Coming to Terms with Concerns About Religious Ghettoization

As the possibility of Muslim registries loom closer with the upcoming inauguration of America’s new president, Salam Al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, will address the Democrats of Pasadena Foothills Thursday evening to explore “Saving our Faith, Saving Our Democracy.”

Democrats of Pasadena Foothills President Hoyt Hilsman said the organization is “trying to spread the message of the problems in our communities. We’re delighted to have Al-Marayti here to speak to us on the challenges in the Muslim community, and other communities of faith in the current political environment.”

Hilsman continued, “I think a lot of us in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party have been concerned … by the call from the President-elect to restrict the entry of Muslims into the country, and what some of the repercussions have been for our communities.”

“What I am concerned about, and afraid of,” Al-Marayati said on Tuesday, “is that the United States may be following the European model, for example, when minorities are formed into ghettoes, and ethnic, racialized enclaves, and that contradicts the American model, where we have an integrated, pluralistic society. The more ghettoization we have in America, following the European model, then I am concerned that there are going to be more social problems in our society.”

Nationally recognized for his commitment to improving the public understanding of Islam and policies impacting American Muslims, Al-Marayati is an expert on Islam in the West, Muslim reform movements, human rights, democracy, national security, and Middle East politics. His writings have also appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times.

The Muslim Public Affairs Council founded in 1988, describes itself as “a public service agency working for the civil rights of AmericanMuslims, and for the integration of Islam into American pluralism.”

The meeting will take place Thursday, January 19, at 7:30 p.m., at Villa Gardens, 842 E. Villa St, Pasadena.