Local Candidates Forum
by Deanna Othman
The implications of the 2008 presidential election for the Muslim community are obvious; our community now has the opportunity to engage in political affairs to an extent we never could have imagined. However, the future did not always seem as bright, especially during an election season where the word “Muslim” was thrown around as if it were a slur, and accusing a candidate of being “Arab” was deemed enough to tarnish his image. The past eight years we lived in an America that constantly put Muslims on the defensive; we pleaded for a chance to clarify our beliefs and rectify our image as a faith. But that was Bush’s America.
In Obama’s America, Muslims have undergone a political reinvigoration. Our community witnessed a portion of that resurgence of faith in our political processes on Friday, April 3rd, when the Mosque Foundation hosted its first Candidate Forum. In an unprecedented effort to both educate community members about the platforms of municipal candidates, and voice concerns to candidates regarding issues that affect our community, the event succeeded in gathering more than 40 elected officials and candidates and approximately 500 community members.
Attendees listened to candidates explain their plans to strengthen relationships with the Muslim and Arab community, 
diversify their offices to include Muslim and Arab representation, and gain commitments from school board members to support the addition of Arabic language into the curriculum of local schools.
Event organizer, Ahlam Jbara, said the inspiration behind this event was, “The success of the civic engagement activities the Mosque Foundation has led in the Muslim community on the south side. After three elections cycles of voter registration and “Get Out the Vote” campaign, we felt that it was time elected officials and candidates met with the Muslim and Arab community.” Jbara also highlighted the importance of demonstrating the strength, diversity and commitment of our community to the candidates, leading them to realize that our concerns, and our votes, count.
As the emcees probed the candidates regarding their openness to hiring Muslim staff members, many of them responded, stating they would be more than willing to have a Muslim as part of his/her team. However, some of them drew attention to the fact that the lack of Muslim representation in municipal politics cannot be blamed on discrimination, but rather on apathy, or lack of involvement, from Muslims in local affairs.
Therefore, the candidates led us to the conclusion that we no longer have an excuse to play defensive, asking others why they will not allow us to be involved. Rather, we must become proactive members of our communities at large, not citizens who are either inactive, or reactive, surfacing only to complain when something impacts them negatively. If we do not begin our civic involvement locally, we cannot expect to make an impact on politics nationally.