Arab Americans to Rally on National Mall Against Bigotry
BY: Andrew Hansen/Contributing Writer
On July 23, America’s Muslim communities will come together to rally against extremism, gun violence, and bigotry on the National Mall in Washington, DC. Organized by the Islamic Society of Central Florida and the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS), the march is intended to combat recent spikes of anti-Muslim hate crimes and negative stereotypes towards Arab American communities. Leaders of the associations organizing the rally hope that the march will change some attitudes toward Arab Americans amidst bigoted speech emanating from Republican nominee Donald Trump, who has blamed American Muslims and Arab refugees for recent mass shootings and radicalism.
In a report released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations at the University of California Berkeley, there were 78 reported instances of vandalism or arson on American mosques (when?). This number represents a staggering increase of discriminatory cases toward American Muslims. More disturbingly, there have been at least three American Muslims killed as a result of racial discrimination.
One theory regarding this spike in bigotry toward American Muslims suggests that because of messages perpetuated by figures like Donald Trump, people feel that their discrimination is justifiable.
Furthermore, America is facing an increase of anti-Muslim groups that have demonstrated outside of mosques, some of which have turned violent. The same report claimed that in 2014, there were 74 registered anti-Muslim groups in America. Today, there may be at least a dozen more.
To combat this unfortunate phenomenon, ADAMS and the Islamic Society of Central Florida are reaching out to celebrities to join the cause, such as Yousef Islam (formerly known as Cat Stevens), Kareem Abdul Jabar, and famous scholar Hamza Yusuf as a surefire method to spread the message of ending hate and discrimination. Hopefully, by adding respected faces to the rally, these celebrities will help propagate more tolerance toward Arab Americans, who have also faced a significant increase in abuse. On July 23, peace is the goal as American Muslims take to the National Mall to voice their desire for change.