Americans are sitting between two major anniversaries: 250 years since the Declaration of Independence was adopted and 25 years since the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Each prompts Americans to ask deep questions about what it means to be an American and our place in the world.
The United States’ commitment to religious freedom for all is one of our proudest achievements. Americans of all religious traditions—and those who do not want anything to do with religion—are equal under the law. Being American is not based on a particular religious identity, but rather the freedom to practice a religion—or not—without government interference.
This fundamental right to religious freedom must be inclusive of American Muslims, or it is not religious freedom for all. In the years since 9/11, waves of anti-Muslim bigotry have inhibited the free exercise of religion for Muslims. There is another wave today intent on vilifying New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other Muslim Americans running for and holding public office.
Where does this hate come from? In 2011, the Center for American Progress released a landmark report that documented “[h]ow a tight network of anti-Muslim, anti-Islam foundations, misinformation experts, validators, grass roots organizations, religious right groups, and their allies in the media and in politics profoundly misrepresent Islam and American Muslims in the United States.” CAP found that seven charitable foundations spent $42.6 million between 2001 and 2009 on spreading Islamophobia. A 2015 follow-up report concluded in part:
