SOTU: Values Driven, Now Must be Action-Oriented
January 21, 2015
Picture by NASA HQ, licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Last night, President Obama gave the annual State of the Union address to the nation. His speech covered a myriad of issues currently impacting our country. As much as the State of the Union exists to serve as an update to the current state of affairs, this year’s address was a values-based speech and outlined a vision for the direction our nation should go.
While giving Americans a sense of direction and vision for the future, there are still questions that remain for the work that lies ahead. Moving forward, the President highlighted important issues that affect our nation at large. Specifically, he reiterated his 2008 campaign promise to work toward shutting down Guantanamo Bay. After seven years and Congressional gridlock on the issue, we hope the President truly commits to working for the shutdown of Gitmo. MPAC has consistently called for the detention center to be closed and we look forward to seeing that happen before the end of Obama’s term.
Additionally, President Obama mentioned the concerns on the impact of surveillance programs on privacy and civil liberties. Next month, we look forward to reading the administration’s report on “how we are keeping [our] promise to keep our country safe while strengthening privacy.” We hope that Congress and the Administration can work together in order to ensure that we see positive movement on this issue especially within the next two years. For too long, we have seen that the notion of national security trumping privacy and civil liberties is both ineffective and counterproductive to keeping our nation safe.
Furthermore, pushing effective policies especially when it comes to national security is of utmost importance. Obama highlighted, “as Americans, we respect human dignity,” which is why he prohibited the use of torture and is working to ensure new technology like drones are properly constrained. Now, we must ensure that this and any future administration does not allow this ugly stain in our history to repeat itself. Moreover, in line with our value of respecting human dignity, Obama transitioned into stating that that is the very reason why we reject offensive stereotypes of Muslims. While we still have a lot to do in terms of working to combat Islamophobia, given that it is on the rise especially in Europe, the fact that the President of the United States committed to rejecting offensive stereotypes of Muslims is a big deal.
If we are to be that “strong tight-knit family,” we truly do need to be based on values; values of cohesion, not division. In that vain, last night, MPAC held a community-wide State of the Union viewing party as part of our work ensuring a robust American Muslim community engaged in civic and political work. Regardless of how we feel about specific policies, remaining engaged in the political process is an important part of ensuring our voices remain heard, relevant and part of the decision-making process.
IN THIS SECTION
- Policy Analysis
- Statements & Press
- White House Nominates Rashad Hussain as Ambassador for Religious Freedom
- The Blackhouse Foundation and MPAC’s Hollywood Bureau held their first-ever Television Screenwriting Lab for Black Muslim Writers.
- MPAC CONGRATULATES NUSRAT JAHAN CHOUDHURY ON HISTORIC NOMINATION
- GOP Blocks Coronavirus Bill
- Protect Rights During COVID-19
- Coronavirus Joint Statement
- Senate Passes Coronavirus Relief
- Iran Sanctions In COVID-19
- Historic Senate Relief Package
- Coronavirus Stimulus Problems
- Trump Immigration Suspension is Nothing but Cynical Opportunism
- House Introduces the HEROES Act
- Joint Action to Condemn the Murder of George Floyd
- Toward Pluralism: DA Rosen Must Retract His Whistleblower Complaint
- Supporting of Attorney General Keith Ellison Leading Prosecution for Murder of George Floyd
- Trump’s Executive Order on Census Is Unconstitutional
- MPAC Stands with the NBA Players
- What Muslims Want Heading into the 2020 General Election
- Declare Rittenhouse a Terrorist
- MPAC Firmly Denounces the Failure of the Criminal Justice System for Breonna Taylor
- There Is No Place For Violence in Civil Society
- Updates
- A Win Against White Supremacy
- Mosque Safety & Security
- How We’re Confronting White Supremacy
- Our Work on the Muslim Ban
- 2020 Muslim Voter Guide
- Responding to Covid-19
- Census 2020: What You Need To Know
- Human Security During COVID-19: Our Right
- Quarantine Webinars
- Make an impact in 1, 2, 3...
- Mark Kevin Lloyd is Unfit to Serve in State Department
- SoCal Muslims Show Gratitude To Frontline Workers
- DREAMERS are here to stay!
- A Ramadan Like No Other
- Creating inclusive content for kids & families
- National Muslim Task Force Recommendations for Ramadan During This Pandemic
- Ramadan Mubarak!
- Tale of Two Futures: American Muslim Life After the Election
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