36 min
Fighting Islamophobia with Imraan Siddiqi American Muslim Project
-
- Islam
Imraan Siddiqi, born in Alabama and raised in Atlanta, has always been a proud Muslim. Growing up in a city that was both a major civil rights player and part of the Bible Belt—with most households engrossed in religion—he felt at home sharing his Islamic faith and accepted for declining alcohol and dating. Now the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington State, he spends his days working to protect cultural and religious freedoms. He joins us on AMP to discuss the organization and its efforts to combat Islamophobia.
CAIR is the largest Muslim civil liberties organization in the States and works to advocate for victims of discrimination, improve media representation, and lobby for policy change. As the former Executive Director in Arizona, Imraan faced quite a bit of opposition and relays his experiences there versus his new position based in Seattle—a “really welcoming environment for Muslim activism.” We discuss his recent championing of two individuals kicked off a plane at Sea-Tac for speaking Arabic and texting emojis.
Imraan defines Islamophobia and provides the historical and contemporary contexts for its development. More surprisingly, even to us, he details the multimillion-dollar industry dedicated to inciting anti-Islamic sentiment via harassment and vandalism but also in city councils, school boards, and the federal government. He names organizations that have been successful in portraying Islam through the lens of terrorism and delivers this takeaway: Money and hate go hand in hand.
As for tomorrow? Imraan predicts we’ll be dealing with Islamophobia regardless of our administration and from both sides of the political spectrum. To lead to real systemic change, CAIR—as well as those wanting to help—should focus on larger societal issues like police accountability, healthcare, affordable education, forever wars, and the minimum wage. Personally he will continue to be one of CAIR's leading social media campaigners, whereas his three sons will continue keeping him grounded by reminding him that not everything is about Islamophobia, Dad.
If you, too, would like to help fight social inequalities, follow Imraan’s frequent Tweets @imraansiddiqi and look up your local chapter of CAIR.
This interview was recorded in March 2021.
American Muslim Project is a production of Rifelion, LLC.
Writer and Researcher: Lindsy Gamble
Show Edited by Mark Annotto and Asad Butt
Music by Simon Hutchinson
Hosted by Asad Butt
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Imraan Siddiqi, born in Alabama and raised in Atlanta, has always been a proud Muslim. Growing up in a city that was both a major civil rights player and part of the Bible Belt—with most households engrossed in religion—he felt at home sharing his Islamic faith and accepted for declining alcohol and dating. Now the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington State, he spends his days working to protect cultural and religious freedoms. He joins us on AMP to discuss the organization and its efforts to combat Islamophobia.
CAIR is the largest Muslim civil liberties organization in the States and works to advocate for victims of discrimination, improve media representation, and lobby for policy change. As the former Executive Director in Arizona, Imraan faced quite a bit of opposition and relays his experiences there versus his new position based in Seattle—a “really welcoming environment for Muslim activism.” We discuss his recent championing of two individuals kicked off a plane at Sea-Tac for speaking Arabic and texting emojis.
Imraan defines Islamophobia and provides the historical and contemporary contexts for its development. More surprisingly, even to us, he details the multimillion-dollar industry dedicated to inciting anti-Islamic sentiment via harassment and vandalism but also in city councils, school boards, and the federal government. He names organizations that have been successful in portraying Islam through the lens of terrorism and delivers this takeaway: Money and hate go hand in hand.
As for tomorrow? Imraan predicts we’ll be dealing with Islamophobia regardless of our administration and from both sides of the political spectrum. To lead to real systemic change, CAIR—as well as those wanting to help—should focus on larger societal issues like police accountability, healthcare, affordable education, forever wars, and the minimum wage. Personally he will continue to be one of CAIR's leading social media campaigners, whereas his three sons will continue keeping him grounded by reminding him that not everything is about Islamophobia, Dad.
If you, too, would like to help fight social inequalities, follow Imraan’s frequent Tweets @imraansiddiqi and look up your local chapter of CAIR.
This interview was recorded in March 2021.
American Muslim Project is a production of Rifelion, LLC.
Writer and Researcher: Lindsy Gamble
Show Edited by Mark Annotto and Asad Butt
Music by Simon Hutchinson
Hosted by Asad Butt
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
36 min