Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

NbA Muslims

Home
Purpose

Home
Muslim
Keith Ellison’s DNC Chair Bid and Muslim Social Citizenship

Keith Ellison’s DNC Chair Bid and Muslim Social Citizenship

Last updated on: November 16, 2016 at 9:40 am by NbAMuslims

Keith Ellison’s DNC Chair Bid and Muslim Social Citizenship 2016-11-16T09:40:23-04:00 NbAMuslims

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Photo by Lorie Shaull

By Layla Abdullah-Poulos

First Muslim US congressperson Rep. Keith Ellison formally announced that he would seek to become the next Democratic National Committee chairman. Ellison already received support from notable Democratic Party members, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, Harry Reid, Chris Murphy, and Amy Klobuchar. While the election for the political party’s next chair probably will not be until February or March 2017, the early support for unapologetically Muslim Ellison by some prominent party members serves a sharp contrast to the vilification of adherents to Islam by Republicans, voiced most starkly by President-elect Donald Trump.

Ellison maintained his congressional seat in a majority White (70%) district while asserting his Muslim identity. Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative program director Margari Hill explains that there is some hesitancy among Muslims to support Ellison’s bid for DNC Chair.

“Some worried that Muslim community support would diminish his chances by drawing attention to his religious identity. Keith Ellison, however, has never hidden his Muslim identity. So why should we hide our support for a representative who is qualified and represents the best of what our country is about?”

Ellison won over 50% of the vote in his first election and approximately 70% in his subsequent re-elections. Considering the anti-Muslim rhetoric permeating the country, it is logical to assume that being Muslim would negatively affect a politician’s chances, but that does not appear to be the case for Ellison. His Muslim identity does not present a major deficit, and his stable incumbency highlights a unique placement of NbA African American Muslims, who simultaneously retain their religious identities and social capital as African Americans.

The prevailing narrative in the broader American culture as well as inside Muslim communities produces an “ideal Muslim” type that is invariably foreign and lacking substantive social capital comparable to members of the society with longer heritages. However, NbA African American Muslims like Ellison possess extensive heritages maintained by African Americans in social justice and politics. So while Ellison is the first Muslim in Congress, he is not the first African American to hold a seat in the House of Representatives, which probably made him more acceptable as a candidate.

NbA African American Muslims and Black Power

There is a consistent conflation of African Americans with poverty and powerlessness by many non-Black American Muslims. However, African Americans, including NbA African American Muslims constitute a dynamic culture with a spectrum of social, political, and economic components. The realities of African Americans protesting the systematic decimation of Black lives while a Black man presides over the country demonstrates the socio-political parallax of the African American experience. That is because African Americans embattled by fighting for centuries against multiple manifestations of institutionalized racism (e.g. slavery, Jim Crow, the Prison Industrial Complex, etc.) simultaneously constructed social capital and ownership in the country.

NbA African American Muslims maintain deep-seated social capital in the US stemming from their long historical presence in the society and involvement the centuries-long fight for justice and equality, which provides a placement remote from the perpetual foreignness impressed upon other Muslim groups by the broader society. In her book Islam Is a Foreign Country: American Muslims and the Global Crisis of Authority, Zareena Greewal refers to the unique placement of NbA African American Muslims as “indigeneity” and explains that they possess a “social citizenship” that gives Blacks “a natural and patriotic relationship to the US.” African American Muslims are entrenched in their Americanness. There is no going back to anywhere else for them, and even the most apparently seditious keep their social citizenship.

The re-elections of NbA African American Muslim politicians Keith Ellison in Minnesota and André Carson in Indiana show the ability for them to sustain their social citizenship, escape the foreign Muslim stereotype plaguing their coreligionists, and be politically triumphant. Ellison and Carson both soundly won their incumbency campaigns (each over 60% of the votes in their respective districts) during an election cycle replete with racism and anti-Muslim rhetoric courtesy of soon-to-be President Donald Trump. Now, Ellison is primed to gain further political strides by becoming chair of the DNC. It is important to appreciate the role that the intersections of their African American and Muslim identities play in the advancement of their political careers and the fortification of American Muslim social citizenship.

Layla Abdullah-Poulos

Layla Abdullah-Poulos holds an MA in Liberal Studies and an advanced certificate in Women and Gender Studies. She is a New York Facilitator for the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative and an adjunct at SUNY Empire State College. Abdullah-Poulos is the project manager for NbA Muslims, a cultural project highlighting the heritages, experiences, and cultural productions of native-born American Muslims of African American, Indigenous, Latinx*, and European descent. She also serves as a US correspondent for AboutIslam.*

#nbamuslims 500

African-American Muslims

African American

African American Muslim

Previous Post

November 13, 2016

White, Muslim, American and Hijab-Strong

Next Post

November 18, 2016 White Muslims and Racism: Joining the Conversations

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #nbamuslims 500 #nbamuslims book review African-American Muslims Asian American Muslims Authors Speak Latinx Muslims Race/Ethnicity Sex and Gender Uncategorized

Select a Month February 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 October 2014 September 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many years did it take Solomon to build his palace?

Select your answer to see how you score.

10 years 13 years 7 years 15 years