“American Muslims are part of our American family.”
Tuesday night, President Barack Obama used those exact words in his State of the Union address.
Since the terrorist bombing that took place on Sept. 11, 2001, some Muslims may wonder about their place in the American melting pot. Shamima Khurshid Hazuri of Norcross definitely harbors doubts.
Her name alone causes people to give pause, so much so that she hates having to pull out her driver’s license or show her passport.
She has had to develop a hefty level of tolerance for the subtleties and slights, real or imagined, slung her way.
Mind you, these aren’t everyday occurrences, just enough insult enough times to send an anti-Muslim message.
“It’s hard to explain,” she told me, “but you just know. This is from white Americans and black Americans. It’s like, ‘What are you doing here? We want you to leave.’ That’s the easiest way to explain it.”
This would be an unfortunate existence for anyone, but in Hazuri’s case, it’s oddly comical, too.
She was born in Miami, the biracial daughter of a Pakistani man and a white woman.
When he was 17, her father migrated from Pakistan to Miami to attend school. He served eight years in the Air Force. She was raised in Miami and New York.
Her parents divorced and she eventually joined her mother in metro Atlanta. By then, she was an adult, a mother of three American-born children.
Recently, she lost a job as an administrative secretary because the company filed for bankruptcy. She’s enrolled in an online master’s degree program offered by Strayer University.
Simply put, Hazuri is about as Muslim as me and you. About as similar to Osama bin Laden and his social and political madness as President Ronald Reagan.
“I know Islam and I know what it means to be a [peaceful] Muslim,” she told me. “But I was raised as a Christian by my mother. I am definitely American. I was born here.
“The easiest way to explain some of the things that happen to me is, because I have a Muslim name, I sometimes get identified as such.”
In his speech, President Obama praised intelligence and law enforcement professionals and acknowledged that al-Qaida and their associates continue to plot against us.
It’s in that context that he also offered this statement: “American Muslims are part of our American family.”
Online, I read that the comment was met by a generally receptive audience.
The line was tweeted and re-tweeted by Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
By even addressing the issue, our leader acknowledged a sad truth: That a segment of the community lumps all Muslims, or those who appear to be Islamic, in the same cloth.
That some would prefer Muslims of every stripe return to where they came from.
In the case of Hazuri, though, that would be Miami or New York.
Rick Badie, an Opinion columnist, is based in Gwinnett. Reach him at rbadie@ajc.com or 770-263-3875.
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