An
American Muslims engagement in political activism; a group
of Muslim American Society in New York marching in a Parade.
Every
election year Muslims in the United States begin to ask which party
they will support and which candidate they will vote for. Not that
Muslims have ever submitted a bloc vote, or even issued an
endorsement of a candidate, except the endorsement for Bill Clinton
issued by American Muslim Council in 1996. Nevertheless, we are
always contemplating these issues.
Another
question that is continuously submitted to the community through
various media concerns is the objectives of Muslims as a community.
What would we vote for? What are the interests of Muslims locally,
nationally, and internationally? How do we determine our objectives
and set priorities? Who is accountable for the success or failure of
such efforts, and what person or group should lead us through these
uncharted waters? Such simple determinations have escaped us. They
cease even to entertain us once the elections are completed and the
newly elected representatives of all the people, except the Muslims,
are sworn into public office. We then begin another four year
campaign of 'reactionary' political activity designed to vent
frustration, but seldom to make change. Perhaps our failure to
answer the questions satisfactorily explains why the majority of
Muslims do not vote what might be called a "Muslim ticket"
and why neither Democrats nor Republicans generally work hard to
garner the Muslim vote.
