For many years now I have advocated to my fellow Republicans a policy of engagement and inclusion towards minorities. The times of simple outreach are long gone. Ongoing shifts in our country’s demographics show us that actively building strong relationships with minority communities is now a matter of existential necessity for the Grand Old Party.
Breaking through generations of mistrust and media mischaracterizations was never going to be easy, but that task has now been made much more difficult by the inflammatory populist rhetoric of our presidential frontrunner Donald Trump and, more recently, Ted Cruz. Our GOP has lost the minority vote. The verbal assault by Donald Trump on Mexicans and Muslims, his equivocal disavowal of David Duke’s endorsement, and other instances of outrageous behavior have made things worse. Recent polls show 60-80 percent of minorities resent the GOP altogether.
A few weeks ago, Ted Cruz emerged as the only viable alternative to Donald Trump. Many of us who had not endorsed Cruz initially then gladly began advocating support for him within GOP circles, assuring our friends and constituents that they could trust Cruz to be a good president and effective steward of the office because of his strict adherence to the Constitution.
But then came an unwelcome evolution in Ted Cruz’s public rhetoric: his support for law enforcement patrols targeting “Muslim neighborhoods,” casting doubt on the Senator’s commitment to the Constitution. One need not spend very much time thinking about the prospect of law enforcement’s blanket targeting of members of a particular religion to conclude such a policy would constitute a systematic threat to “the free exercise thereof” clause of the First Amendment.
Clearly the Senator’s advisors are not serving him well, which should come as no surprise. It’s likely not an accident that Cruz’s unhelpful comments have coincided with his bringing Frank Gaffney on board his campaign as a foreign policy advisor. Gaffney has for many years peddled anti-Muslim conspiracy theories, earning repudiation from conservative stalwarts including former Reagan Attorney General Ed Meese, former secretary of the Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, longtime RNC member and conservative activist Morton Blackwell, the American Conservative Union, and others.
The Cruz/Gaffney policy prescription is offensive to the very people whose help we need the most to counter Radical Islamic Terrorism. Not only is it going in the wrong direction politically, it is also counterproductive to law enforcement’s efforts to build trust and cooperation with Muslims around the country.
When challenged on the Muslim neighborhood policy, Cruz clarified that he was referring to “community policing,” which is an effective approach to neighborhoods dealing with gang violence. But that explanation doesn’t work in this context, because, unlike violent street crime, adherence to a particular faith is not something to be deterred and punished. Cruz and I may disagree with the beliefs and the religious practices of our fellow Americans who practice Islam, but that does not make them equivalent to gangsters and street thugs.
At bottom, patrolling and enforcement targeting “Muslim neighborhoods” simply does not work. It failed in New York and will fail in the rest of the country. It failed because there are no such thing as “Muslim neighborhoods” in this country.
Is my neighborhood of South Riding, Virginia a Muslim neighborhood because 15 members of the Ramadan family live there? (Mind you, several of them are Christians). Is Washington’s Georgetown neighborhood a “Muslim neighborhood” because there is more than one falafel shop on M Street?
Unlike in Europe, immigrants here who happen to be Muslim do not tend to become ghettoized. In the United States, our immigrants of all faiths integrate and become American; no immigrant becomes French in France, and no immigrant becomes Italian in Rome. But all immigrants become American in the USA.
In America, we do not have the banlieus of Paris, or the Molenbeeks of Brussels. America embraces and integrates her immigrants, and in turn those immigrants embrace America. American immigrants continually invigorate our communities and strengthen the civic bonds we have formed with the country we recognize as the last, best hope on Earth. Republicans deserve a nominee who understands this. This is crucial for our national security, but it is also an absolute political necessity for the future of the Republican Party.
Senator Cruz, you are not Donald Trump. You are a Christian and a constitutionalist. I was taught by my evangelical Baptist teachers in the Middle East that our Lord is a loving God and I know you were taught the same. So I urge you to love, engage, and include, and not isolate.
Donald Trump clearly rejects this. For the sake of the GOP and its pivotal role in promoting individual liberty and economic well being in this country, I hope Ted Cruz does not.
9 comments
Cut off refugee resettlement and reestablish quotas in regards to immigration. Allowing 2 million plus a year and an entire corrupt industry to have grown up and also to have corrupted our church charities is not a positive for our country and it is making us less safe. I don’t want Molenbeeks or Tower Hamlets developing here. I don’t want a police state to deal with it either. I want assimilation and rule of law.
A very good conversation starter. I am all for starting and engaging in conversations with minorities that share our principals of Freedom and Liberty and in agreement with our Constitution. Many minorities do not share those same values and sometimes they are even willing say so and their actions also tell of their lack of agreement of values. To me the main issue is assimilation, based on an agreement of shared values and principals. Many of them seem to want to come here and live in isolation instead of assimilation into our culture. But how do we know the hearts and minds of those minority communities, especially those of the Islamic traditions? So then I would ask them, why did they come here? If they disagree with our common values and the principals that our Constitutions protects, like freedom of speech for an example. Which would mean that ANYONE can criticize someone else’s religion, many of those of the Islamic traditions do not agree with that right of free speech, when it come to Islam. It is fair game on all other religions, but not with Islam. I would ask them, “Why is that?” I think that it comes from the hearts and minds of those minorities that do not agree with our Freedoms and Liberty and think that their customs and traditions and forms of government are better and superior to ours. Therefore it comes across to many, that they really have no desire to assimilate as much as they would rather live here in isolation from the rest of society. So Mr. Ramadan, I respectfully and politely ask you, how do we figure out those ones that are willing to assimilate and agree with our principals and values, to begin to have that much needed conversation, verses those that want to live in isolation and it seems want to change things here as to what they had where they have come from? Do we have a test of some sort? Look at what is happening in Europe right now, due to allowing in of minorities, that then come in and have no regard for the Rule of Law and the people of that Country. Those minorities are not acting like guest in the country they are in and act more like they should be given anything and everything that they want and need by those counties that they are in. Do we have to go down that same road, as Europe is trying right now, only to figure out that it will not work, because there seems to be that there are no shared principals and values to base a common agreement of civility on? How do we bridge this divide of assimilation verses isolation?
Considering Mr Ramadan is fond of tweeting Democrat talking points that label a sizable portion of Republicans (ie Trump supporters) as racists, Nazis, and Klan members, you’ll have to forgive me if I find his message of inclusion, unity, and outreach to be laughable.
And as far as immigrant groups and the GOP are concerned…The vast majority of immigrants (legal or otherwise) will not, I repeat NOT, be supporting GOP candidates in this election or any other election for the foreseeable future. And no amount of pandering or mollycoddling is going to change that fact. Time and resources would be better spent elsewhere.
You’re criticizing the suggested program without taking the time to understand how it was conducted and under what criteria and constraints – https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/who-will-defend-the-defenders/
Cruz has not in any way suggested that all Muslims should be under scrutiny. Otoh, to suggest there are no “hotspots” or “venues of radicalization” within some Muslim communities defies fact. ALL of the acts of terror in NYC (planned or carried out) that culminated in 911 were formulated under the hand of the Blind Sheik and the mosques devoted to him.
We may not yet have “no go zones” of the magnitude of Molenbeek, but to deny the potential is there is simply irresponsible. If the potential isn’t there, the Trade Towers would still be standing and ~2500 people would either still be alive or have died for other reasons. Europe slept and let their unassimilated communities take on a life of their own. How are they to turn that around now? Not without great difficulty and more unwarranted slaughter, I imagine.
If you don’t like Cruz’s ideas, fine. What do you suggest? Just please don’t say nothing. The risk to innocent lives is far too great. Islamic extremism is not benign.
As a former federal law enforcement officer married to a retired DC police official, police departments don’t have the additional police personnel and resources to target Muslim Neighborhoods with special patrol units. It takes on average of 18 months once a police candidate is selected to go through the training process. Police resources are currently being absorbed in the current day to day criminal activity in their juridictions.
Unless there is credible evidence of ongoing criminal activity in any Muslim neighborhood, leave the Muslims and any other group alone.
From what I have heard and read about David Ramadan, I believe he is an asset to our nation and to the conservative movement. I believe most Moslems are indeed an asset to our country. But just as there are cracked Christians, there are also cracked Moslems. In fact, on a per capita basis there are a lot more crack ball radical Moslems doing dangerous stuff that is beyond the pale of even the most cuckoo Christian fundamentalist or rightwing or leftwing extremist. Sheesh, as much as the Nazis hated Jews, you could not find a single Nazi who would blow himself us to kill Jews. Thus, there is a problem with SOME Moslems. Since Sharia-adhering Moslems have this problem with supremacist notions WRT Islam practice discrimination against non-Moslems on a widespread basis throughout most of – if not all – the world’s 57 Moslem countries, I would pick the worst three countries right now whose leaders have the weakest record on terrorism and whose governments officially discriminate against Christians, Hindus, Zoorastians, etc. I would stop all student visas and freeze immigration from these three countries for five years until they get their act together. Every six months, I would add three more countries. This is precisely how we got the white supremacist regime of South Africa to reform, and this is how we can exert a modifying influence on Islamic countries whose official policies are to inflict Islamo-Supremacism on non-Islamic people.
First, I’d like to say Dave R. was an outstanding delegate and a stalwart conservative vote. I hope he returns to the political fold one day.
Second, I’d like to say I don’t see any positive effect of cops patrolling “muslim” neighborhoods because that is a tactic effective against street crime and that is not the type of crime we are trying to prevent Islamic terrorists from committing.
But, we do have a problem. The problem is that Islamists have put us all in a bad position. Yes, we want the free expression of religion. But, what do we do when we have a religion that scripturally advocates violence? That is the crux of the problem. No other major religion calls on believers to kill others or themselves or mutilate members in public. Are we to support/tolerate a religion that advocates such things? No, we shouldn’t. Islam is fundamentally incompatible with Western civilization.
Cops don’t have time to patrol and secure neighborhoods.
I hope law enforcement feels free to patrol and secure my neighborhood.