citizens, and they would not have had to claim to be refugees in order to enter the United States. It makes no sense to close American borders to Syrian and Iraqi refugees because a tiny number of Europeans committed a terrorist attack.
Current proposals to close our doors to refugees are connected to a deeper undercurrent of prejudice. Some political leaders have called for blanket surveillance of American Muslims, with presidential candidate Donald Trump even going as far as to suggest that American Muslims should be required to carry special cards identifying themselves as Muslims. Trump has also called for renewing government surveillance of mosques inside the United States and has suggested that mosques might be shut down altogether. All of this would be unconstitutional as well as stigmatising, divisive, and unfair.
And though there’s never a time for such irresponsible and inaccurate rhetoric, it is particularly dangerous now. The FBI released its 2014 report on hate crimes, which found that the number of incidents fell in every victim group except one: Muslims. Calls for discriminatory surveillance and religious profiling will only increase the vulnerability of our American Muslim neighbours and friends.
We should not help Isis drive a wedge between Muslims in the west and the democratic societies they call home. Many first-generation American Muslims, it should be noted, came to America precisely because of the freedoms that some politicians now want to curtail. And Muslims have been part of this nation’s fabric since its founding.
It isn’t difficult to stand for freedom, compassion, and tolerance in times of relative peace and security. These basic tenets of the American civic faith aren’t tested until times like these. But we don’t have to give in to hate and fear. We don’t have to compromise our beliefs in freedom and equality. Principle can defeat prejudice if we don’t lose sight of what matters most: protecting the very values and rights that make us Americans, especially in the most trying of times.
This article has been excerpted from: ‘States of fear’.
Courtesy: Commondreams.org