This morning I read this article about a recent controversy in New York, which some of you may have already been following. I don’t know much about the case beyond what’s in the article below, but it looks like a substance-less railroading of a woman, Debbie Almontaser, who wanted to open an Arabic language academy in the city. Every time I read about one more case like this my heart breaks and I cry a little more for my country and what is being perpetrated in its name.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/28/nyregion/28school.html?pagewanted=6&_r=1&h
What really touched me in this article beyond the case, which I admittedly just heard about, is the depiction of a whole host of groups and politicians setting their sights on eliminating rising ‘Muslim participation in public life.’ One thing I know for sure is that the current threat to America does not lie in Muslims and Arabs who want to join “public life.” While violence and terrorism from any group are real threats, wanting to join public life is the greatest signal of appreciation for and participation in the great American project, which has for generations incorporated the new ideas and influences of immigrants into the “melting pot.” This is certainly not the first time in our history such a false danger has been claimed — Catholics in the 19th century were often characterized by the press and public officials as incapable of free thought and a danger to America. Their resulting marginalization from public schools helped lead to the wide network of parochial schools many non-Catholics of this century have benefited from. I don’t think anyone could today claim that the contributions of Catholics to public and political life were either small or negative, or that they didn’t productively add to the tenor of American life. Examples like this of misguided and detrimental prejudice abound in our history.
I am so proud to live in a country where pluralism and freedom have been expressed as our highest legal and social values. I am finding myself often ashamed at the failure of my public officials to uphold these values, and the total cowardice displayed in their reluctance to even acknowledge these freedoms might be violated! The real threat I see to the country that I love lies in the ignorant (or, I pray not, malicious) officials and press who are willing to put prejudice and confusion above freedom and to ignore their highest political calling in favor of their basest impulses. My frustration and trembling fingers have made this one of my less clear discussions of this topic, but I wonder about how all you out there respond when you see public officials ignoring and mis-defining our basic rights and responsibilites. I noted that the main figure in this case, Ms. Almontaser, had been a part of and remains active in local interfaith groups and initiatives. That hasn’t helped her yet, but when we see misconceptions or injustice in our community how can we respond politically as interfaith-ers, as well as educators and diaolog-ers and servants to our communities?
