EXPERT: Jaylani Hussein
Executive Director of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Minnesota. Jaylani’s work has encompassed addressing issues such as hate crimes, discrimination and advocating for civil rights.
Jaylani speaks about the multiple levels of Islamophobia in the USA, where Muslims are seen as the authors of terrorism, despite their victimisation by extremists in the USA and globally.He points out the dehumanising rhetoric around Muslims and the power of intervening to confront racist ideas. He describes an infrastructure of hate within America, which can start with misinformation at the grassroots level, which is then circulated and amplified by larger, underground extremist networks. America’s militias are now focussed upon America’s Muslim population as a threat. Leaders build the movement’s narratives. All of these can filter into mainstream policy-making. The media creates buzz around the movement that raise the temperature. To combat discrimination, we need to have more open conversations, and listen to each other closely and patience. America has become polarised and needs to hold a national conversation, but should embrace its diversity.