a letter to see in NYT.
any thoughts around this?
June 27, 2008
Letters
Muslim Supporters Shouldn’t Be a Political Liability
To the Editor:
As an African-American Muslim leader who frequently and proudly displays an “Obama ’08” button, I found “Muslim Voters Detect a Snub From Obama” (front page, June 24) quite interesting.
To be sure, some of Senator Barack Obama’s staff members seem paranoid about campaign imagery that can be used against their boss, and with good cause. I’m confident that he has subsequently given them some guidance on the matter.
Throughout this campaign, all of the candidates have been nervous about visible Muslim presence in their camps, which they apparently view as a political liability in a public square greatly influenced by perception and fear.
This sensitive matter is the “elephant in the room” of current campaign politics — just like race.
I share two bits of African-American wisdom with all concerned: Don’t believe the hype. And keep your eyes on the prize.
Al-Hajj Talib ’Abdur-Rashid
New York, June 25, 2008
The writer is the imam of the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood and vice president of the Muslim Alliance in North America.
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To the Editor:
No doubt some in the Obama campaign are making an effort to distance Barack Obama from the Arab and Muslim American communities.
The Obama campaign has disappointed us, disappointed our passions, our hopes, our enthusiastic youth and our hopeful veterans. But we understand, and we support the message of inclusion.
We believe in this message, and we believe that this message represents the positive change in which we all believe and for which we all stand.
The realities of politics sometimes force difficult decisions on some in order to be elected. Those same realities force others to accept such decisions in order to be represented.
As a prominent scholar closed his remarks at a recently concluded national Arab-American community convention in Washington, one in which the Obama campaign decided not to participate, he quoted Mr. Obama and told a capacity crowd, “Yes, we can!”
Yes, we can defeat this malicious notion that labeling someone a Muslim will result in the demise of his political aspirations. Kareem Shora
Washington, June 24, 2008
The writer is the national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.
Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company