Reaction to Trump’s Call to Ban Muslims from The U.S.
Cambridge City councilman Nadeem Mazen, one of only a handful of Muslim elected officials in Massachusetts, joined WGBH Morning Edition host Bob Seay at WGBH’s Brighton studios, to discuss a call by Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, to bar all Muslim immigrants and visitors from entering the United States.
“Shock and outrage,” says Mazen regarding Trump's controversial comments , but he says, " of course, Donald Trump has tried to secure media attention by consistently upping-the-ante with ridiculous and outrageous statements before, hoping for media attention.”
Mazen says, “while Trump's controversial comments have probably succeeded in attracting attention, he has also made himself a liability for the Republican Party, which is seeking to court minority voters and that Trump increasingly finds it difficult to do so, and as a result can’t win an election without us.”
Muslim Community Response
Mazen says, “nationwide there’s is backlash, the tenor, the intensity of hate speech increases in the wake of violence, “and the Muslim community responds,” according to Mazen.He says, “there’s a feeling now that the Muslim community needs to adopt a defensive posture.”
Confronting Islam-phobia or Anti-Islam Bias
“People of conscience in the Untied States are closing ranks against bigotry,” according to Mazen.He says, “their have been a succession of minorities who have been the target of hate speech in our history …and this country isn’t any stranger to bigoted over-reaction to geo-political circumstances.”
President Obama Asks Muslims Nationwide to Speak Up
“Muslims do and continue to repudiate violence ….as part of a larger multi-culture fabric in the country and our society…. but he says, we shouldn’t have to do it. “Mazen says, “We can’t treat Islamic extremists or terrorist fanatic actions as the norm.”
Government Leaders Condemn Trumps Comments
A number of officials around the country are speaking out against Trump's comments including rival Republican presidential candidates, party leaders and others as un-American. The Associated Press reports House Speaker Paul Ryan is dismissing Trump's comments on Muslims telling reporters after a closed-door meeting with fellow GOP members, that such views are "not what this party stands for and more importantly, it's not what this country stands for."
To listen to the extended interview with Cambridge City Councilman Mazen, who appeared on WGBH’s Morning Edition with Bob Seay, click on the audio file above.
