In the third presidential debate, Hillary Clinton said that the U.S. needs “to work with American Muslim communities who are on the front lines to identify and prevent attacks.” In this op-ed for Quartz, financial and religion journalist Ismat Sarah Mangla makes the point that “framing of Muslims solely in terms of national security has an insidious effect in continuing to stigmatize them as something less than fully American.”
And many Muslim Americans have similar views.
On social media, Iman Zawahry twitted: “American-Muslims are not on the front lines of terrorism. Do I ask you to stop the KKK?”
Activist Linda Sarsour tweeted: “Tired of hearing how Muslims r only on front lines of fighting terrorism. What about front lines on immigrant rights, #BlackLivesMatter?”
Aisha Sultan, a columnist at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, says: “It’s weird how politicians keep telling me I’m on the front line of fighting terrorism when I’m just trying to get through a sugar detox. I’m not being flippant about the role American Muslims should play about reporting anything dangerous they hear whether in a mosque or anywhere else. We all bear that responsibility. But I’ve never heard anyone talk like that. And, I don’t hear candidates telling white Americans to be on the front lines to fight school shootings.”
