Standing Together Against Injustice self-preservation and progress in their ongoing militarization. Transforming our society into a compassionate and just one based on some form of democratic socialism will take more than a generation. In the interim, we must not squander our universal goodwill on confronting frivolous false flag operations. Humanity’s only viable choice is to reach out to one another with unconditional reconciliation.
BUT FOR BLACKS, HUMILIATION DOESN’T END THERE. EVERY TIME A NEW SOCIOECONOMIC ISSUE ARISES — ABORTION RIGHTS, GAY RIGHTS, SAMESEX MARRIAGE, LGBTQ RIGHTS, GUN OWNERSHIP RIGHTS, ALONG WITH THE SPENDING OF OBSCENE AMOUNTS ON THE MILITARY, THE CONQUEST OF SPACE AND NUCLEAR ARMS — THEIR AGENDA IS PUSHED TO THE BACKBURNER. In the words of Pope Francis I, “The way we understand each other is built upon the foundation of mutual respect. What we are called to respect in each person is first of all his life, his physical integrity, his dignity and the rights deriving from that dignity, his reputation, his property, his ethnic and cultural identity, his ideas and his political choices. We are therefore called to think, speak and write respectfully of the other, not only in his presence, but always and everywhere” (August 2013). The silver lining to Covid-19’s cloud is the multiracial, intergenerational and socially diverse global protests, all of which are based on Maya Angelou’s simple premise, “We are more alike, my friend, than we are unalike!” ih Dr. Abdul Cader Asmal, a retired physician who has been an ISNA member at large since the 1980s, is a past president of the Islamic Council of New England. He was a director of Inter-Religious Center for Public Life, is a board member of the Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries and serves on the Needham Clergy Association and the Human Rights’ Committee.
ISLAMIC HORIZONS 55
On May 1, 1992, Rodney King, a Black man who experienced police violence first hand, asked “Can we all just get along?” His question remains unanswered … BY ABOOBAKER EBRAHIM
O
ur hearts are breaking over the tragic and senseless killings of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis, Ahmaud Arbery on the streets of Georgia, Breonna Taylor in her own bed in Kentucky and other Black men and women. As Muslim Americans, another community that is profiled and discriminated against, we share in the national grief and outrage over such brutality against Black Americans. Tragically, these are just the most recent examples of a horrific history of people of color in this country. I was raised in apartheid South Africa. In 1974, the UN declared this government-imposed system of discrimination, racial injustice and separation based on skin color a crime against humanity. As a non-White individual, I have firsthand experience with being dehumanized by man-made rules. The systematic and structural racism embedded deep within the apartheid system is once again rearing its ugly head in the U.S. While this country doesn’t have an officially legislated policy of apartheid, far too many disparities exist everywhere and in all spheres, be it justice, economics, the inner cities, redlining, poor housing, inequality in education and health care, mass incarcerations, prison systems or police brutality. Then there is political rhetoric, discriminatory policies and legislation, such as the “Muslim Ban,” not to mention the media and disinformation campaigns that continually seek to divide and cause racial tension. The history of racial inequality and economic injustice in the U.S. has created ongoing challenges for all Americans, and
more must be done to advance our collective goal of equal justice for all. After the end of apartheid, South Africa set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC; https://www.justice. gov.za/trc), a court-like restorative justice body. Identified victims of gross human rights violations and police brutality were invited to relate their experiences. Some were selected for public hearings. The perpetrators could also testify and request amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution. The aim was to ensure that the lessons learned from apartheid South Africa’s transition to democracy were taken into account as the nation moved ahead. Perhaps the U.S. should convene its own TRC under the Senate Judiciary Committee or a similar body and conduct such hearings. Twenty-five years ago, South Africa’s TRC set the gold standard for how a divided society with a violent past might work through that past and move forward. While inspiring similar efforts around the world, it has learned over time that working through a complicated past takes — and is still taking — time. However, it did open up a way to talk about the individual and systemic wrongs committed under 43 years of apartheid. Certainly, publicly confronting the truth about our history is the first step toward recovery and reconciliation among all parties. Muslim Americans, for whom justice and equity are enshrined in the Quran, have a special obligation to demand that we do better and actively work together toward a more just and compassionate nation, one free of the discrimination and hatred
