Shoulder to Shoulder on release of U.S. Strategy to Counter Islamophobia
Today, the White House releases a first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate. As a multifaith coalition dedicated to building a more inclusive and pluralistic United States of America, the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign welcomes this national strategy as one long-awaited step toward forming a more perfect union. Muslims have been a part of the American story since before our nation’s founding. Every individual and every institution must take on the work of countering Islamophobia, alongside all forms of hate and bigotry, so that our greater American ideals can one day be realized.
As we review this document closely, listen and process with our Muslim, Arab, and impacted partners, and set our path forward for the work ahead, we call upon people of faith and goodwill across the nation through and beyond our coalition to renew their commitments to building a more pluralistic nation and addressing the many obstacles of hate and discrimination set before us.
“Following the release of its first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism in May of 2023, today’s release fulfills a promise made by our nation’s highest office to acknowledge and address Islamophobia as one of the many forms of hate and discrimination that obscures our path toward reaching our greater American ideals of freedom, fairness, dignity and justice for all,” says Rabbi Esther Lederman of the Union for Reform Judaism who serves as Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign Co-Chair.
“Anti-Muslim bigotry, like any form of hate, racism, and discrimination, is a dehumanizing phenomena. For more than 14 years, the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign coalition operates under the notion that what impacts one, impacts all. When we dehumanize others, including Muslim, Sikh, Arab, Palestinian, and South Asian communities among others who are impacted by Islamophobia, we dehumanize ourselves,” says Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign Co-Chair, Rev. Margaret Rose of The Episcopal Church.
We need multi-pronged, grass tops, and grassroots approaches to dismantling the ideological, institutional, interpersonal, internalized, and intersectional manifestations of Islamophobia in the U.S. “We acknowledge that one document will not address all the harms that have been done, including that of which has been inflicted by our own communities and government policies both in the last decades and ongoing; but we won’t let the weight of the issues prevent us from taking these important steps towards change,” says Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign Executive Director, Nina M. Fernando.
The Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign remains committed to our shared work of building a more pluralistic United States of America. We invite all American people of faith and goodwill to do your part.
Later added: Responses to the strategy from the field:
The feedback and reception from American Muslim and Arab leaders and organizations is mixed, especially with the timing of the release. Some say the strategy is notable, validating, and an important step in a long journey. Others criticize it for not addressing government policies that treat Muslim and Arab identities as inherently threatening, for omitting terms like ‘structural violence’ and ‘anti-Palestinian racism,’ and for being contradictory in not addressing U.S. foreign policy.
Responses and Statements from Leaders & Organizations in the field, listed alphabetically by organization (please contact us at info@s2scampaign.org if you would like to add to this list):
ACLU Statement on New White House Strategy to Counter Islamophobia
AJC Welcomes White House National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate | American Jewish Committee
CAIR Calls White House Strategy to Combat Islamophobia ‘Too Little, Too Late’ | Council on American-Islamic Relations
Emgage Action Welcomes the Historic Release of the First-Ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia | Emgage Action
Interfaith leaders respond to White House’s strategy to counter Islamophobia | The Episcopal Church USA
Interfaith Alliance Welcomes US National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate
Statement on the National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate | Muslim Advocates
Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS) Statement
Understanding the National Strategy on Countering Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate: A Guide for Groups and Leaders | Muslims for Just Futures
MPAC Responds to White House Islamophobia Strategy, by Muslim Public Affairs Council
NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change
Rabbi Jonah Pesner, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism and Senior VP of the Union for Reform Judaism
