Tag Archives: Race

Post Election Reflection

Posted in Muslim Communities in America, Muslim Minorities, MuslimARC, Race in America, Ummah by

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On Tuesday November 8th, 2016,  many of us were frozen with anxiety as we awaited the results of an  unprecedented presidential race with the two frontrunners, Hillary Clinton running as the Democratic Nominee and Donald Trump as the Republican nominee.  Due to the Electoral College system, Trump is the fifth elected president to win while losing the popular vote (Pew). The reactions among Muslim Americans are varied, some with shock while others, including  the first Muslim American Representative in Congress, Keith Ellison  predicted that Donald Trump could win. His election was a culmination of a very bitter presidential campaign that exposed the dark underside of America’s racial, gender, and class politics. From a racial justice framework, I am gravely concerned about the President Elect’s statements about Black Lives Matter, Muslim Americans, and Latinos. The slogan “Make America Great Again,”while nostalgic about America’s past,  triggered many  People of Color, especially  African Americans, Mexican Americans and Asian Americans who historically faced the brutality of white supremacy enshrined in law. It is foreboding when International Human Rights Watch calls for the President Elect Donald Trump to govern with respect for rights and ACLU preparing to sue if Donald Trump implements his proposed policies.

Many people who voted for Trump were concerned about immigration, terrorism, the economy, and crime, while supporters of Clinton were  concerned about inequality, gun violence and the environment as serious problems (Pew). Without a question, this election highlighted the racial divide in this country, as the majority of White americans including the majority of White women, voted for Trump. They often using coded language around immigration and criminality for people of color.

My work at MuslimARC focuses on  diversity and  cultural competence training and  racial justice education. We are committed to  amplifying narratives, and advocating for those who will be most affected by legislation and policies. We stand in solidarity with racialized groups, including  Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos, advocating for equal protection under the law. We find strength in our diversity, in our common bond due to our multiple intersecting identities that connect us to all of humanity.

I am concerned about the safety, civil liberties, and as well as access to quality healthcare, and quality education.  The uptick in hate crimes and racial and religious intolerance against Muslim Americans are a deep concern. Yet, I will face my fears with courage. We continue to speak truth to power and not be swayed by the temptation to fall in step with this tide. We should not work to appease those who obfuscate the truth for their own benefit.  Instead, we should continue to shed light on the truth, in how corporate interests and elites pit us against one another.

Many of us have aspirations that this country could achieve its promise of equality and freedom, that we can right our historical wrongs, by setting a new course towards guaranteeing every resident dignity.Deepa Iyer beautifully articulates this vision for a multi-cultural society in We Too Sing America. Much of the anxiety about crime, immigration, and jobs comes from the  demographic shift sis this country becomes majority minority. I repudiate divisive rhetoric, condemn acts of racial and religious intolerance, and appeal to our highest values and aspirations for this nation. I know our journey will be long, that we will be tried and tested. But this work, is a crucible of our faith in action. My work is to train leaders from amongst the people most affected to be better equipped to hold those in power accountable.  In this moment, I  renew my intention continue this work, to strengthen my  resolve to institutionalize racial justice work in Muslim communities. I remember the chapter of the Qur’an:

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ

وَالْعَصْرِ

إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ

إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ

In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful 1. “By Time”, 2. “Surely Humanity  is in loss,” 3. “Save those who believe and do good deeds, and enjoin on each other truth, and enjoin on each other patience.

I know we will face many challenges, but we cannot be complacent or resigned. For my MuslimARC family, I have been so encouraged to see you change things with your hands, with your words, and with your hearts.  For my partners in MuslimARC and all the the various organizations I’ve worked with over the past three years, I am proud of  your civic engagement, of your activism, your service to humanity,  and your continual dedication to the Creator. I am honored to be on the right side of history, of bringing Mercy to humanity.

The N-Word

Posted in Black and Asian Relations, Black and Mexican relations, Communication, Race in America by

 

And do not insult one another and do not call each other by [offensive] nicknames. Wretched is the name of disobedience after [one’s] faith. Qur’an 49:11

In late 2013, a group of activists, scholars, and concerned netizens coalesced around the issue of anti-Blackness perpetrated by Muslim youth on social media. Some of these actions included anti-Black slurs in Arabic, Urdu, Somali, and Yoruba, as well as the appropriation of the N-word by non-Black Muslims. Out that group,  Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative formed to organize social media campaigns to drop the A-Word and address #UmmahAntiBlackness,  as well to give voice to Black Muslims and celebrate their contributions in hashtag conversations that included #BeingBlackAndMuslim.  Responding to the call to educate Muslim communities about racism, MuslimARC launched as a human rights education organization.  

Black American Muslim scholars, activists, leaders, parents, teachers, and conscious members are exhausted by having to explain why it is not okay for non-Black Muslims to use N-word.  The use of the N-word is controversial, even amongst African Americans. However, when a Black person uses the term, it does not spark the same outrage as non-Black people using it. This is because in many ways it is reclaiming the pejorative. Although the Black usage of the word may raise some hairs and spark vociferous debate within the black community,  it is not racist. Oppressed people cannot be racist, they may be prejudice. When White people and NonBlack People of Color use the N-word, regardless of intent,  they are committing a racist act. When they use it as a pejorative, they are being actively racist asserting a hierarchy that dehumanizes Black people.  A non-black person using the N-word to themselves or others as a term of endearment is an act of cultural  appropriation, which is a form of passive racism. Cultural appropriation is copying elements of a culture in a colonizing manner and using them outside of their context. Cultural appropriators use those elements without having to suffer the same consequences that members of that culture. The N-word developed to highlight the othering, dehumanization, and exploitation of sub-Saharan Africans who were racialized as Black.  On occasion, upwardly mobile Black folks ascribing to respectability politics will distance themselves from other Black Americans and will use the term as a pejorative against Black people they don’t approve of. This may be internalized racism, but it still does not equate to the usage of non-Black folks.

 

It doesn’t matter if you are well meaning, and if your Black friends give you a pass. No individual Black person can give a non-Black person the weight of our historical experience and oppression.  Cultural appropriation is harmful for the members of the oppressed group, especially when you are using a term that is so painful for many Black people.  When someone who is not Black uses the term it is often emotionally triggering.  When non-Black people argue with Black people who are offended by their appropriation  of the n-word, it further inflicts emotional violence. It does not matter if you hear the word a thousand times by Black comedians and hip hop artists. The commodification of Black culture does not give anybody a right to appropriate the term. period.

Finally, White people and Non-Black People of Color who have no linkages with the brutal 400 years history of the kidnapping and enslavement of Africans in the Americas and Jim Crow, as well as the 18th century colonization of Africa which included forced slave labor, population movements, and mass deaths and depopulation, who continue  to face systemic racism and violence at the hands of the state and the police, your moral judgment on how Black people reclaim the term is not relevant to the discussion of why it is never okay for Non-Black People to use the term. This is an internal community discussion. The discourse around the N-word is sensitive topic for many Black Americans. The discourse is a source of many microaggressions that make workplaces, campuses, and friendships hostile environments for Black people. Non-Black people who police Black people on the moral repercussions of the term often misuse their non-Black privilege in forcing the issue.  Rather than policing Black people, they should focus on uprooting racism within themselves and their community.
Because I’m tired, here are some resources below:

Books:

The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn’t, and Why …

 

Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word …

 

Articles and Websites

 

Stop Saying N***a If You’re Not Black – Huffington Post

 

Straight Talk about the N-Word | Teaching Tolerance

 

4 Reasons White People Can’t Use the N-Word (No Matter …

 

Don’t Use The N-Word If You’re Not Black. The End. But If …

 

The n-word: An interactive project exploring a singular word …