NEEM Magazine

Fairness. Energy. Hope. On June 4, 2009, NY Muslim leaders had this to say after hearing President Barack Obama’s historic speech in Cairo. The discussion was filled with a reinstated sense of optimism stemming from his commitment to eradicate misperceptions surrounding the Muslim community and to reconnect and forge “a new beginning” with Muslim majority countries.

Fast forward one year later, much of that hope was clouded with disappointment. At a roundtable hosted by CAIR-NY on the one year anniversary of the speech, the mantra was that his heavy words and ambitious goals were not put into action. Case in point was the administration’s failure to join the resounding condemnation from the international community following the Israeli massacre on the Flotilla that was carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Faiza Patel, a roundtable participant from the Brennan Center for Justice, pointed out that the shift in national security rhetoric was selectively being enforced. Although there was decoupling of religion from terrorism in speeches delivered by the President and agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, such verbiage had not trickled down to the FBI or NYPD. Even more problematic was that security policies continued to disproportionately impact the community, allowing for the frequent interrogation and arrests of Muslims without any evidence of wrongdoing.

That isn’t to say that the rhetoric itself was not appreciated. It was a sign of improvement especially when compared to the efforts of the previous administration, according to Sarah Sayeed from the Interfaith Center of New York. She noted that Obama has been the only president who set forth a rhetorical framework to deal with the hot button issues concerning Muslims and “the West.” As such, she had less expectations then the rest of the group to hold the president to his promises in a year, noting that democracy was a process that required time to reach consensus through vigorous debate. In agreement, Haroon Moghul from the Maydan Institute noted that if all the president’s commitments were met in one year, we’d have a dictator!

The appointments made by Obama also received a mixed review. Despite the political fear-mongering and bigotry, the White House stood behind Rashad Hussain and Dalia Mogahead, giving young aspiring Muslim political activists like Faiza Ali from CAIR-NY hope that they too could be part of the local and national government. However, Imam Shair Abdul- Mani from the American Muslim Law Enforcement Officers Association expressed guarded optimism about the appointments. Although well deserved, he questioned what impact such appointments had on the grassroots.

At the end of the roundtable discussion, the group rated the overall performance of the Obama Administration. The grades ranged from B+ to D.  Clearly, that sent the message that the American Muslim community is still waiting to exhale.

– Sabeen Sarwar is a civil rights intern with the New York chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations and a student at Barnard College, Columbia University*

*All OP-Eds are the opinion of the authors.  They do not represent the views of NEEM Magazine or its editors, staff, or publishers.*