Now, you may find it hard to believe that this remains an issue in this campaign but it does....If you are even semi-informed, then by now you know that of course Barack Obama is an American, of course Barack Obama is a Christian. Yet just a few days ago, here was a woman at a rally for John McCain incorrectly calling an Obama an Arab...Now, I commend Senator McCain for correcting that woman, for setting the record straight. But I do have one question: so what if he was? So what if Obama was Arab or Muslim? So what if John McCain was Arab or Muslim? Would it matter? When did that become a disqualifier for higher office in our country? When did Arab and Muslim become dirty words, the equivalent of dishonorable or radical?
Whenever this gets raised, the implication is that there is something wrong with being an Arab American or Muslim. And the media is complicit here, too. We've all been too quick to accept the idea that calling someone Muslim is a slur.
I feel like I am stating the obvious here, but apparently it needs to be said: there is a difference between radical Muslims who support jihad against America and Muslims who want to practice their religion freely and have normal lives like everybody else. There are more than 1.2 million Arab Americans and about 7 million Muslim Americans -- former Cabinet secretaries, members of Congress, successful business people, normal average Americans from all walks of life.
These are the people that are being maligned here every time this happens. And we can only imagine how this conversation plays out in the Muslim world. We can't tolerate this ignorance, not in the media, not on the campaign trail. Of course he's not an Arab. Of course he's not a Muslim. But honestly, it shouldn't matter.
UPDATE: From the comments, "Dave N." weighs in with an excellent comment!
"He's an Arab." And McCain replies, "No, no...he's a decent person," or something to that effect. If you think about his reply to her, he's basically saying that Arabs aren't decent people. Way to denegrate an entire heritage of people, there, Johnny Boy.
Exactly right, McCain didn't correct the woman on the broader point she was getting at, that Arabs are somehow bad. Instead, McCain bought right into that framing, and even EMPHASIZED it by saying, "My GOD, NO, he's not one of THOSE PEOPLE!" Utterly disgusting, yet that's what passes for "praiseworthy" these days coming from the "Tour de Hate '08" that is the McCain campaign. Vomit.
I remember not to long ago, she seemed a real shrinking violet. Sure, she'd get some good punditry in on the CNN roundtables, but she never really gave voice to a powerful opinion or view.
Ever since the McCain Campaign's sexist effort to hide Sarah Palin from any and all scrutiny, Brown has found her voice and her strong, moderate perspective.
also...
When did being Muslim become a crime?
"No, we're not gay! Not that there's anything wrong with that!"
It's ridiculous. America does not have a state religion, nor is it a nation based on ethnicity. We are a creedal nation -- you know "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that ALL men are created equal ..." It should not matter if Barack Obama is half-Kenyan or half-Arab, Christian or Muslim. A Muslim, Arab-American immigrant is as much an American as is my Catholic, German-American immigrant mother, and as much an American as the rest of us that were born in this country.
However, the unfortunate fact of the matter is that a Muslim could almost certainly not be elected President of the United States at this point and time in our history due to bigotry and ignorance. So, we have to participate in this charade as volunteers, canvassers, phonebankers, etc., where we tell our fellow citizens that "No, in fact Barack Obama is a Christian," when in fact what we want to say (or at least I want to say) is what Campbell Brown said yesterday. It is disheartening.