Colin Powell reminds Americans that Arab and Muslim Americans are loyal and patriotic Americans

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

The right-wing has a long running Swiftboat smear campaign against Barack Obama suggesting that he is not an American citizen and not a Christian.  Obama is an American citizen – get over it – and is a Christian.  Not that this should matter, since the Constitution provides that there "shall be no religious test" for office.

Unfortunately, this right-wing Swiftboat smear has spilled over into the right questioning the loyalty and patriotism of Arab Americans and Americans of the Muslim faith. In the twisted minds of the right, being of Arab decent or a member of the Muslim faith makes their fellow American citizens immediately suspect of being an Islamic fundamentalist jihadist or a member of a terrorist sleeper cell.  This foolishness was captured at a recent McCain rally where a woman premised her question with "I read he’s not… [an American], he’s an Arab," to which John McCain responded "no ma’am, he’s a decent family man citizen…"

But McCain did not go the extra mile and defend Arab Americans and Muslim Americans as loyal and patriotic Americans. He let the woman’s intended slur that "Arab" is the functional equivalent of "terrorist" to hang in the air and go unchallenged. General Colin Powell took notice.

In the most moving part of his interview on Meet the Press, Colin Powell defended his fellow American citizens Oct. 19: Meet the Press:

I’m also troubled by, not what Senator McCain says, but what members of the party say. And it is permitted to be said such things as, "Well, you know that Mr. Obama is a Muslim." Well, the correct answer is, he is not a Muslim, he’s a Christian.  He’s always been a Christian.  But the really right answer is, what if he is?  Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no, that’s not America.  Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim-American kid believing that he or she could be president?  Yet, I have heard senior members of my own party drop the suggestion, "He’s a Muslim and he might be associated terrorists." This is not the way we should be doing it in America.

I feel strongly about this particular point because of a picture I saw in a magazine.  It was a photo essay about troops who are serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.  And one picture at the tail end of this photo essay was of a mother in Arlington Cemetery, and she had her head on the headstone of her son’s grave.  And as the picture focused in, you could see the writing on the headstone.  And it gave his awards–Purple Heart, Bronze Star–showed that he died in Iraq, gave his date of birth, date of death.  He was 20 years old. And then, at the very top of the headstone, it didn’t have a Christian cross, it didn’t have the Star of David, it had crescent and a star of the Islamic faith.  And his name was Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, and he was an American. He was born in New Jersey.  He was 14 years old at the time of 9/11, and he waited until he can go serve his country, and he gave his life.  Now, we have got to stop polarizing ourself in this way.  And John McCain is as nondiscriminatory as anyone I know.  But I’m troubled about the fact that, within the party, we have these kinds of expressions.

Here is the photo to which Colin Powell was referring (h/t to the Huffington Post).