American Muslim Institution, a Washington D.C.-based organization devoted to fostering interfaith dialogue, will host next month a conversation with some of the top journalists on challenges facing America’s diverse communities.
The event on September 9 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, takes place as the United States grapples with a range of issues internally including economic insecurity in rural and small-town America and immigration.
The deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, this week has sharpened the debate over race issues and the role of politics in restraining violent thinking.
Both Republicans and Democrats have condemned the killing of a young woman at the end of a white nationalist rally but analysts see implications of such violence for the entire American society including diverse communities.
“AMI stands up for the peaceful expression of dissent, but this kind of violence has no place in our society. We believe in coexistence among all diverse voices and ideas. This kind of violence, if allowed to spread, will embolden all those espousing extreme ideologies and will be particularly harmful for America’s minorities and diverse communities,” Ambassador Islam Siddiqui, President AMI, said in a statement.
Political observers also say the 2015 election rhetoric and lingering economic issues, particularly the erosion of jobs for white Americans in rural areas – ignored by successive administrations in the midst of globalizing economic scene – have contributed to upsurge in activities of groups espousing extremist ideologies.
Some of the economic issues facing Americans living far away from global centers of technology also shaped President Donald Trump’s 2015 election victory. But political rhetoric also catapulted immigrants and minorities to the center of political debate.
Six months after the Republican election victory, Washington continues to face political polarization due to a variety of factors.
Meanwhile, official figures say incidents of violence against the Jewish and American Muslims have increased during the last one year.
At the same time, Americans have shown the best of their society. In Portland, Oregon, three white men stood up for defense of a teenage Muslim girl when a white supremacist attacked her with slurs. Two of the men paid the ultimate price for the rights of their fellow citizen. In Victoria, Texas, people showed a remarkable sense of affinity with local Muslims when they formed a human chain around the mosque burnt in an incident of vandalism.
But the disturbing trends like racial violence, vandalism of houses of worship and attacks against individuals pose challenges to the society.
Can Washington wait any longer to confront a mix of such lingering and new challenges? And what will be implications of the Trump Administration’s decisions on issues like immigration, planned construction of a wall on the US-Mexican border, and ban on travelers from six Muslim majority countries for America’s diversity, which has long been a source of its cultural and economic power and influence?
Questions like these are likely to be part of the AMI (Americanmusliminstitution.org ) conversation on September 9 with a panel featuring Egyptian American Ayman Mohyeldin of NBC News, Sabrina Siddiqui, political correspondent for The Guardian newspaper and Sharaf Mowjood of CBS Evening News.
Pakistani-American journalist and author Wajahat Ali will moderate the discussion at the event, which, according to the AMI president, is part of a series of events the institution is holding to advance constructive dialogue for mutual understanding between America’s diverse and mainstream communities.
