Bill Clinton attacked all Muslim Americans during his speech to the DNC
US Politics
Imraan Siddiqi on July 29, 2016
Bill Clinton addresses the DNC.
Sitting through the horror show that was the Republican National Convention,
you’d think that there was no other way, but up. The anti-immigrant,
anti-Muslim and anti-black rhetoric that was overtly paraded out in speech
after speech was expected, but shocking nonetheless. But while many have come
to expect the onslaught of bigotry from the right, there have been some
cringeworthy moments at this week’s Democratic National Convention as well.
What did Bill Clinton Just Say?
“If you’re a Muslim and you love America and freedom and you hate terror, stay
here and help us win and make a future together, we want you.” – Bill Clinton
As the former President of the United States delivered this line, the DNC crowd
roared with approval. For many, the statement may seem innocuous on its face.
Strategically, the tenor of the convention has been all about juxtaposing the
unhinged nature of Donald Trump against the “more trustworthy” and “stable”
Hillary. In the wake of Trump’s consistently inflammatory rhetoric about
Muslims, Bill Clinton’s comments were aimed at being a galvanizing force for
the Left and those who are undecided. But for many in the Muslim community,
those comments fell flat.
Let’s pause and break this statement down:
Hate Terror? – Why yes, in fact – Muslims do hate terror. That is because
Muslims are the vast majority of terror victims worldwide. Ask the people of
Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Turkey and many others how they feel.
But that’s just part of the point. The only time you choose to mention Muslims
in your speech is through the lens of terror. The Clinton campaign has
consistently used this type of narrative throughout the debate process. This
type of rhetoric paints the diverse, deeply-entrenched American Muslim
community as one-dimensional and useful for only one thing, when it comes to
life in America. Which brings me to my next point:
Stay here? – I don’t know how it was possible to hit so many wrong notes in a
single sentence, but somehow Clinton was able to do it. Telling Muslims to
“stay here” gives the impression that Islam is something “foreign” or “other” –
when in reality, Islam has been in the fabric of this nation since its
inception.
Even though Muslims make up a small minority in America, with estimates as high
as 7 million people – it is fallacious to paint the community as consisting
solely of immigrants. Historians have estimated that over 20% – and even as
high as 30% of African slaves that were brought to American colonies were of
Muslim descent. And while those who were enslaved were beaten and stripped of
their religion over time, it is undeniable that Islam was a part of their lives.
Today, 1/3 of Muslims in this country are African American, which goes against
consistent this narrative being pushed from both right and left, that Muslims
are “foreign.”
When it comes to the immigrant community in America, this holds true as well.
Muslim immigrants have been here in America in waves, ever since the late
1800’s. The very first mosque in America was built in North Dakota during the
1920’s.
“We want you.” – One has to ask the question: Who is “we”? Muslims are just as
part of the fabric of the “we” that makes up America as anyone else. As
outlined earlier, our roots go back as deep – if not sometimes deeper than
those in the Clinton family. While he is trying to make a point of just how
intolerant Trump and Co. are, his words have a tinge of Orientalism to them.
This wasn’t the first time Bill Clinton has gotten into hot water over what
were perceived to be condescending remarks toward Muslims. At a forum he was
speaking at earlier this year, he told an ambitious young Muslim “this is a
pretty steep career lens for a Muslim woman.” To which, she replied: “Well
actually, I don’t think it’s too steep for a Muslim woman.”
In that very same soundbite, he somehow managed to offend people from the black
and Latino communities as well.
The moral of the story is: The minority community does not want to be talked
at. Whether black, immigrant, Muslim – or all of the above, we realize that
there are societal issues that we are dealing with. We realize that we are
facing record levels of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment. We realize
that black men are being killed by law enforcement at an alarming rate, in
comparison to everyone else. We realize that these issues need to be addressed
and rectified now, and not be pushed aside.
But rather than using our communities as a prop and “talking at” us, it is
important to get away from these tropes that we have become so accustomed to
hearing. Also, it’s probably not a good idea to bring in a mayor who defended
“Stop and Frisk” and unchecked blanket surveillance upon an entire community of
Muslims. Yes, that’s right – things got even more awkward, as the DNC decided
to bring in former NYC Mayor, Michael Bloomberg to address the crowd.
The Muslim community in New York City is still reeling from the effects of the
NYPD’s blanket spying program that spanned beyond the city’s borders –
throughout the entire Northeast. Businesses were spied upon, informants
planted in mosques, students followed to conventions, and a community’s trust
betrayed. Bloomberg was an ardent defender of this ongoing program that
spanned a better part of a decade, even though it was revealed that “zero
actionable intelligence” was gathered from spying on Muslims. It was no
surprise then, that Muslim activists expressed strong objections to having the
former mayor on a prime-time speaking docket. He’s not even a Democrat – but
therein lies the strategy. The DNC is trying to court disgruntled Republicans
to make the switch for this election, due to the extreme nature of Trump and
his campaign. In the end, the request was for naught – and the mayor who
alienated so many minority communities got his speaking gig.
You could say all of this ties in together. This election, for many out there
boils down to “a lesser of two evils.” The DNC is presenting itself as a more
tolerant, open option in comparison to what the RNC has to offer. They have,
essentially done a good job of denouncing the overt bellicose and Islamophobic
language that Trump has served up in previous months. If we look a little
deeper, however – it seems as though there is still much work to do. Bill
Clinton’s comments were just a glimpse of this looming beneath the surface.
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Bill Clinton attacked all Muslim Americans during his speech to the DNC
US Politics
Imraan Siddiqi on July 29, 2016 11 Comments
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Bill Clinton addresses the DNC.
Sitting through the horror show that was the Republican National Convention,
you’d think that there was no other way, but up. The anti-immigrant,
anti-Muslim and anti-black rhetoric that was overtly paraded out in speech
after speech was expected, but shocking nonetheless. But while many have come
to expect the onslaught of bigotry from the right, there have been some
cringeworthy moments at this week’s Democratic National Convention as well.
What did Bill Clinton Just Say?
“If you’re a Muslim and you love America and freedom and you hate terror, stay
here and help us win and make a future together, we want you.” – Bill Clinton
As the former President of the United States delivered this line, the DNC crowd
roared with approval. For many, the statement may seem innocuous on its face.
Strategically, the tenor of the convention has been all about juxtaposing the
unhinged nature of Donald Trump against the “more trustworthy” and “stable”
Hillary. In the wake of Trump’s consistently inflammatory rhetoric about
Muslims, Bill Clinton’s comments were aimed at being a galvanizing force for
the Left and those who are undecided. But for many in the Muslim community,
those comments fell flat.
Let’s pause and break this statement down:
Hate Terror? – Why yes, in fact – Muslims do hate terror. That is because
Muslims are the vast majority of terror victims worldwide. Ask the people of
Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Libya, Turkey and many others how they feel.
But that’s just part of the point. The only time you choose to mention Muslims
in your speech is through the lens of terror. The Clinton campaign has
consistently used this type of narrative throughout the debate process. This
type of rhetoric paints the diverse, deeply-entrenched American Muslim
community as one-dimensional and useful for only one thing, when it comes to
life in America. Which brings me to my next point:
Stay here? – I don’t know how it was possible to hit so many wrong notes in a
single sentence, but somehow Clinton was able to do it. Telling Muslims to
“stay here” gives the impression that Islam is something “foreign” or “other” –
when in reality, Islam has been in the fabric of this nation since its
inception.
Even though Muslims make up a small minority in America, with estimates as high
as 7 million people – it is fallacious to paint the community as consisting
solely of immigrants. Historians have estimated that over 20% – and even as
high as 30% of African slaves that were brought to American colonies were of
Muslim descent. And while those who were enslaved were beaten and stripped of
their religion over time, it is undeniable that Islam was a part of their lives.
Today, 1/3 of Muslims in this country are African American, which goes against
consistent this narrative being pushed from both right and left, that Muslims
are “foreign.”
When it comes to the immigrant community in America, this holds true as well.
Muslim immigrants have been here in America in waves, ever since the late
1800’s. The very first mosque in America was built in North Dakota during the
1920’s.
“We want you.” – One has to ask the question: Who is “we”? Muslims are just as
part of the fabric of the “we” that makes up America as anyone else. As
outlined earlier, our roots go back as deep – if not sometimes deeper than
those in the Clinton family. While he is trying to make a point of just how
intolerant Trump and Co. are, his words have a tinge of Orientalism to them.
This wasn’t the first time Bill Clinton has gotten into hot water over what
were perceived to be condescending remarks toward Muslims. At a forum he was
speaking at earlier this year, he told an ambitious young Muslim “this is a
pretty steep career lens for a Muslim woman.” To which, she replied: “Well
actually, I don’t think it’s too steep for a Muslim woman.”
In that very same soundbite, he somehow managed to offend people from the black
and Latino communities as well.
The moral of the story is: The minority community does not want to be talked
at. Whether black, immigrant, Muslim – or all of the above, we realize that
there are societal issues that we are dealing with. We realize that we are
facing record levels of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim sentiment. We realize
that black men are being killed by law enforcement at an alarming rate, in
comparison to everyone else. We realize that these issues need to be addressed
and rectified now, and not be pushed aside.
But rather than using our communities as a prop and “talking at” us, it is
important to get away from these tropes that we have become so accustomed to
hearing. Also, it’s probably not a good idea to bring in a mayor who defended
“Stop and Frisk” and unchecked blanket surveillance upon an entire community of
Muslims. Yes, that’s right – things got even more awkward, as the DNC decided
to bring in former NYC Mayor, Michael Bloomberg to address the crowd.
The Muslim community in New York City is still reeling from the effects of the
NYPD’s blanket spying program that spanned beyond the city’s borders –
throughout the entire Northeast. Businesses were spied upon, informants planted
in mosques, students followed to conventions, and a community’s trust betrayed.
Bloomberg was an ardent defender of this ongoing program that spanned a better
part of a decade, even though it was revealed that “zero actionable
intelligence” was gathered from spying on Muslims. It was no surprise then,
that Muslim activists expressed strong objections to having the former mayor on
a prime-time speaking docket. He’s not even a Democrat – but therein lies the
strategy. The DNC is trying to court disgruntled Republicans to make the switch
for this election, due to the extreme nature of Trump and his campaign. In the
end, the request was for naught – and the mayor who alienated so many minority
communities got his speaking gig.
You could say all of this ties in together. This election, for many out there
boils down to “a lesser of two evils.” The DNC is presenting itself as a more
tolerant, open option in comparison to what the RNC has to offer. They have,
essentially done a good job of denouncing the overt bellicose and Islamophobic
language that Trump has served up in previous months. If we look a little
deeper, however – it seems as though there is still much work to do. Bill
Clinton’s comments were just a glimpse of this looming beneath the surface. The
Muslim community is a diverse, vibrant
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