Muslim American Veteran On Anti-Muslim Hysteria in the Age of Trump

Part 2 of Eric Byler's interview with Atif M. Qarni of Manassas, VA — a teacher and US Marine who served in Iraq and ran twice for the Virginia General Assembly. Part 1 deals with anti-Muslim hysteria in the age of Donald Trump. Part 2 deals with a corollary of such hysteria that dogged Qarni during his 2015 bid for a seat in the Virginia Senate. Part 3 will deal with Qarni's, and his family's support for Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary race for president.

[See Part 1 here]

Qarni wrote in his op-ed in the Washington Post: In the minds of many Americans, Islam and the United States are diametrically opposed. To support a Muslim running for public office would require that two “competing” ideologies somehow be reconciled; it would require people to see Muslim Americans as assets to our nation rather than as “threats to national security.” For many, this is a bridge too far.

The hysteria surrounding Muslims surfaced again last month when a 14-year-old Muslim boy was handcuffed and interrogated at his school in Texas for bringing in a homemade clock that school officials said they thought was a bomb.

So what happens when a Muslim American announces he is running for state Senate? I am a Virginia public school teacher who was born to Pakistani immigrants. I served honorably and proudly in the Marine Corps, including a tour in Iraq in 2003.

I was invited to meet with the legislature’s key Democratic leaders and told I needed to drop out of the race because a Muslim would never win. I was told Republicans would use my religion against me and make my life miserable. Several Democratic Party members also told me that my wife’s headscarf would be a problem with voters, as would my beard, which I maintain for vanity, not religious purposes. I was told Richmond is black and white, not brown.

I was shocked by the party establishment’s response to my announcement in 2015. Just two years before I had challenged the 21-year Republican incumbent, Del. Robert G. Marshall (Prince William), and come within 500 votes of beating him. No other Democratic candidate had come this close. Hadn’t I proved my loyalty to the party? Didn’t my hard work and impressive numbers from the 2013 campaign show that I was a serious contender, that I could raise money and get people to the polls? Wasn’t I fighting for basic progressive values, such as women’s health-care rights, responsible gun control and same-sex marriage?

I ignored the party’s warnings and proceeded with my campaign, knowing that fundraising and solidifying a voting base were key to winning the nomination. If the establishment wasn’t convinced that a Muslim running for state Senate was a good idea, I would prove it wrong. Ultimately, I knew that voters, not politicians from Richmond or Fairfax, would decide the outcome of my election.