CPAC shows GOP still has minority problems

http://blogs.detroitnews.com/politics/2014/03/11/cpac-event-still-shows-gop-minority-problems/#comments

MAR 11, 2014, 12:45 PM

Dawud Walid: CPAC shows GOP still has minority problems

• BY DAWUD WALID

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) may have attempted to moderate its annual forum this year but still had a number of speakers and groups in attendance with extreme positions, which highlights the problems the GOP will face with minorities this year and in the 2016 election.

Those with anti-immigrant and anti-minority sentiments still have far too much influence within the GOP. One of CPAC’s sponsors was a white nationalist group called ProEnglish, which is an “English only” anti-immigrant group. Also headlining main sessions were birthers Donald Trump and Minnesota congresswoman Michelle Bachmann. Bachmann, who blames all of the nation’s woes on President Barack Obama, still holds the view that the Obama administration is thoroughly infiltrated and controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Yeah, right.

Another bizarre and more obscure voice who was given a main platform at CPAC was One America News network’s ultra-right news anchor Graham Ledger. Ledger lamented that America needs “one common language” and that our schools no longer teach “American culture.” I’m not sure what “American culture” that Ledger is talking about, but his comments sound exclusionary to me.

The bottom line is that events such as CPAC turn off minorities, the minorities the GOP will need to keep an open mind. As long as the big names in the GOP continue to support CPAC-style forums, the more the party will alienate itself from people of color. Congressional districts with diverse populations and the presidency can’t be won anymore invoking xenophobic and anti-minority memes.

AUDIO: Faith & Freedom

My recent khutbah which was given at MCWS in Canton, MI.

Click here to listen.

OUR OBLIGATION TO ESTABLISH JUSTICE FOR ALL

http://thrivalroom.com/our-obligation-to-establish-justice-for-all/

 Dawud Walid

 

 March 6, 2014

 

 Social Justice, Social Justice – Top Stories

by Dawud Walid

As American Muslims, we need to be clear that we have a Divine mandate upon us to make our country more just towards all of its citizens and residents.  Moreover, as we have a spiritual connection with our Ummah that transcends boundaries of nation states, we also have a responsible towards all humans to ensure that they are treated justly, even if Muslims are perpetrating injustices against people of other faiths in America.

Most certainly We sent Our messengers with clear proofs, and We sent down with them the scripture and the scale that people may establish justice. [Al-Qur’an 57:25]

According to ibn Abbas (RA), the scale that Allah (SWT) sent down was justice, meaning it is Allah (SWT) who put everything in its proper place.  Thus, whenever people take things out of their proper places which Allah (SWT) intended for them to be, this is injustice or oppression.   Within this context, we should see that every issue in our society is a “Muslim issue,” for in following the messengers, we are obligated to restore all socio-political aspects of people back to their natural positions.  There’s no such thing as human rights endowed by The Creator for some in this land to the neglect of others.

In the Makki period, Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) not only preached about monotheism but also social justice for all.  He (SAWS) advocated against female babies being buried alive by their polytheist parents, he (SAWS) preached about taking care of the needs of orphans and the poor irrespective of their circumstances, and he (SAWS) and his companions liberated people from slavery.  Thus, we can easily see that the prophetic paradigm was justice for all and never meant that justice is just us, that we only seek to change structures of injustice only for our tribal and/or religious affiliations.

This should invoke the questions of where are we at in relationship to this prophetic paradigm.  Are we organizing around the issues of mass incarceration and the prison industrial complex?  Broken orphan and foster care systems in our states?  Women who are being paid unequal wages for performing identical jobs as men?  Organized community efforts with an Islamic discourse centering these and other issues?

It is my hope that each of us can begin or reinvigorate these conversations among our circles of influence to see what types of measures we can further to make the United States of America a more just land.  I’m confident that as we increase our effort in addressing institutional inequalities in America, the better our position will be as Muslims both from a da’wah perspective as well as safeguarding our own rights.

American credibility at issue in Ukraine crisis

http://blogs.detroitnews.com/politics/2014/03/05/american-credibility-issue-ukraine-crisis/

MAR 5, 2014, 6:00 AM POLITICS

Dawud Walid: American credibility at issue in Ukraine crisis

• BY DAWUD WALID

President Barack Obama’s recent posture regarding the crisis in Ukraine illustrates how much credibility America has lost on the world stage and the dichotomy within our foreign policy.

Obama recently stated that Russia is not respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence and that it is violating human rights and international law in the process. But given America’s recent history of invading Iraq on false pretenses, supporting an illegal incursion of Ethiopia into Somalia and our continuing encroachment on Pakistani and Yemeni sovereignty through extra-judicial drone killings, which have caused many civilian fatalities, the White House isn’t the right voice for touting the respectability of international law.

Just like the Kremlin, American foreign policy is skewed towards what the White House believes is in our nation’s best interests in other countries — not the best interests of non-Americans. Putin supports particular camps in Ukraine and in other places, which serve his interests,  just as Obama supports governments which violate human rights, from Bahrain to Uzbekistan.

Meanwhile as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry flew into Kiev to offer $1 billion in aid to the Ukrainian government in a Cold War-type chess move, the Obama administration has given a measly sum in comparison to relief efforts for victims of ongoing ethnic cleansing in Central African Republic. But hey, helping Africans being displaced and massacred in a diamond-rich area is not as sexy as pouring a billion bucks into a former Soviet satellite.

These policies are not about people, but perceived interests.

At the end of the day, Russia is going to do what it wants to do in Ukraine knowing that America can’t stop them. We won’t intervene with our military, just as we did not in 2008 when they bum-rushed the Republic of Georgia. Russia also knows that we don’t have the moral high ground to even lead an international military contingency into the region at this time.

I hope that there’s not mass bloodshed in Ukraine and that its citizens’ will is served, not the will of Russia or the U.S. I just don’t think that making empty threats to Putin and driving up our national debt through $1 billion in aid is going to facilitate the true aspirations of the Ukrainian people.

AUDIO: We Were Made To Love

Yesterday’s khutbah was given at Masjid As-Salaam in Detroit.