The America Muslim Community Guide:Shut Up and Speak Up

Abstract

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, political leaders in theUnited States had to explain to the American public the reason for theatrocious and tragic attacks that had taken place. There were really onlytwo possible answers. The first was that the country was attacked as aconsequence of the government’s policies.1 Admitting to this would havemeant that politicians and decision makers were also complicit and partlyto blame. The other answer, which was almost universally adopted by thepolitical class and power elites, was that America was attacked becauseof its freedom and democracy, and because of “who we are.” And, sincewe cannot change who “we” are, then we have to change who “they” are.This was reflected in what followed: invasions, occupations, torture,Bagram, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, black sites, secret detentions, renditions,drones, assassinations, the PATRIOT Act, mass surveillance, theestablishment of the national security state, CVE programs targetingvulnerable minority communities, setting up incompetent and corruptregimes abroad in Afghanistan and Iraq, and more.