United States House of Representative member John James’ recent attacks against Michigan Muslims are emblematic of ignorance that must be confronted if we wish to ensure the constitutional rights of all in Michigan.  In a recent interview on NewsMax, James misrepresented an Ashura procession in Dearborn as being a gathering of extremists similar to violent extremists which he claimed to fight while serving as an attack helicopter pilot in the unjust war in Iraq.  When CAIR-MI responded to his smearing our community members, his irrational response was a promise to designate CAIR-MI as a terrorist organization.  His bigoted statements mirror others that lead to increased hatred against Muslims around the country and targeted threats against Muslims in Southeast Michigan.

Last week, a 35-year-old White male was arrested for making terroristic threats against a mosque in Madison Heights who stated, “I am going to kill your people.”  Not long before this, White nationalist activist Jake Lang came to our community to desecrate the Qur’an, claiming that Muslims are changing “White Christian” America.  Lang follows in the footsteps of disgraced Florida Pastor Terry Jones, who came to our community 12 years ago with similar tactics and language.  We have had a number of our mosques threatened and vandalized in years from Dearborn Heights to Warren, including a bomb threat at a mosque in Detroit, which I used to serve as an imam at.  There are three persons currently incarcerated or on probation now for threatening CAIR-MI, including one in federal prison who threatened me personally.  The list goes on.

Obviously, hatred fueled by ignorance will never completely disappear.  For some, hatred against Muslims is monetized; we understand that.  What we as a community, however, expect from representatives and faith leaders is more civil rhetoric as well as condemnation of those who falsely misrepresent their religions that demonize Muslims.  When James, who is a professed Christian, uses language towards Muslims that “you must assimilate into our culture” or “you will go home”, I as an African American am not sure what culture that he is referring to; but I do know that such threatening language fuels nativism that is weaponized against communities seen as not American enough, meaning not White and Christian, which is ironic considering James is a fellow African American.  I hope that James, who I actually have conversed with before once in person, changes his tune.  In the meantime, I believe that it is in the best interest of all Americans who cherish the U.S. Constitution to speak out against James’ fearmongering of Michigan Muslims and one of the key Muslim organizations in Michigan, which protects the civil liberties of all who reside in our state.

– Dawud Walid is executive director of CAIR-MI and a member of the Imams Council of Michigan.