The African American community did not end segregation - the racist practice of separating Whites and Blacks prevalent in the US South even until the 1960s - by sitting at home and complaining about it. They ended it by "taking a seat at the lunch counter" and sitting down at the front of the bus where they weren't supposed to be.

But what does this have to do with the American Muslim community today?

I'll tell you.

As a child growing up - be it in Northern Virginia or Eastern Saudi Arabia - the work of my parents in the fields of education and the environment inspired me to try to work to improve the state of society in which I lived.

Yet when I graduated from university in the late 1980s, and began my own effort to improve the state of my own society - America - I decided to get involved in electoral politics supporting campaigns and referendums. Many in my family were at best puzzled, and more frequently highly discouraging. With an undergraduate degree in economics from a top university, my parents pushed me to pursue a "respected career" in banking or finance.

It wasn't until four years later when I went back to an Ivy League graduate school to get a masters degree in economics and public policy and then went to work at the World Bank, that my parents breathed a sigh of relief. But it was too soon.

Before too long, I was back on the campaign trail, working - at the age of 29 - as a full-time unpaid volunteer on Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign, eating up my meager savings.

Should Muslim Americans vote conservative in 2008? - Republican candidate Ron Paul has called for a less-intrusive foreign policy, especially in the Middle East, and John McCain has taken on the wasteful government spending including earmarks (a friend once remarked, "earmarks are the entry 'drug' for harder spending addiction"), corruption, and has fought against those calling for the use of torture. (Read more...)

While some thought I had wasted my time, the result was, I was invited to join the Clinton Administration, and eventually joined as a presidential appointee at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies at the Department of Defense. I was also asked to serve as Al Gore's National Director for Ethnic American Outreach for his 2000 Presidential campaign.

And my involvement in politics has never faltered since - it has also help grow a fun and successful career as policy analyst. Since then I've volunteered in policy and outreach positions part time for the successful campaigns of two of Virginia's governors, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine and two unsuccessful Presidential campaigns of Howard Dean and John Kerry.

But why have I - an American Muslim and a child of an Arab immigrant and an American mother - always felt so passionate about being involved in the political process? And why the Democratic Party?

Because as a child growing up, my role model was always Dr. Martin Luther King. As I grew older, I came to realize I felt a strong affinity for the strength Dr. King drew from his on faith in God to advocate for social justice, poverty reduction, and the equality of races - all virtues that to me are the core of what it means to be an American, and also what it means to be a Muslim.

For me, the Democratic Party was a natural fit. For me the core values of my faith are belief in God, and to treat others as I would want to be treated. For me, the Democratic Party most closely embraces those values: A desire to help the poor through social programs. A desire to work in a more multilateral manner in the international community. A desire to be more respectful workers and their families. A desire to provide more health care and protect the environment for future generations. Finally, I never thought that that there was a place for a "third party" in American politics. It just doesn't work that way in the U.S., though it does in other countries which have different sets of rules.

But Dr. King, and the African American community did not end segregation - the racist practice of separating Whites and Blacks prevalent in the US South even in the 1960s - by sitting at home and complaining about it. They ended it by "taking a seat at the lunch counter".

I have long felt that American Muslims have long suffered from political segregation - kept outside of the mainstream. Kept out, in my view, not primarily by others who did not know and like them, but instead keeping themselves out of the process, leaving the "dirty" business of politics "where there was no future for people like us."

True, as a child growing up in suburban America, I never heard of any Arab or Muslim names in politics, inside government, or in the media. True, there were a few pioneers, but they were not visible.

Today the situation has changed. 9/11 has brought the American Muslim community into the spotlight. American Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison was right there for the cameras in early August when a Minneapolis bridge collapsed to reassure the citizens of his state.

But the political segregation of the American Muslim community can now come to an end - if this community is willing to struggle for political inclusion from inside America's political house by taking a seat at the table.

Decisions about policy - be it poverty, Iraq, bridge construction, education, the environment - don't get made by people who don't participate. They get made by people who have a seat at the political table.

And you don't just get to take that seat because you want one. You have to earn it. You have to work hard - for years. Voting is a nice start, but frankly, it's only beginning. The key to success in influencing how America takes its decisions is volunteerism. Get involved in your local political party - either party, though as a life long Democrat, I hope you'll support the Democratic Party. Volunteer every week. Before too long, the local party will grow to depend on your talent, your energy, and you'll be at the center of things.

And anyone who tries to tell you that politics will hurt your professional career doesn't know a thing about how America really works. First of all, there's no better way to learn about America than to go door to door for candidates you believe in, be it in your neighborhood or in the battle ground states of a Presidential campaign. Second, the relationships you can build through your volunteer efforts in politics can last a lifetime. I never learned so much about American than through my work for Al Gore in Tennessee and Michigan or John Kerry in Florida. All along the way, I have met wonderful, wonderful people.

Today the American Muslim community has a choice. It can stay out of politics. Or it can take a seat at the most important lunch counter in the world - the American political table. And in doing so - over time, and through hard work - the American Muslim community can begin to have a dramatic impact on not only America's future, but the future of the world. And earn tremendous respect and admiration in the process.

Another deadbrain American-Muslim. So basically you want us to volunteer and put in the 'hard work' for years and years and then at the end of it, the guys you ve been working for goes and bombs 100,000 Muslims to death in some far off place, just like that, boooom, phttttt, gone. And then what?

I think the following feedback from Jihadwatch's Quran blog sums up the whole situation quite nicely.

"Thank you Mr. Spencer for this opportunity to understand the Quran. Perhaps I can convince a few friends to climb aboard and follow along so they can begin educating themselves about the struggle of our time. Afterall, many of them have kids and since we’re beginning to build weapons systems our kids will be using they may as well know who it is they’ll be using them against."

Ha ha ha ha.

I also believe, the Prophet (pbuh) was offered the very same seat "at the table" by the Quraysh. *wink* *wink* If I recall correctly, it went something like this:

Yo Mo (Americanized version of his (pbuh) name): Listen up yo. Why dont yo give up all this "Yo one mojo" (tawheed) talk and join us ho. Join in on the table yo. We will make you the prez, yo. Head of the Table, yo. President of the United States of Quraysh, yo. Ho, ho. ho. Go, yo, go.

Unfortunately, he turned it down. I am sure the irony won't escape him (pbuh), if he was flying by today in a time machine. Here he turned down the head of the table, and his followers are inviting everyone to come sit underneath the table and shine the shoes of those sitting on it!!!!!!!

I honestly have a lot of doubts about the U.S. political process. I think the analogy of the "lunch counter" is exemplary of the contradictions. Political participation won gains against de jure discrimination, yet de facto discrimination remains strong.

At the same time, it is better to try than do nothing. (I assume Hajibaba has an alternative course of action, which I'm eager to hear.)

Hajibaba's argument lacks evidence, since Muslims have not done what Hady suggested, so whatever actions Bush and neocons like Jihadwatch take and advocate cannot have been as a result of the path Hady adovcates, nor are they evidence that meaningful political participation cannot be effective.

So more power to you, Hady. You're a stronger person than me.

>> I assume Hajibaba has an alternative course of action, which I'm eager to hear.<<

Yes, well, Br. Ayman. It depends on what you want out of the political process right? 100 years down the line, if America is the same as today, alcohol, porn, gambling is openly sold on the street. Weapons of Mass Destruction are built and exported at unprecendented scales. Dictators are supported across the world. Countries rich in mineral resources are invaded shamelessely against the wishes of the ENTIRE planet!!! Economy is entirely dependent on the oil price and supply.

Can you explain to me how American-Muslims plan to change this for the betterment of humanity and Americans themselves actually by participating in the current format of the political process??? The current political process itself is a prisoner of the above ailments. Hippies were talking about these very things 40 years ago! What did they accomplish? Where are they now?

Hajibaba, I noticed that your answer did not have a positive program of action. I realize that comments at altmuslim.com are not the easiest place to explain a course of action. Do you have your own blog where you can discuss your program of action in more detail and post its address here?

I can tell you what I want:
1. Committment to environmental protection, specifically limiting greenhouse gases.
2. A universal, single-payer healthcare system.
3. Cessation of overt and covert military action in support of commercial interests.
4. Severe limitations on weapons manufacture and export, and ending military aid to countries with human rights abuses.
5. Ending the war on drugs, specifically legalization of marijuana.
6. Increasing accessibility to drug rehabilitation programs.
7. Redirecting prisons towards rehabilitation.
8. Ending capital punishment. I personally have believed that capital punishment was perhaps justified in specific cases (Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber, and John Allen Muhammad, the DC sniper), those are exceptions.
9. Stricter gun control.
10. Elimination of policies which prevent workers from forming unions.
11. Comprehensive immigration reform, specifically creating reasonable mechanisms for undocumented workers to become citizens.

The U.S. won't be pursuing its current policies for the next 100 years, because this course will ruin it well before then.

I don't exactly know how U.S. Muslims can change this course. But have you listened to the altmuslim.com podcast 25? I think that points out the best direction, and Eboo Patel mentions several U.S. Muslims who are doing good things.

Each human has his/her own talents. So if Hady has the ability to work in the Democratic Party, and he does it as honestly as he can, then he's contributing. If Abdullah is a good teacher, that helps. If Khadija is a good researcher, she's helping. etc., etc. That's at the professional level.

At the political level, we can work to elect people who promote a progressive domestic agenda. We also need to work in progressive causes in nongovernmental organizations. When the U.S.'s domestic policies become more progressive, I believe its foreign policies will follow.

Finally, I think it's worth suggesting that the People's Republic of China, when it is the most powerful country in the world, probably won't be any more gentle with its neo-colonies than the U.S. is.

i find it amusing when Muslims talk about the ills of the western world (and there are many)drugs, alcohol, corruption, etc. However, to believe that things are better in predominantly Muslim countries is ignorant and laughable. The Taliban sell drugs to support their so-called "jihad". The gulf countries are ripe with corruption, prostitution, rape, oppression of minorities and women, and plenty of drinking and drugs fly under the radar screen. Not to mention honor killings and FMG. Obiviously these things are not Islamic, but this has not stopped many Muslims from justifying their actions by using twisted ideology, or ignoring the rules they don't like.
We are just as likely to put our Islamic ideals to work in this country as any other. For those who feel that participation in this goal is appropriate, I suggest that you move to one of the "Muslim" countries that you idolize and see how that works out.

>> The Taliban sell drugs to support their so-called "jihad". <<

Muslim news sources reported that the Taliban had virtually eliminated drug trade when they were in power before 2001. The drug trade has since exploded back to its original levels after the Americans took over by illegally disposing off the Taliban regime and installing an artifical puppet regime.

>> The gulf countries are ripe with corruption, prostitution, rape, oppression of minorities and women, and plenty of drinking and drugs fly under the radar screen. Not to mention honor killings and FMG. <<

Well, well, well. Here Here. Atleast the military does not finance institutions of higher learning in the Muslim World! Most American universities run on Military grants and foreign student fees of kids of rich Muslim World magnates (or maggots).

I mean, if Berkley geys $2,000,000, imagine what places that are virtual kiss-butts of the military, like MIT and Princeton, must be getting. $1,000,000,000 maybe???

Phew. Now thats what I call Higher Education, American-Style. Or maybe Bomb-making, like the Arabs, but in more civilized settings.

CNN ===================================================
Berkeley to Marines: You're 'not welcome in our city'

........article continues:

In Washington, a group of Republican lawmakers have introduced the Semper Fi Act of 2008 -- named after the Marine motto -- to rescind more than $2 million of funds for Berkeley and transfer it to the Marine Corps.

"Like most Americans, I really get disturbed when taxpayer money goes to institutions which proceed to take votes, make policy or make statements that really denigrate the military," said Sen. David Vitter, R-Louisiana, a co-sponsor of the bill.

He told CNN he believes the bill will pass. "I think it's going to have significant support."

The bill's co-sponsor, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-South Carolina, said in a written statement, "Berkeley needs to learn that their actions have consequences."

Berkeley's declaration, which was introduced by the city's Peace and Justice Commission, accuses the United States of having a history of "launching illegal, immoral and unprovoked wars of aggression and the Bush administration launched the most recent of those wars in Iraq and is threatening the possibility of war in Iran."

> The drug trade has since exploded back to its original levels after the Americans took over by illegally disposing off the Taliban regime and installing an artifical puppet regime.

True, but that doesn't mean the Taliban aren't selling drugs. Here's an excerpt from a long article published in 2006: http://node.livejournal.com/114606.html

"After the fall of the Taliban, Razzaq moved back to Helmand, built a comfortable house and began supporting his extended family with his expanding trafficking business. Razzaq’s main challenge today is Iran. While the Americans have turned more or less a blind eye to the drug-trade spree of their warlord allies, Iran has steadily cranked up its drug war. (Some 3,000 Iranian lawmen have been killed in the last three decades battling traffickers.) To cross the desert borders, Razzaq moves in convoys of 18 S.U.V.’s. Some contain drugs. The rest are loaded with food supplies, antiaircraft guns, rocket launchers, antitank missiles and militiamen, often on loan from the Taliban. The fighters are Baluch from Iran and Afghanistan. The commanders are Afghans."