I share the president’s vision of our American family

I’m proud every day to be an American, but on Wednesday I felt a special surge of pride in our nation and its values of freedom and justice for all. On Wednesday, President Obama made a historic visit to an American mosque for the first time in his presidency. The president’s visit is an important reminder that Muslims are part of our American fabric.

“We’ve seen children bullied, we’ve seen mosques vandalized,” said the president in his address to the Islamic Society of Baltimore. “It’s not who we are. We’re one American family. And when any part of our family begins to feel separate or second class, it tears at the heart of our nation.”

{mosads}I couldn’t agree more. As incidents of anti-Muslim hate and violence have risen in recent months, I have urged the president to visit a mosque and remind the American people of our founding principles of religious freedom. Obama’s visit comes at a crucial time when American Muslims, including our mosques and community centers, have become a target for harmful words and violent, hateful acts.

At a time when many American officials and leaders are either distancing themselves from our community or encouraging open hostility toward Muslims, it’s heartening to see the president take a stand and make clear to all Americans that we really are stronger together.

Since the first slave ships brought Muslims to these shores and for generations since, we have been an integral part of our nation and have shared in both its successes and challenges. I was heartened to see the president mention the many contributions by American Muslims.

Unfortunately, throughout our nation’s history, there have been times of great change and greater fear, when Americans have turned on their neighbors. I recently participated in an event honoring Fred Korematsu, who dedicated himself to sharing the story of Japanese Americans interned during World War II and changing the laws to ensure this stain on our history would never be repeated.

That is why it’s important for our leaders to work to unite us, to call upon the better angels of our nature and uphold the values that have since its founding and over time, made our nation great: inclusion, tolerance, and respect for religious freedom.

The mosque is the central house of worship for Muslims in the same way that Christians attend church or Jews attend synagogue or Sikhs attend gurdwara. This is where we gather in community and prayer. Time and again law enforcement officials, including the FBI, have communicated that mosques are not purveyors of violence, and the facts back that up. The president’s visit helps affirm this fact and is a rebuttal to those public officials who have called for mosques to be shut down or surveilled en masse.

These false and dangerous claims have contributed to a significant rise in the number of hate crimes targeting Muslims in the U.S. over the past several months.  We’re one week away from the tragic anniversary of the murder of three young American Muslims in Chapel Hill, North Carolina that serves as a stark reminder of those consequences.

During a time when Muslims, and those who are perceived to be Muslim, are being attacked, and Muslim community centers and places of worship are reporting attacks and threats of violence and vandalism, we can’t begin to state how important and how reassuring a moment like this can be for our community and our country.

The president rightly addressed young American Muslims in his speech. Many children are reporting being targeted or bullied at school because of their faith. To see the president of the United States stand together with leaders of their community may not stop the bullying, but it will show them that our leaders understand that we are part of the same American family. 

I am hopeful that Wednesday’s visit can serve as a turning point in the nation’s understanding of our diverse and vibrant American Muslim community. As our fellow Americans get to know us and see that we share similar hopes and dreams for our families, our communities, and our country, it becomes harder to target us with bigotry or hate. That’s the America I hope we can all live in.

Khera is president and executive director at Muslim Advocates. Muslim Advocates is a national legal advocacy and educational organization working on the frontlines of civil rights to guarantee freedom and justice for Americans of all faiths.