Video 1:
West Wing episode “Isaac and Ishmael” - season 3, episode 1 - important scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21eaubatLGc (3:47) about the aftermath of a terrorist attack
What is the main message about public perception of Islam and Muslims proposed by Josh? Do you believe that this message is just as relevant today as it was in 2003 when this episode aired?

Video 2:
ABC hidden camera show about public reactions, segment entitled “Would you stop Muslim discrimination?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvIDqgyK8fw (9:40)
Do you think this would play out differently in Nebraska today, and why?

If time allows later:
Video 4:
Senator Leahy’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee during their hearings about American Muslims’ civil rights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgA_Q7IVdqk (6:29)
Summarize Senator Leahy’s main ideas about what is lacking in the protection of civil rights for Muslims in the US today.

Video 5:
Being Muslim in America today- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMP5CG-H84A (23:00)
Video 5a: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKKa1hfWaEk (23:00, part II)

The Problem
“What the Muslims of America want today is really not different from what the Mayflower Pilgrims wanted [and that is] a better life” (Pena quoting Hasan, 202).

A Cornell University phone survey study of 715 Americans found that almost 50% wanted the civil rights of Muslims to be reduced (Pena, 207). Thoughts, surprised?

Religious profiling: people avoiding people wearing religious clothing or not sitting by them
Racial/religious profiling: single out Muslims who “look Muslim” and treating them differently

Human rights: fair access to necessities of life like health care, movement, food, shelter - housing, clothing, education, employment, religious freedom, being safe/secure

Before the attacks on 9/11, many Americans lived peacefully by Muslims (either immigrants or native-born members of the faith). Many did not understand Islam, but likely respected their neighbors as equals. 9/11 changed public perception and government policy simultaneous

After 9/11, the USA PATRIOT Act approved in 10/01, “gave sweeping authority to government agencies to interrogate, detain and hold suspects without charge - essentially the curtailing of constitutionally protected civil rights” (Morrison, 9).
The Muslims fear deportation or detention if they speak out about abuse or profiling.
After 9/11, our nation was flooded with information about Islam and Muslims around the globe, much of the literature and coverage was “islamophobic,” according to US Muslims.

Pena pointed out that our perception of Islam and Muslims changed due to 3 events: hostage crisis in Iran, bombing of the WTC in 1993, and 9/11 (205).

The Patriot Act took away rather than create freedom. Back in 2002, the KC ACLU director noted that the Patriot Act removed judges from this judicial process by arresting, questioning, and detaining countless Muslims for no apparent reason. A civil rights activist said, “today, it’s a so-called terrorist who’s detained...Next time, it’s your daughter who will be handcuffed” (Morrison, 9).
The Clear Law Enforcement for Criminal Alien Removal Act in 2003, CLEAR, let local cops enforce federal immigration laws and this led to numerous indefinite detentions and increased surveillance

Many of those detained after 9/11 were Muslim students or professionals who were leading ordinary lives or going to school here. The immigration crackdown after the attacks broke up families, interesting that Prez. Obama mentioned that he wants our government to deport felons and criminals rather than parents. Amnesty International said the following problems exist: detainees not getting access to lawyers efficiently, families didn’t know where their detained relatives were, interpreters were not always available to detainees, they were abused, denied food/water, lack of access to medicine, and their poor morale was not addressed (Pena, 389).
“Most Muslims are apprehensive about reporting hate crimes to the police because there exists an element of fear, a fear of arrest because their name matches one that is on a terror watch list; or, trepidation of being deported” (Pena, 390). This undermines any effort at cooperation between the government and the wider Muslim community.

A U Dayton legal expert said that we as Americans give our stamp of approval to restrictive (and intrusive) public policies.
“Most Americans, apparently have the attitude that, with respect to matters of security and terrorism, we’ll just place our confidence in the hands of the government and hope they know what to do...We just assume that whatever that costs is worth it” (Morrison, 9).
Many of us “have begun to accept the notion that we must concede to the government enormous power to fight an undeclared, ill-defined, and open-ended war on terrorism” even if it means giving up cherished freedoms” (Morrison, 9).
Activists say that the public policies that quietly strip civil rights from Muslims are created and enforced in cloaks of secrecy. Is this necessary, problematic, or both and why?

Profiling, stereotyping, discrimination - many Muslims feel they don’t have full civil rights
Agencies single out Arabs and Arab-Americans (FBI, TSA, CBP) for watch lists, extra searches, detentions - efforts to reach out only factor in Arab Muslims, they don’t include African American Muslims (25% of Muslim community) or South Asian Muslims (15% of the community)
Misleading training materials for government agencies that stereotype Muslims, they are not trained in cultural sensitivity, they regularly use aggressive investigative/questioning techniques
American Muslims end up fearing rather than trusting law enforcement/government officials - ex. of intimidating policies forced passport carrying
The redress program through the DHS takes too long and is impersonal -
http://www.dhs.gov/one-stop-travelers-redress-process
http://www.dhs.gov/office-civil-rights-and-civil-liberties
Many hate crimes occur, but many are likely underreported, between 2009-2010, anti Muslim hate crimes increased 50%, there are no national stats on religious hate crime/bullying
Other highlights: religious land use discrimination, penal discrimination

Moments of encounter, for example: the Muslims for Peace and Justice conference held in Kansas City in June 2002 to promote understanding and civil rights, put on by the Islamic Society of North America. KC ACLU director at the time said the error we make in judging Muslims through eyes of fear, condemnation, and suspicion is similar to detaining thousands of citizens of Japanese descent during WWII, or the Red Scare. Non-Muslim Americans need to help dispel the 9/11 lenses through which many look at Muslims in the US.
Invitations can go both ways - Muslim groups and organizations can invite non-Muslims to attend their events and participate in cultural exchanges like roundtable discussions or service programs.

Teach and defend the Bill of Rights, “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each State” and “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his/her own and to return to his/her own country” (Pena, 390). Profiling, prejudice, detentions - all of that undermines our identity and values.
Also look at what they deserve according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrests, detention or exile” (Pena, 393).

Muslims - get more involved in politics nationally - speak out, develop voting blocs, learn what their rights are and fight for them, run for office
After Muslims are detained, they struggle to have a voice, one solution is to create advocacy organizations such as the Muslim Legal Defense Fund of America in TX. They are concerned by the abundance of cases of profiling. They can’t get enough lawyers to defend their clients.
Muslims need to collaborate to educate the public who have been flooded with islamophobic tv coverage and literature. Tell people what the faith teaches and about real-life Muslims - put a face on the faith, also motivate universities to hire Islamic studies scholars and Muslim professors in other fields

Also, they need to realize that not all AAMs are radicalized or members of the Nation of Islam, most just want to be faithful Muslims who unite American life with their faith. Many do not know that Malcom X changed his message and convictions radically after making pilgrimage to Mecca (Pena, 209). He witnessed how Muslims from around the world formed one community of faith, and recanted his segregationist teachings in an undelivered speech he planned to give before the UN that focused on the universal need for human rights and respect. After his death, many of his closest advisers abandoned the violent and extreme Nation of Islam path and ‘converted’ to orthodox Islam.

Video 3:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOp4O9FwzRw (8:08) CNN debate about the proposed community center/mosque at Ground Zero

Federal agencies expand outreach efforts, enter into real conversation with the whole spectrum of Muslims - African American, South Asian, other groups, collaborate with existing Muslim community/education/advocacy groups to discover then address civil rights problems
Give significant funds to agencies like FBI, DHS, DOJ to do outreach
Use outreach for dialogue and learning not surveillance
Fix counterterrorism and travel restriction policies to lessen profiling
Require travel bans, investigations, detentions to be based on facts not assumptions or rumors
Actively educate communities about religious bullying and hate crimes
Give people detained, placed on watch lists, no fly lists, or under surveillance opportunities to appeal, find out info, get justice
Others: use technology to collect data from law enforcement and government agents to prevent profiling, discrimination and abuse - then flag/monitor the officer or unit, fund greater sensitivity training for officers, monitor closely data collection, handle abuse or discrimination claims by Muslims and others in a timely and appropriate way, hold supervisors in agencies accountable for the mistakes or oversights of their workers (all part of a proposed bill by Pelosi in 2004 called the End Racial Profiling Act).

Another suggestion: restorative justce - example from Oakland, CA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSJ2GPiptvc (14:00)
HRC: Restorative justice can bring community and dialogue out of fear and violence as the victims shed light on their experiences and the perpetrators must face the reality of their actions/take responsibility.
This plan is “committed not only to holding offenders accountable, but also to repairing relations and to establish communities capable of supporting practices of equality and respect” (Pena, 392-393).

Globalization
Some say that traditional religion is on the way out due to modernization, secularism, individualism etc., but others disagree:
“Globalization will not obliterate traditional religion, and will enhance it in some cases, since it prompts people to think about their heritage” (Pui-lan, 1).
In terms of Christianity itself, one scholar predicts the following:
“Christianity will be a non-western religion, as Christian demographics have shifted to the global South. At the turn of the 20th century, 70 percent of the world’s Christians were Europeans, but by 2025, Africans and Latin Americans will make up the majority of Christians” (Pai-lan, 1) - What impact will that have on politics in America?
Globalization means that cultures and beliefs have increased opportunities to interact and discuss relevant questions. Partnerships are formed between groups and individuals discover new spiritual communities that meet their needs/speak to their hearts - thus, globalization will likely increase pluralism and dialogue in America. Some say it actually encourages new religious movements, such as the LDS.

Nones on the rise, turned off by institutions, less social trust and commitment, most racially diverse
Lack of trust and commitment can spill over into activism, affiliations, and even running for office, if they don’t trust others, do they really trust themselves?
Each religious group will have to articulate and defend its position on key issues like same sex marriage and immigration
What will happen with voting and foreign policy when millennials lead?

Religious freedoms
51% of American adults are very-somewhat concerned about the future of religious freedom in the US, and believe it has gotten worse in the last 10 years. (71% evangelicals, 46% protestants, 30% Catholics).
80% of Americans affirm that “True religious freedom means all citizens must have freedom of conscience, which means being able to believe and practice the core commitments and values of your faith” (Kumar, 2).
57% of Americans think that “religious freedom has become more restricted in the US because some groups have actively tried to move society away from traditional Christian values” (Kumar, 2). Related: 31% think that “the gay and lesbian community is the most active group trying to remove Christian values from the country” (Kumar, 2) - for this one: 42% Protestants, 32% Catholics, 72% Evangelicals.
What values do we want to guide us into the future? 23% Christian values should dominate, 66% - there is no one set of values that needs to be our guide.

Interview with Prof. David Cambpell, Notre Dame, co-author of Amazing Grace, had this to say about the future:
Hope lies, instead, in the inter-personal relationships Americans have with one another. As Bob Putnam and I show in our book American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, even though our politics is polarized along religious lines, Americans themselves are very comfortable with people of other faiths. The more that Americans of different faiths—and, increasingly those who claim no religious identity—befriend one another, date one another and even marry one another, the more that they develop inter-religious goodwill. Our data shows that the more religiously diverse your friendship network, the more accepting you are of all other religions, not just your friends’ religions. The more that Americans embrace the nation’s religious diversity (which does not mean weakening one’s own faith), the less politicians will find an audience for demonizing those who worship at a different altar. - See more at: