Americans Proving Trump Wrong
Forty-nine people killed and 53 wounded. This is the tragic state of affairs our country finds itself in after 29-year-old Omar Mateen opened fire at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando early Sunday morning.
Our nation wasted no time in responding.
President Obama labeled this atrocity as a clear act of terror and hate . Countless vigils were held across the country to honor the victims. The American Muslim community took action in a variety of ways as well, issuing a powerful joint statement signed by hundreds of the nation’s religious leaders and initiating a fundraising campaign for those affected under the tag #Muslims4Pulse.
While Americans came together in unity to mourn the loss of innocent lives and stand shoulder to shoulder with the LGBT community, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump chose to politically capitalize on this mass shooting.
Trump questioned whether the Orlando killer was affiliated with a mosque. The notion that mosques serve as sources of radicalization has become especially common in recent years, due to commonly referred statements like “80 percent of US mosques are sources of radicalization.” Not only is that assertion not supported by any empirical data , a 2010 study conducted by Duke University indicated that “Muslim-American community-building” activities, including attending a mosque or Islamic center, played a major role in the prevention of radicalization.
He expressed an interest in working with the Muslim community, but in the same breath accused American Muslims of not reporting potential terrorists to authorities. His desire to partner with Muslim communities is hardly believable given his lack of care in ensuring that his comments on any population of Muslims are accurate. Muslim communities have already partnered with law enforcement, especially since 9/11. According to MPAC’s “Post-9/11 Terrorism Incident Database ,” Muslim communities helped US security officials to prevent nearly 2 out of every 5 Al-Qaeda plots threatening the United States between 9/11 and 2012.
Trump has received support from conservatives who very clearly agree with his rhetoric, or at least turn a blind eye to it. It is our job as American Muslims to be engaged with all communities so that our neighbors feel the same outrage we do.
Coalition-building is of the utmost importance. We can see this even in the case of the Orlando shooting. The LGBT community, due to its extensive outreach, partnerships, and number of allies, has received an unprecedented amount of support that would be unimaginable a decade ago. The American Muslim community can learn much from their strategy, by reaching out to groups with whom we share similar goals of pluralism, civil rights and human dignity. By supporting others, we will have friends and allies who will support us, and when they hear bigoted comments against American Muslims, will stand in solidarity with us.
[Contact: Saif Inam, Policy Analyst, Muslim Public Affairs Council, (202) 547-7701, saif@mpac.org ]
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