Is the First Muslim Elected to Congress the DNC’s Answer to Donald Trump’s Hate?

Rasa - Rep. Keith Ellison’s bid to chair the Democratic National Committee could be the perfect answer to Trump’s hateful rhetoric against Muslims and minorities.

News ID: 425129

Date: 17 November 2016 - 23:31

RNA - Faced with the most anti-Muslim politician in American history, a number of prominent progressives are backing country’s first Muslim-American Congressman to lead the party through their first contentious years with the Trump administration.

Rep. Keith Ellison, who co-chairs the House of Representatives’ progressive caucus, has already lined up some major endorsements ahead of his expected Monday formal announcement that he’ll be running for chair of the Democratic National Committee.

“It would be a tremendous signal. He is the first Muslim elected to Congress in the history of our country, against someone who has talked about banning Muslims from our country, and who has made appeals and pandered to the Islamophobes in our society,” Rep. Andre Carson, the second Muslim-American elected to Congress, told The Daily Beast (Carson has not yet endorsed in this race).

Ellison, a Catholic who converted to Islam, has tried to downplay his faith and the role that it plays in his duties as a lawmaker, but has retained close ties with his religious community.

“He himself always said he’s not the American Muslim congressman, he’s a congressman who happens to be an American Muslim,” said Ibrahim Hooper, the spokesman for the Council on American Islamic Relations. “If you have the opposition party headed by an American Muslim, facing off against the party headed by the person who has done the most in history to mainstream Islamophobia, then it is the supreme irony,"

American Muslim groups were quick to swing behind the Minnesota congressman, pointing out that his selection would be an antidote to the anti-Muslim environment that has erupted over the Obama years.

“This would be a great opportunity, for the first Muslim Congressman,” said Oussama Jammal, the Secretary General of the US Council of Muslim Organizations. “It sends a message that Muslims in this country are part and parcel of society, and yes, they can lead a major political party in this country, and being a Muslim is nothing less than anyone else who can serve in this capacity.”

If selected by the DNC to lead the party through the first years of the Trump presidency, it will also be a signal from the left that, rather than shifting to the center, the next four years will be a time of an absolute, in-your-face contrast with the Trump presidency. In some ways this move has already begun, with the street demonstrations that have broken out in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s vote.

“The Democratic Party must be tolerant, inclusive, and progressive—not just in words, but in action. Our contrast with the White House must be stark,” said Rebecca Katz, a Democratic strategist who has worked for Bill de Blasio and Sen. Harry Reid. “Ellison has a lot of credibility in the progressive community from his progressive caucus colleagues, to local elected officials, to the Bernie fans. He could really help Washington Democrats get a clue.”

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