Freedom of Religion--an American myth?

Growing up, like all American school kids, I was told that I could one day be President, once I turned 35. Because I was born in the U.S. And any kid born in the U.S. can be president.

Of course, what you soon learn is that, this isn't *quite* true.

On the "face" of it, looking at the lineage of past U.S. Presidents, two things immediately appeared to make me wonder whether *I* could be President of the United States (it seems obvious, right, what those two things are--because I'm an Asian American woman and past presidents...are not). And then, of course, when you realize what has to happen to win a campaign--the amount of money involved, and the kind of political life and political connections that one has to have (and yes, I am invoking the word "Experience") it made me see that I really can't be president.

The other thing I'd have to worry about, of course, is that I'm a lapsed Catholic. And while JFK broke the Protestant barrier, he didn't break the devout barrier--at least the appearance of faith and devotion. And, along with being married (to a person of the opposite sex) and having children (because it seems, at least in the modern presidency, we also require our presidential candidates to be fertile), we also want our candidates to have faith.

But not just any faith--we want them to be Christian (and I am counting Catholic as Christian--I know in certain circles there is a distinction, but I think that both Protestants and Catholics believe in the same basics, even if they differ by points of doctrine).

Nicolas Kristof has an interesting Op-Ed piece in The New York Times about the newest form of bigotry and about Barack Obama (click here for the essay).

In a nutshell, Kristof talks about the recent attacks on Obama based on his name and the prejudiced and slanderous rumors (one is that he is the anti-Christ--because of COURSE the anti-Christ would admit to being Christian before running havoc on the world) and then there are the usual rumors of being part of a Muslim terrorist sleeper cell. [aside: I agree with Obama--I think the sound of the Muslim call to prayer is beautiful and is one of the fond memories I have of visiting Istanbul]

But really, Kristof raises a good point--if Barack Obama were Muslim, we would not accept him. It seems that many Americans who would decry racism and sexism would have no problem showing bigotry around religion (and we can look at Mitt Romney's candidacy to see that bigotry isn't contained to non-Christian faiths--Mormons are also Christians but he faced a fair amount of bigotry based on his own faith). And this is sad. We live in a country that is supposed to be free of religious bigotry--where we are free to worship in any way we like.

But is this really true? Especially in a post-9/11 world, can you really be an American Muslim in this country and practice your faith openly and without fear of censure and prejudice? I fear not.

Living the Anti-Racist Praxis

I ended today's post ("Getting rid of race"--12/14) with the thought that an anti-racist praxis should be about cross-racial coalitions--about people advocating on behalf of one another despite of, or because of, our differences.

And then I found this item on the Angry Asian Man blog about Hassan Askari, a Bangladeshi college student who aided a group of Jewish people being attacked on the Q Train because they responded to another group's "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Hannukah":

"Hassan Askari, a Bangladeshi college student who stepped up and came to the aid of the two attacked couples, receiving two black eyes in the process: JEWS' SUBWAY HERO A MUSLIM. Unfortunately, Hassan didn't get a chance to bust out his martial arts skillz: Q train hero has brown belt in karate. Still, he gets big points for being a good samaritan. Props, Hassan."

For more on this story click here for The Daily News piece and here for The New York Post article.

I think we all need to remember that it IS possible to live an anti-racist praxis--that people like Hassan Askari exist and that what he did was both remarkable and simple: he helped someone who needed help.

Happy Hanukkah everyone!