Perspective: 15 Years After 9/11, Muslim Americans Are Poised to Overcome Hate | Dean Obeidallah

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Muslim Americans are successfully becoming more involved in two fields—media and politics—that enable us to define ourselves accurately and empower our community.

Times of Ahmad | News Watch | US Desk
Source/Credit: The Daily Beast
By Dean Obeidallah | September 7, 2016

[Excerpt]

So what’s it like to be Muslim in America 15 years after 9/11?

We see concerning signs and poll numbers about how our fellow Americans view us. Donald Trump and others on the right openly demonize us. And there’s been an alarming spike recently in hate crimes directed at us.

But I’ve never been more optimistic about our future in America.

Why? Well, in large part because Muslim Americans are successfully becoming more involved in two fields—media and politics—that enable us to define ourselves accurately and empower our community.

Fifteen years ago, I stood on the corner of 8th Street and Sixth Avenue and watched the Twin Towers collapse, shocked and awed at what became one of the defining moments of my life. Before that day, I had little connection to my Arab heritage or the Muslim community. I truly identified as a white guy. As I have joked, all my friends had names like Monica, Chandler, and Joey.

To put it simply, on Sept. 10, 2001, I went to sleep a white American, and on Sept. 11, I became a (hated) minority.

At first, I fiercely resisted losing my “white privilege.” As a white person I never was called to answer for the bad acts of a few white people. Now I’ve become somehow responsible for any bad act committed by any Muslim anywhere in the world.

But over the years I slowly embraced my minority status. I became more connected to Islam. (My father was Muslim and my mother is Italian and Catholic, so I was raised with both faiths.)

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