Anti-Muslim Bias in Presidential Race?

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One of the great things about doing this show is getting to do topics that bounce off the headlines, but go a bit deeper into social issues. Today we tackled politics and Islam.

Today we asked the question: why so many Americans think -- wrongly -- that Senator Barack Obama is Muslim ... and why do they find that idea disturbing? Have the senator and his staff themselves shown an uneasiness with Islam? And what about Senator McCain?

A Pew Center poll recently found that one in ten Americans believe that Obama is a Muslim. The poll numbers we don't have are whether people who think he's a Muslim would vote for him. Last month, two Muslim women in headscarves were barred from sitting behind Obama's podium at a Detroit rally. The campaign apologized.

So, does Senator Obama's refrain that he is a "proud Christian" show uneasiness with being painted as a Muslim? What about Senator McCain, who last year said in an interview that a grounding in the Christian faith is key to the leadership in the White House. "This nation was founded primarily on Christian principles," Senator McCain said, adding that when it comes to electing someone to the White House, "I prefer someone who I know who has a solid grounding in my faith."

To help us explore presidential politics, culture, and Islam, we spoke with Imam Zaid Shakir, a resident scholar at the Zaytuna Institute in Berkeley, California. He converted to Islam while he was in the military. We also talked to Julia Shearson, the director of the Cleveland, Ohio, chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Imam Shakir argued that the international threat of terrorism has been unfairly expanded so that all Muslims are seen as suspect. He said:

"With Muslims being identified generally speaking with terrorism ... then Muslims become painted with this broad brush and a lot of stereotypes are generated, and with the incidents of September 11, 2001, I think that trend was accelerated."

Julia Shearson made the case for religious pluralism being a part of politics, saying:

"Muslims are part of the fabric of American life. We all know that there's no religious test for higher office. We know that America was established purposely this way by our founders. We know that there have been Muslims in the Americas since 1320. There were Muslims coming on the ships with Christopher Columbus in 1492. ... Our voice, and our insights, our opinions should be taken into account, particularly at a time when the United States has difficulty understanding the Muslim world."

Now, that may be true, but I have seen (and plan to report on) tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims on the grassroots neighborhood level. In some cases, I'm talking about American-born black folks -- some Muslim, some Christian -- who share a neighborhood, and a race, but religion seems to be a wedge.

Would love to hear from people who live in neighborhoods where this is an issue, and of course, get everyone's views on how they see the issue of Islam and the election playing out.

Farai Chideya

Tags: Barack Obama | Islam | Muslim | politics

6:16 PM ET | 07-29-2008 | permalink

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