collective punishment in Gaza. It is also fueled by the rise of a virulent strain of Islamophobia in Europe and North America.

As the most visible target of this rising racism, Obama has the power to be more than its victim. He can use the attacks to begin the very process of global repair that is the most seductive promise of his campaign. The next time he's asked about his alleged Muslimness, Obama can respond not just by clarifying the facts but by turning the tables. He can state clearly that while a liaison with a pharmaceutical lobbyist may be worthy of scandalized exposure, being a Muslim is not. Changing the terms of the debate this way is not only morally just but tactically smart -- it's the one response that could defuse these hateful attacks. The best part is this: unlike ending the Iraq War and closing Guantánamo, standing up to Islamophobia doesn't need to wait until after the election. Obama can use his campaign to start now. Let the repairing begin.

From The Nation
www.naomiklein.org


Update:

Ari Melber has criticized this column, citing a video the Obama campaign has been circulating featuring a member of Obama's church who makes is clear that while Obama is not a Muslim, there would be nothing wrong with it if he was. I had the same clip sent to me directly from the Obama campaign and wrote this in response:

"What I am suggesting needs to be said can only be said by the man himself, just as he has taken brave stances against racism directed at Latinos under the guise of fighting illegal immigration. Do not underestimate the message that his silence is sending, not just in the U.S. but around the world."

One more thing: now is the time when candidates are most open to pressure. For instance, Hillary Clinton just announced that she will co-sponsor legislation to ban the use of private military companies -- exactly one day after my Nation colleague Jeremy Scahill revealed that both Clinton and Obama were poised to let the mercenaries stay in Iraq even if the troops come home. Pushing candidates on the issues during a campaign can have a real impact, so can we please move beyond superfandom? I have also heard from people who think that saying Arabs and Muslims are worthy of exactly the same rights and protections as other minorities is just too high-risk a position for Obama during the campaign. If that's the position, so be it, but don't pretend the campaign is doing something it is not. It is precisely because he has been so strong on other issues of discrimination and racism that his trepidation on this issue leaps out.

Comments

[Calcutta]

Naomi,

Thanks for writing such a thoughtful blog on a subject that has been looming like the proverbial elephant in the room for some time now. Whenever I hear Obama address this particular smear campaign the thought always crosses my mind "Why won't he address the overt bigotry implied by the attacks?". I'm sure I'm not the only one. Thank you for having the courage to bring this to light. Again, great blog!

PS: I just ordered your book, The Shock Doctrine, after watching your back and forth with Alan Greenspan on Democracy now. Your intelligence and clear thinking is a breath of fresh air in these backward times.

[Najam]

Following is from the website of Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR);

"Rep. Keith Ellison said Wednesday that attempts to insinuate that Barack Obama is Muslim won't have any effect on the presidential candidate, arguing that Americans won't fall for such a "bigoted" appeal.

Ellison, a Minnesota Democrat and the first Muslim member of Congress, also said he has no doubt a Muslim could be elected president.

Rumors have circulated on the Internet for months that Obama, who is Christian, is Muslim, and the issue kicked up again this week with a photograph of him dressed in traditional local garments during a visit to Kenya.

The Drudge Report posted the photograph and said it was being circulated by "Clinton staffers," but Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign has denied knowing anything about it.

Also, a radio talk show host warming up a crowd for GOP presidential candidate John McCain referred repeatedly to "Barack Hussein Obama" and called him a "hack, Chicago-style" politician. McCain denounced the comments.

"It's a deliberate attempt to associate him with things Islamic," Ellison said of the use of Obama's middle name.

"There has been a concerted effort to whip up fear, anxiety, bigotry against Obama based on his Muslim roots, but he is in fact a Christian, and on top of that, those people's efforts are going to fail," Ellison said. "And they won't fail because he's proven that he's really not a Muslim; they'll fail because Americans will come to the conclusion that the organizing principle of our nation is freedom of worship."

Obama's father and stepfather were Muslim, and he spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, a largely Muslim country — but Obama was not raised Muslim.

"Assuming that the American public is bigoted, and infused with religious bigotry against Muslims, is incorrect," Ellison said.

And he insisted that a Muslim could become president.

"Look, we elected a Catholic," Ellison said. "Mitt Romney was a viable candidate in this race. I don't think that his decline had to do with him being Mormon." Romney, a GOP candidate, dropped out of the race earlier this year.

"So I think that certainly America could elect a Muslim president," he said. "America could elect a woman president. I think we probably are going to elect a black president. And we'll all be better for it."

Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which fights anti-Muslim bigotry, said he agreed with Ellison.

"There clearly is a level of anti-Muslim attitude in our society, but I think it's still a minority," he said. "It's a vocal minority, but it's still a minority. The majority of Americans respect people of all faiths, and I think while taking faith into consideration, it would not be the main factor in their voting."

There is nothing wrong with being a Muslim, but "lying, bluffing, spinning and concealing the truth is major sin in Islam. If you are born to a Muslim father (regardless of the faith of the mother), you are a Muslim. Why not speak the truth, have we as a nation come to a level where we join the bandwagon without even thinking once?

USA is a democracy not a Kingdom, Empire or a Sheikhdom where one man can do anything he likes as Mr. Obama is promising. Our President even the President-Elect works with with the Congress. Either he is using a different calculator that he honestly does not see the 2+2 or he is outright bluffing to get elected.

No pill is invented yet to treat the dayafter shock when the reality will hit home, and then it will be too late for the supporters of the rhetoric. Why can't we compell the truth and nothing but the truth and move on instead of accepting rhetoric and nothing but the rhetoric.

Regards.

Najam

[mythster]

Ms. Klein proposes an ethical and moral standard that is absolutely commendable and (within the universe of national politics in 2008 ) completely unrealistic. I wish that Barack Obama or any candidate for national office could be as pure and holy as she proposes but they would not win any elections.
That's really too bad but that is the way it is. Would it be better that Obama stood up to the false accusations and innuendo, denounced his opponents for racism and lost the nomination and the possibility of having a halfway decent president for the first time in a long time?
What do you think Ms. Klein?

[cinecity]

"Occasionally, though not nearly enough, Obama says that Muslims are 'deserving of respect and dignity.' What he has never done is what Singer called for in Poland: denounce the attacks themselves as racist propaganda, in this case against Muslims."

This is religious propaganda - not racist.

Do the faithful need to be repeatedly told (and please spell out exactly how many times is enough) that their choice of religion is deserving of respect and dignity? It sounds mighty patronizing to me.

[Issak]

Dang! Naomi, you are breath of very fresh air- if only the so-called candidates we have running
had your perspicacity, courage and principle....but that would mean excellence, and not the
propped up mediocrity of the "front runner".

[gcee]

There are many things political happening today that I thought would never happen in my lifetime. The greatest of these, IMHO, is a national discussion on race/bigotry that stems form forward momentum versus a hateful/tragic incident (ala Michael Richards, O J Simpson, Rodney King).

Lets keep talking!!!!

[FauxNewsAlert]

Naomi,

Instead of criticizing Obama for not being forceful enough when he denounces these attacks, shouldn't you be holding the Clinton campaign accountable for putting some of this garbage out in the first place. I agree with you that each time he is called a Muslim by his opponents, he needs to point out that these smears are bigoted (in addition to being false). But I have observed Obama and his supporters do exactly that on many occassions. So your claims to the contrary are just plain false, as Ari Melber pointed out.

[angryoldman]

Everyone should just STFU about "RELIGION" or "FAITH". If you choose to believe that some super powerful creature is "looking out "for you; I think you should be at least be aware of the fact that other people, just as "GOOD " and INTELLIGENT as you , might not agree with or be totally indifferent to the concept. Yes, we are aware of the total 'MYSTERY OF EXISTANCE and we are fully capable of reaching a conclusion, one way or another without your sanctimonious verbal diarrhea.

[moevaughn]

re: update on mercenaries

I'm impressed w/ Sen. Clinton's rapid-response announcement to co-sponsor legislation banning mercenaries.

Thank you, Naomi Klein, for providing in your great book, The Shock Doctrine, insightful historical analysis of the U. Chicago Economics School of Thought, from which hails Sen. Obama's chief economics campaign advisor. Any connection here with Obama's refusal to join the ban on mercenaries?

[hank48188]

I think many people will question why Obama is a member of a Church that Honors Louis Farrakhan as a Great man. His friedship with two of the WEATHERMAN TERRORISTS that live in Chicago, William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, who bombed Gov't buildings like the PENTAGON in the 70's. Obama sought their support when he first ran for State Senate and still gets support from them. The Tony Rexko trial starts on Money and I read that the jury will come by to view the Obama House that Tony Rezko helped him buy in 2005, Obama tends to show very POOR JUDGEMENT in seeking help from Rezko, everyone knew he was being investigated by the FEDS at the time.

[DragonMama]

I strongly support Obama for President and at the same time I completely agree with this article. I am sad that Obama has not vocally and repeatedly affirmed the rights and dignity of my law-abiding Muslim neighbors just as he has done for my Latino neighbors. I hope that this will change, and soon. To heal this world, we MUST begin to acknowledge that, while there are racial tensions and crimes, the trouble starts not with a majority, but with a loud few. If we shine the light on the insanity of those while lifting up those who are good and just, we can really start to heal this world.

[cinecity]

This is an invented grievance. Obama has never denied the rights or dignity of your Muslim neighbors. He has also never vocally and repeatedly affirmed the rights and dignity of atheists, vegetarians, Masons, Kwanis Club members, Girl Scouts or people who play D&D.

Separation of church and state, freedom of religion. Affirmation of these two things is what we need from statesmen and women, not personal boosterism of our particular beliefs. If faith is that sensitive, what then, is the point of it?

[DragonMama]

Actually, ironically enough I went to see him do a Q&A locally the same day as this post and he addressed the issue of Islamophobia, basically saying (as I've heard him say repeatedly and is a basic tenant shared by both of our faiths) that our common ground is so much greater than our differences and the Islamic Extremists are, like all other varieties of Extremists, a vocal and sometimes frightening minority, but by reacting out of our fear instead of our shared humanity we only make the situation worse by making the ground more fertile for their poisonous seeds to grow and take root, growing their ranks that have been left with nothing to live for by our wholly predictable but inappropriate fear-based responses. (totally paraphrasing there and interpreting it through my own filters and sleep deprivation - baby just finally managed to get his first tooth through his gum line this morning)

[aeryn]

Thank You Naomi Klein.
Thank you for standing against bigotry. and giving voice the injury felt by a multitude of American and non-American Muslims. An injury by word and deed from Mr. Obama's detrcators and by the lack thereof on the part of Mr. Obama and his supporters.

Muslim is not a Dirty word!

[wagadog]

"What is disturbing about the campaign's response is that it leaves unchallenged the disgraceful and racist premise behind the entire "Muslim smear": that being Muslim is de facto a source of shame."

That's right.

But, based on my own limited observations, people just aren't buying it. To their credit.

I think he's smart to keep it about his actual ideals, ideas, record and plans.

The more laughable and transparent race-baiting attacks, he responds to -- in good time--during the comedy portions of his speeches.

Tho her "I'll hunt them down like dogs" attitude expressed during the Ohio debate --towards her own overzealous supporters who put out this photo --was kind of funny in and of itself. Darth Rodham.

Personally, I think that Hil's touting her age and dubious experience over Obama's youth and obvious capability is a bit like her calling him 'boy.' I think she even said, rather patronizingly, during the "love fest" debate -- "you're a good boy."

How sickeningly mumsy of her.

It isn't a good look for her at all, and far more directly attributable to her personally.

The "age and treachery will overcome youth and skill" strategy is imploding.

[Kasandra]

I'm sorry but I find your assertion to be ridiculous. Obama has an obligation to sooth the fears and eliminate the prejudices which exist around Muslims after eight years of being at war with various Muslim powers... while running for president??? LOL

Being the first serious black candidate for president isn't good enough you want him to walk on water too.

[ApolloSpeaks]

mmmmmmmmm