Wajahat Ali Op-Ed On Being Muslim In America Post-9/11

Where is the moderate Muslim?  Writer, actor and commentator Wajahat Ali says that’s the million dollar question he’s been asking since the 9/11 terror attacks.

“We’re apparently an endangered species like the humpback whale in the 80s, we don’t exist. Apparently, we live in Narnia and drink eggnog chai with Elvis.” Ali joked, “Growing up, you know, I never looked in the mirror and said, ‘I am Muslim American, a son of Pakistani immigrants.’ I looked in the mirror and said, ‘I really wish I could lose weight and the cheerleaders would look at me and Brett and Chad would invite me to their parties.’ They never did.”

He went on to say, “You know, people say why are you minorities always so angry? Well, step in our shoes for a second and you’d be angry too. In fact, there’s a lot of folks who are very wealthy white men on talk radio who are angry for no reason despite being in the top 1%. So these are some of the challenges but it’s also an opportunity because, for the time, what we’re witnessing is that America is looking to Muslims to be the protagonists of the American narrative.”

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