Muslim Oppression
The following is from a talk I gave at the November Allies to Muslims Workshop:
I am glad that you have chosen to be here, that you have chosen to be part of this amazing and diverse collection of humans. Even though we are diverse, we all have one thing in common: we are all human and have our uniquely vast human intelligence.
I’m glad we have each found our way to the International RC Community. This group of people is committed to eliminating all forms of oppression. We are committed to aligning our perspective one hundred percent with reality. We are committed to evicting every piece of irrationality from our minds. We won’t settle for anything less than societies free from exploitation in which no one group dominates or takes advantage of another group. No divisions. No enemies. No “others.” All of us united as one human race.
But we are not there yet! We are still living in class societies that are shaped by global capitalism. Class society targets groups of people for destruction because those people stand in the way of moving more and more resources into the hands of the few. Patterns of greed don’t care about human life. We have seen how Native and Indigenous people and Jews have been targeted for destruction. Such targeting has happened many times in our societies.
Muslims are being targeted for destruction in the current period. Their lives are considered worthless and expendable. They have been targeted in U.S.- and European-backed wars that have generated enormous profits for the war industry. Trillions of dollars have gone into the manufacturing of weapons, mainly bombs, that have been aimed at Muslims in West Asia and North Africa and other places as well. Over five million Muslims have been killed in wars in South, Central, and West Asia, and Africa. Muslims have been displaced and killed so that wealthy capitalist nations can access raw materials such as oil, gas, and other minerals. Also targeted are Nigerian Muslims, the Rohinga in South Asia, and Uyghurs in China, to name just three groups.
Muslims are subject to mass surveillance in many places, for example, in China, India, and the United States. In Europe and the United States, Muslims are considered dangerous foreign enemies and a national security risk. Their communities are viewed with suspicion. Muslims are thought of as foreigners, even if they are native born.
In many societies, anti-Muslim extremism has moved from the fringe to the center of government policies. Entire communities of Muslims are sometimes punished for the violent acts of a few. Muslims are under more restrictive laws. They are also singled out and blamed for the harsh conditions facing poor and working-class people.
False images, beliefs, and attitudes about Muslims have been force fed to us by television, newspapers, and Hollywood. We have been made to believe that the 1.6 billion Muslims are somehow all the same, that they are different from us, that they are our enemies. Muslims have been called all of the following: inherently violent unassimilable terrorists, unpatriotic, backward, uneducated, enemies of Hindus, enemies of Jews, enemies of everyone, the most anti-Semitic people, vicious men who need to be restrained, the most sexist men, the most homophobic people, and less than human. We have been told that Muslim women are the most abused, victimized, and oppressed.
The oppression of Muslims is deliberate. It serves to distract people and keep us divided and confused about each other and reality. It keeps us from engaging in the fight for better conditions for everyone.
I want you to work on the misinformation, images, and messages that were installed in your minds about Muslims. We get to free ourselves from them.
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders of South, Central, and West Asian-heritage people
(Present Time 203, April 2021)