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Columnist Urges Stronger Obama Reaction To Claims He Is Muslim

By Howard M. Friedman

Naomi Klein, writing in today's Guardian, criticizes Barack Obama for an insufficient response to campaign tactics that suggest he is a Muslim. In an op-ed titled It's No Slur To Be Called a Muslim, she says:

What is disturbing about the campaign's response is that it leaves unchallenged the disgraceful and racist premise behind the entire "Muslim smear": that being Muslim is de facto a source of shame.... Substitute another faith or ethnicity, and you'd expect a very different response....

As the most visible target of this rising racism, Obama has the power to be more than its victim. He can use the attacks to begin the very process of global repair that is the most seductive promise of his campaign. The next time he's asked about his alleged Muslimness, Obama can respond not just by clarifying the facts but by turning the tables. He can state that while a liaison with a pharmaceutical lobbyist may be worthy of scandalised exposure, being a Muslim is not.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on March 01, 2008 (boomark / email).