Letter to an American Muslim

Assalamu’aleikum. Peace be upon you. You need it. I can feel your agitation, your unspoken frustration as you feel your world changing uncontrollably around you. You thought you had it made. The Mercedes in your garage was proof of that. You, who had arrived in America with $500 in travelers’ checks fifteen years ago, were now a corporate insider and a responsible citizen --- finally ready to vote Republican because it mattered on your financial statement. You were, at last, truly American, proud of your Muslim heritage but ready also to expound the virtues of constitutional democracy. Now you are not so sure. The American Constitution that you often celebrated but had never read seems a flimsy barrier against an assertive and intrusive state. You thought you understood civil rights in America, but it turns out that you had greatly overestimated their stability. Your busy path to success had left you no time to acquaint yourself with American history. Like all your friends, you too had occasionally reflected on the “great leadership” of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Martin Luther King, but you never understood what they had really achieved. For you --- as for most of your American-born friends --- these were cardboard icons. You never tried to reconcile the facts that Jefferson had understood the evils of slavery but had also owned slaves. You were not even aware that Lincoln had suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War. Hell, you did not even know what habeas corpus was until the Patriot Act came along. You had never truly thought about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and what it said about the fragility of constitutional rights in the United States. For you, all that happened in other times to other people with whom you had no connection. You see, you never were truly American until now. Now you do identify with the interned Japanese-Americans. Now you do wonder whether actions by long-dead presidents set precedents for you and your future generations. Now that your 75-year old father, who retired ten years ago as managing director of a large corporation, has been fingerprinted like a common criminal at JFK; now that your cousin who was accepted into Cornell with a full scholarship was denied a visa; now that you read about arrests of Muslim immigrants in your hometown paper --- now you feel the weight of history. Now you are as American as the Poles who came to work like slaves in the steel mills of Pittsburgh, the Irish who escaped persecution in their homeland to inhabit ghettoes in Boston and Philadelphia, the Jews who landed at Ellis Island not knowing whether they would be let into the land of freedom or sent back to Nazi death camps. Now it is your turn to do what it takes to arrive in America.

I know that you are angry. Good. Keep that anger alive. It is a great motivator for action. But be aware that it is more often a motivator for hate. Be very careful about that. There is nothing more futile than spontaneous hatred born of immediate frustration. Do not confuse this with the fertile and necessary hatred of the oppressed for their oppressors. You are not oppressed. With all your frustrations, all perceived indignities and all the impositions upon your rights, you are more free today than you were fifteen years ago in the country of your birth. You are angry because you thought things were better than they have turned out to be. Now that you understand the source of this anger, make it useful. Use it to bring about the change that you think is needed. It sounds like a daunting task, and it is, but remember, you are not the only one angry about this.

If there is one thing I would say to you, it is “Don’t whine, organize!” Please do not blame your problems on the “Israeli lobby”, “racism”, or the jingoistic media. Sure, there are forces in American society that work against what you perceive as your interests, but complaining about them will not get you anywhere. Every group has its interests, and works to have them served. That is where you really need some education in American history. You thought that because you had made it into upper middle management in a Fortune 100 company, you understood how “the system” worked here. Now take a few months to learn how it really works. The first step on that path is to redefine what you think of as “the system”. The integration of a population group into a society --- even a diverse and mobile society --- is the work of generations, not a matter of being admitted to the right country club (though that too is important). If Muslims in America want to matter as a group, they must acquire wealth, acquire influence, and acquire relevance. These things take time and planning, but let me suggest a few things.

First, understand what you are dealing with. Your social interaction with Americans has been too superficial to give you much insight into America. You have watched enough TV and attended enough meetings to understand popular culture, but you do not understand the ethos of this society. You, who have contributed to the Democratic and Republican parties as part of corporate fundraising drives, do not really understand how the political system works. You have no time to watch C-Span since whatever limited TV time is left over from late night comics, football or the NBA is spent on your favorite satellite channel from “back home”. You do watch network news or CNN occasionally, but that only acquaints you with the scandal du jour. The main source of your political information is the Tonight Show. That is very unfortunate. Try reading the New York Times and the Washington Post. They are on the web, and free. Remember, the goal is not so much to get actual news (go to the BBC, the Guardian or the Independent for that) as to hear the voices of opinion-makers in American society. Supplement your reading with magazines like the New Republic, the Nation, Harper’s, the Atlantic, or even the National Review or the Weekly Standard. Read the New Yorker (and don’t miss the cartoons). Join the argument over America’s values and its place in the world, at least as a reader. Also, think about some serious reading. I know that the most substantial book you have read since graduating from college is “The Hunt for Red October”, but try to re-awaken the brain cells that had once motivated you to check out “The Collected Works of William Faulkner” from the library at Penn State. I know you never finished the first novel, but at least you had the urge. Rediscover it. Get back to Faulkner and Twain and Fitzgerald. Read some Mailer or Pynchon or Irving or Wolfe. But don’t confine yourself to fiction. Get hold of Kevin Phillips’ “Wealth and Democracy” to understand how money and politics work in today’s America. Read the classic and controversial “People’s History of the United States” by Howard Zinn to appreciate the dialectic of honor and venality that is the history of your adoptive country. Learn more about the truly extraordinary individuals --- Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Madison, Washington --- whose ideas gave birth to America. Read about Teddy Roosevelt to discover the origins of America’s paternalistic --- and sometimes thoughtless, even cruel --- idealism. Read about Lincoln to understand the standard of integrity in American public life. And read about the civil rights struggle to appreciate what it takes to change American society. Perhaps I am getting carried away and describing my own reading (wish-)list. Choose your own books to read, but the point is this: Teach yourself how the American political system works. If you hope to have any influence, at any point, you must work through this system --- until you can change it.


American politics is a strange beast. It is --- as far as I know --- the only truly democratic system in which graft is legal. We call it “campaign contributions”. One consequence of this is the influence of money, but if money alone were enough, the Saudis would have much more influence today than they do. Remember, this is still a democracy, and public opinion still matters. Indeed, in these days of 24-hour news channels, it matters more than ever. And it is manipulated more than ever. The only way that American Muslims will acquire standing in this system is for them to develop the proper tools. A PAC --- political action committee, in case you are wondering --- would be a good start. I know, I know some such things already exist, but they need to develop the resources and the public relations apparatus to become effective. They need to raise real money, and they need to find spokespeople who know when not to speak. Remember, the goal is not to buy a politician or two, but to influence public opinion in a way that puts pressure on large groups of politicians. I am not a political strategist, but I can think of three significant, long-term tasks that American Muslims must take on in a concerted way.

First, develop a voting bloc. There are probably about 3 million eligible Muslim voters --- not all immigrants --- in the US today, and their numbers are increasing. This is a small population, but not insignificant --- especially given how evenly divided the rest of the electorate is between Republicans and Democrats. Everyone mentions the impact of Nader voters and rejected ballots in Florida during the 2000 presidential election, but a few hundred Muslim (or Jewish, or Latino, or African-American) votes going the other way could also have swayed the election. With such parity among the parties, politicians cannot afford to ignore any voting bloc --- but it has to be a bloc. Much is made of how voting en bloc compromises the individual’s right to free choice in voting. On the contrary! Voting blocs enhance the leverage of each member’s vote. If African-Americans voted Republican and Democrat in equal numbers every time, neither party would pay attention to them. Their political influence is significant precisely because they vote (mostly) as a bloc, and it is in both parties’ interest to sway the bloc to their side. The same is true of evangelicals, crypto-segregationists (the lynch-pin, so to speak, of Nixon’s Southern Strategy), feminists, soccer-moms, small-business owners, and many other demographic groups. To be effective, American Muslims have to visibly form such a voting bloc. As their numbers increase, both political parties will feel the need to woo the group over.

The second task for American Muslim is to join the class of opinion makers. In this age of pervasive communication, public opinion and elite opinion are shaped by a very few professions: Journalists, political consultants, lobbyists, lawyers, entertainers, writers, film-makers, high-profile corporate figures, TV talking heads, radio talk-show hosts, and, of course, politicians. Perhaps I missed one or two groups, but note who is not on the list: Physicians, scientists, engineers, economists, educators, corporate rank-and-file, labor, government workers --- in short, precisely the professions that first-generation Muslim immigrants might guide their children into. This needs to change. But it must change in a particular way. Not every two-bit journalist or lawyer becomes influential. It requires networking, and, for better or worse, the foundation of such networking is often laid at elite educational institutions. There are many exceptions, but disproportionate numbers of those who wield influence in this society have a top university somewhere in their resume. This does not mean that passing through these institutions is a ticket to influence, but it certainly helps if the talent is there. I remember two years ago when your brother who lives in Seattle sent his daughter to one of the local state universities though she had been admitted to Stanford. I understand the financial imperatives and the desire to keep his child within driving distance, but strategically, American Muslims must start making the opposite choice. If they are to enter the group of elite opinion-makers in this society, they must be willing to put in the (very hard) work and sacrifices needed for this. I am sick of hearing Muslims complain about the “Jewish influence” on everything in the U.S. The implication is that this must be some sort of conspiracy. That is exactly the wrong way to look at the whole thing. The experience of American Jews, and their success in all walks of American society, is a role model for every other immigrant group. Not only in America but in many other places, the history of the Jewish people is an object lesson in how the urge for excellence and respect for learning can lead to high achievement in very difficult circumstances. If you think you face discrimination today, think of what a Polish or Hungarian Jew faced in snooty New England back in the early 20th century. The success of American Jews --- and of Americans of all other backgrounds --- has not come overnight and has not come cheap. Indeed, one can argue that the immigrant groups that have arrived in America since around 1970 have had the easiest time of all groups in this country’s history. Now things may be changing again, but I doubt if they are going to reverse all the way. Anyway, getting back to my point, it is critical --- absolutely critical --- that American Muslims nurture in their younger generation(s) the ambition and the talent necessary to excel in the opinion-making professions. Bring them up to believe that their goal is to get the best possible education and to meet the highest standards in their chosen careers. Let them go into journalism and law; let them become film directors and actors; let them aspire to a stint at the Brookings Institution or the Rand Corporation; let them seek their fortune in writing; encourage them to join the military. In other words, please think beyond pre-med.

Finally, American Muslims must participate in electoral politics not only as voters but also as candidates. They must run for school boards, city councils, state legislature and, yes, also at the national level. A hundred years ago, no Jewish American or African-American could aspire to high elected office, but things have changed. There is no reason why they could not change some more, but it will take time. However, one way things will not change is if Muslim-Americans keep presenting themselves as oddities in American society. The success of other ethnic groups has derived from their “mainstreaming”. It was only when Jews or Italians stopped running as Jews or Italians and started running as Americans that they were able to win high office outside their local domains. The case of African-Americans is different and special since they were not an immigrant group and have been a part of American society since before the founding of the United States. From them, Muslims can learn much regarding perseverance and organization, but their path to political acceptance is unique. In any case, my point is that, to succeed politically, Muslims must convince other Americans that their interests are the same as those of the rest, that they do not carry some peculiar parochial agenda. This is going to be very difficult in the immediate aftermath of recent events, but not impossible over a couple of decades. The key is for Muslims to start thinking as Americans rather than as immigrants. I am confident that this just needs a little time as the children born in America grow up with an unquestionably American identity. Please do not take this as a plea for giving up on your Muslim heritage. Far from it! But it is a suggestion for controlled assimilation. As I see it, the choice is to assimilate on your terms, or be assimilated on the terms of the popular culture. Which would you rather have?

You probably want to know what I think the future holds for American Muslims. I can only guess, and my best guess, I regret to say, is that things may get worse before they improve --- especially if there is active conflict between Muslim states and the U.S. But things will eventually improve. I say this because I think I understand a little of America. You know, as I do, that most people in the so-called Muslim world think of America as just another neo-colonial power --- a bit peculiar in its desire to be loved rather than feared, but fundamentally no different from the British or French colonists of a century ago. But we who live in America know that this is not so. True, for almost all of American history, power has been the purview of a few Christian white men, but this is merely an instance of historical inertia, not a long-term societal imperative. The son of penniless Jamaican immigrants is today America’s Secretary of State. A second-generation Arab-American --- George Mitchell --- was Majority Leader of the Senate for many years. And a Jew was almost elected Vice-President two years ago. What does that say to you about America? To me, it says that, in fifty years, your son or daughter could be Secretary of State, Senator or President --- of the United States or of Citicorp! American-ness, unlike British-ness or French-hood, is a matter of participation. And we can all participate. Today’s draconian laws may temporarily make this a little more difficult, but the history of America shows decisively that every iniquity in this society --- slavery, Jim Crow, Japanese internment camps, McCarthyism, robber baron excesses, race and gender discrimination --- was addressed from within the society itself, and eventually came to be seen as a shameful part of the past --- and sometimes as a lingering embarrassment in the present. I have no doubt that, one day in the not too distant future, the excesses of post-911 laws will come to be regarded as similarly iniquitous. But to get to that happy time, you will need to simultaneously keep alive the indignation that restores your rights and avoid the paranoia that feeds the injustice. Times may well get worse, but if you see that as proof of an inexorable conspiracy rather than as the natural reaction of a flustered society, you will only prolong the misery. If you want to do something positive, support the forces that work to protect your rights and the rights of others. Check out the ACLU, Amnesty International, Doctors without Borders, Human Rights Watch, UNHCR. Join them, support them, or just be grateful for the work they do. And --- how shall I put this? --- find a way to recognize that your rights can be protected only if you are willing to accept the rights of others. I hate to say it, but Muslims often have a problem with this. Others do too, but that is their problem. I know I am stereotyping a bit here, but I have enough experience to know that this is a real and serious problem.


To end this rather long letter (I hope you don’t mind), let me return to the point where I began. You have chosen America as your home and, more importantly, the home of your future generations. Get to know the idea of America. The reality of America leaves much to be desired, but the idea is one of the greatest intellectual achievements in human history. Never forget that the document on which you rely today to protect your rights was conceived more than two centuries ago --- before the French Revolution, before socialism, long before the United Nations --- by white, male landowners and businessmen who could only have dimly perceived the future of their endeavors. Think of the foresight that went into writing the American Constitution --- and especially the Bill of Rights --- when the rest of the world was ruled by kings and emperors! For all its omissions and imperfections, that first document of the world’s first constitutional republic contained all the essential elements of the modern democratic sensibility. You, as a Muslim with a keen sense of history, should identify especially with this effort. After all, one of the greatest achievements of Islam was to strike at the root of arbitrary --- and hereditary --- power by establishing an objective legal framework that treated all citizens equally and where the ruler governed by the consent of the people. Of course, Muslims made rather a mess of this through most of history, but those are just details. Anyway, my point is that, in these difficult times, American Muslims must maintain a positive attitude towards America. It is extremely important to appreciate that the intrusions and indignities perpetrated recently in the name of security are an affront not only to human decency but also to the ideals on which America is based, and the remedy for these iniquities is already at work within the system. Celebrate that hope too while you protest the assault on your civil liberties.

With Best Regards,

Ali