|
MPAC – July 3, 2008
Europe surpasses U.S. in political
integration of Muslims
By Safiya Ghori
According to numerous well-respected studies, the Muslim American community is socially and economically well-integrated into American society. Muslim Americans are above the national average in terms of education and income, and are regarded as law-abiding citizens.
Muslims in Europe, unfortunately, represent a significant portion of the underclass, ridden with social problems ranging from discrimination in the workplace to gang proliferation. As a result of limited upward mobility for immigrant communities in Germany, for example, many young men have turned to organized crime and drug smuggling. The constrasts between the European and American Muslim experiences are striking and might lead one to conclude that Muslim Americans are far more advanced than their European co-religionists. Not true.
In reality, European governments are more engaged with Muslim communities and attempt to include them in either official legislative bodies or through regular official consultations. Many model engagement programs have been created to reach out to disenfranchised people to address their concerns.
According to many experts, these programs have gone a long way in establishing a healthy relationship between Muslim communities and government entities.
For example, the British government issued a 64- point recommendation paper for its newly formed Department of Communities and Local Government to implement. The recommendations outlined in the report touch at the heart of the very issues that the British Muslim community values.
The UK's Prevent Strategy Mcalls for intensive engagement with Muslim communities regardless of their conservatism or liberalism. The Danish government funds programs that assist Muslim communities and regards Islamophobes as radicals. In Paris, a government-sponsored conference every year gathers 135,000 Muslims throughout Europe to discuss means of fighting discrimination and promoting integration, and land grants are provided to Muslims to build community centers and parks.
No such programs exist today within the United States. One explanation from U.S. government officials is our country does not face the same threat of homegrown terrorism that European countries face. According to this line of thinking, "If it ain't broke, then don't fix it." Therefore, less concern over Muslims means less suspicion, a good thing for all parties. It's an attractive argument, but is inconsistent with law enforcement assertions that domestic radicalization is a real and pressing problem.
Then there is the alternative explanation, typified by a dreadful commonality between the U.S. and Europe the Muslim-bashers, who spew intolerance and hate through national media outlets and obscure blogs. Some Muslim-bashers argue that the U.S. government should not engage with its Muslim citizens and instead, should conduct more investigations of law-abiding Muslim Americans as "part of a totalitarian movement." In reality, invasive policies against any community create a radicalization problem that never existed beforehand.
Regardless of their respective starting points, the U.S. and Europe are going in opposite directions vis-a- vis the integration of their Muslim citizens and their efforts at counter-radicalization.
America prides itself in that it promotes the integration of minorities into mainstream society. On the eve of Independence Day, let us recall the meaning of e pluribus unum: Out of many, One.
Safiya Ghori is the Government Relations Director, of the Muslim Public Affairs Council.
|
