Ellison a Muslim and a patriot

Rep. Keith Ellison’s (D-Minn.) congressional victory in the 2006 mid-term elections was a… Rep. Keith Ellison’s (D-Minn.) congressional victory in the 2006 mid-term elections was a major and much-needed first for America. As the first Muslim to ever be elected to Congress, Ellison broke through rigid political boundaries at a very critical time for the United States.

With fear and ignorance surrounding the religion of Islam and Muslims on the rise since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the last thing we all expected to hear was that a Muslim had been elected to the House of Representatives. To me, Ellison’s election is a hopeful indication that we, as Americans, are finally able to look past the prejudices and stereotypes generated by 9/11, the war in Afghanistan and the war on Iraq.

But, at the same time, many expected Ellison’s win to be met with negativity and skepticism. After all, prejudice is not and never can be completely eradicated. For some, the thought of a Muslim serving in the United States Congress is a cause for concern.

CNN’s conservative pundit Glenn Beck invited Ellison on his show a week after the representative’s victory. Beck displayed ill-founded and paranoid worries that Ellison could be a possible threat to America, simply because of his religion. He said to Ellison, “Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies.”

Republican Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. of Virginia exhibited similar irrational worries when he sent a letter to constituents in reaction to Ellison’s win. He wrote that America needed to crack down on immigration or there would be “many more Muslims elected to office.” For some reason, Goode seems to hold the misconception that Ellison is an immigrant. On the contrary, Ellison is an African-American convert to Islam whose family history in America can be traced back to the 1700s.

Goode was also opposed to Ellison’s decision to be sworn into office with the Quran because the act does not represent “the values and beliefs traditional to the United States of America.” What Goode does not seem to realize is that America is a country built upon the principle of religious freedom. Furthermore, the Constitution of the United States guarantees the right of everyone to take the oath of office on any book they prefer. In fact, Theodore Roosevelt took his oath without the Bible and several Jewish members of Congress have taken their oaths on the Torah.

It is obvious that Ellison’s election has brought attention to an important divide in America. There are people like those of the fifth congressional district of Minnesota who are able to embrace Ellison for his qualities as a representative without judging him based on his religion. And there are those few who continue to be fearful of a faith and a people they clearly do not understand. Ellison’s victory could not have come at a more appropriate time. His win has addressed this problem and has encouraged necessary debate to help eliminate it.

The misinformed views of both Beck and Goode, which erroneously imply that Islam is the enemy, may cross the line into bigotry; however, they need to be said and heard so that they can be contradicted. Ellison has done a good job of this. His patient and levelheaded response to Goode’s comments was that the representative had “a lot to learn about Islam” and that Muslims make up a major part of America as people “who just want to live and prosper in the American way and that there’s really nothing to fear.” Ellison also exhibited impressive composure in response to Beck’s comments, stating that “There’s no one who is more patriotic than I am” and that he didn’t need to “prove my patriotic stripes.” The fact of the matter is, it is not unpatriotic to be both Muslim and American. In fact, it’s a right that this country was founded upon.

But, still, Ellison’s responses are not enough. Judging by the comments of Beck and Goode and several others who saw Ellison’s win as potentially harmful to the United States, the misconceptions surrounding Islam seem to be very deep-rooted for some Americans. It’s going to take a much greater and more collective effort on the part of Muslims and non-Muslims to sway these intolerant views to rationality. Ellison’s win is a very reassuring start to this effort. His term in the House of Representatives will hopefully change the way many Americans perceive Muslims and Islam for the better.

This is all a major test of tolerance for Americans. The people of Minnesota who voted for Ellison have already shown that it is possible for America to make the grade.

E-mail Elham at elk23@pitt.edu.