The Post-Osama Muslim-American

Pre 9-11, I was another awkward, well intentioned, multi-hyphenated Muslim American with exotic dietary habits who prayed 5 times a day and drank chai instead of alcohol during college.  I had never terrified anyone by merely "being" me. It was a jarring and disturbing experience.

But, this memorable experience, along with others like it, presented me a tremendous opportunity to bridge these seemingly impenetrable divides caused by ignorance, misunderstanding and fear.

What else could explain the graffiti on a Portland mosque that included "Go Home" and "Osama Today Islam tomorrow(sic)" mere hours after Osama bin Laden was reported as killed?

The rich and complex identity and narrative of Muslim American communities, who are the most diverse U.S. religious group in terms of ethnic diversity, socio-economic status, education levels and political affiliation, is now personified by a tall, lanky, bearded terrorist leader who suffered from narcissism, hypocritical delusions of religious authority and a compulsive need to release YouTube videos.

For example, a Muslim American student  was asked by her 9th grade Algebra teacher if she was grieving over the death of her "uncle," in reference to Osama bin Laden. The teacher was subsequently disciplined for his disrespectful and ignorant remark

The lumping of nearly 250 years of Muslim American history with the icon of terror and wholesale categorization of 2 million American citizens as potential suspects explains why nearly 28% oppose Muslims sitting on the Supreme Court and a third oppose us running for president.

A new  report found the Department of Homeland Security continues to push Muslims into detention and deportation "even without explicit racial and religious targeting built into Special Registration."

"We're seeing a trend where Muslims are being deported, detained and denied entry into the United States for no good reason except tenuous affiliations or unsubstantiated claims,"  said Sameer Ahmed, an attorney at Asian American Legal Defense Fund (AALDEF).

Republican candidates have successfully played the "fear card" using Muslims as their Ace. They gain significant political mileage with some of their constituents by mainstreaming the manufactured myth of "creeping sharia" taking over the U.S. For 2016, the right wing is creating "anti-bigfoot" and "anti-unicorn" legislation -- fear not, the war on terror never ends.

Free Malcolm X Research Paper |

Malcolm X was probably one of the most controversial elements in the civil rights movement.   Malcolm X had become a member of the Nation of Islam in his earlier years. The Islamic faith borrows basic ideas from the orthodox teachings of Islam and combines them with the very racist views regarding whites taught by Elijah Mohammed. Malcolm was a very influential priest for the Nation of Islam. Malcolm X questioned some of the views and beliefs of the Nation of Islam, which made Mr. Mohammed and the rest of the Nation angry. This forced Malcolm to travel on a journey overseas to find out what his true beliefs were. When he reached Arabia, he found that it was a different society than that of which Elijah Mohammed had described it. Malcolm discovered that race played no role in determining a person's status in society. Viewing this made a positive change in Malcolm X's beliefs and views. This unity of human kind made Malcolm think and change his ideas about the solution to the racial problem in America. This was the most influential turning point in his life.

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