Building Long-term
Relations with Fellow Americans
By Hazem Kira
CA
If Muslim Americans are facing long-term problems
that will require long-term rectification efforts
then it makes good sense to build stable and long-term
relations with fellow Americans, particularly
those who espouse similar values and similar notions
of public good. That’s why today many American
Muslims, groups as well as individuals, are working
on building cooperative relations with mainstream
movements and organizations.
The largest Muslim umbrella organization, the
American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and
Elections (AMT) has been leading this outreach
in the political field. Its member organizations
have been diligently building these cooperative
and mutually-beneficial relations in the with
ACLU, NAACP, Green, Libertarian, Reform, and Independent
Parties, on the one hand, and with the progressive
forces within the Democratic Party on the other.
Some of its members, especially the United Muslims
of America (UMA), have worked with mainline churches
for years. Similarly, author Tahir Ali, see below,
has carved an institutional path to building relations
with the Kennedys and the Democratic Party.
As far as these long-term relations are concerned:
1. One can neither think of nor
measure these relations in terms of short-term
gains or goals. Because the American Muslims are
here for the long haul, only an enduring long-term
strategy towards peaceful coexistence and a just
civil society can counterbalance polarization
and persistent though unwarranted pessimism. This
can only be done by adopting a steadfast approach
of working with all willing individuals and groups
that share the common threads for justice and
tranquility.
2. These relationships must stand
the test of time and their efficacy can only be
judged in the light of the long-term goals. Their
outcomes will be based on the foundation built
by tangible relationships of neighbor reaching
out to neighbor, constituent to their legislator,
mosque to church, and a multiparty integration
on the basis of projects of public good.
3. These relationships can only
be built around, what Confucius has called, “mutual
moral obligations”, though pragmatic quid
pro quo also plays a role. To use a music metaphor,
most Americans seek harmony within the competing
instruments of interests as well as an equal exchange
of ideas and favors. These social instruments,
like musical instruments, can only produce a synchronized
tone when in complete coordination with each other.
4. These relations must be built
around core issues and values such as preserving
constitutional liberties for all members of the
society, upholding the right to life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness, and the equal right
to coexist peacefully within society. Today, we
can add universal health care and environmental
protection to that list. Today, demand for universal
health care has the same status as the demand
for state-funded universal education in the late
nineteenth century.
5. These relations will amount
to nothing more than personal contacts if they
cannot be mobilized for the collective good of
the community. Thus, intensifying the work of
linking the individual and the group with the
common good of the sum of all its parts is of
foremost concern. Education and full realization
that the treatment of Muslims and Arabs as second-class
citizens and suppressing their full rights will
only entrap America into an endless cycle of negativism
and discord. The collective good of the community
must be linked with the collective good of all
Americans.
6. Such relations must remain
a part of the community’s overall awareness
of its goals and strategies. A long-term impact
and solution can be achieved by highlighting those
things that make us similar, and equally cooperate
at all levels of political and civil life.
7. Since 9/11 American Muslims
have found it both necessary and useful to expand
their mental horizons and to become genuinely
interested and involved with a large number of
social, moral, political and economic issues.
This expansion of community’s mental horizons
bodes well for building bridges with other communities.
Reaching out with a spirit of friendship and accommodation
means that America’s future can continue
to be the golden city on the hill, not because
of affiliation to one political party or another,
or because of one ethnic background or another,
but because we are all Americans. The essence
of democracy and pluralism is not to agree on
everything all the time, but instead is based
on the partial agreements and acceptance of each
other’s diversity. This is the time real
Americans can work together and build the bridges
to a bright future. The American Muslim community
must dedicate its sincere energies and resources
towards this strategy of inclusion and mutual
cooperation or else face the same frightful fate
experienced by a litany of minorities in America’s
long history.
Building Long-Term Relations
Tahir Ali, author of Muslim Vote: Counts and Recounts,
has recently received the following letter from
Sen. Edward Kennedy thanking him for helping in
setting up a conference call of the leaders of
the American Muslim Taskforce (AMT). It signifies
that necessity and usefulness of maintaining effective
presence in every political command center.
October 27, 2004
Mr. Tahir Ali
3 Edgewood Road
Westboro, MA 01581
Dear Tahir,
I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank
you for your efforts in setting up my recent conference
call with Muslim leaders from across the country.
I thought it was an extremely important and relevant
conversation considering the environment we find
ourselves in today.
I am especially pleased that I was able to address
some of your concerns and we were able to come
together to support Senator Kerry for President.
I truly believe this is the important election
of my lifetime and I will continue to work as
hard as I can to ensure he victorious on November
2nd.
Again, thank you for your assistance. I look forward
to working with you and the American Muslim Task
Force in the future. I am truly grateful for your
support.
With Warm Regards,
Sincerely,
Edward M. Kennedy
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