December 23, 2014

Dear Friends,

MPAC believes that American Muslims must engage a sustained, substantive and thorough dialogue with all impactful institutions in our nation. Not talking to those institutions means disengagement and that the empty seat at the table will be filled by those who seek to marginalize and disenfranchise American Muslims.

Law enforcement agencies are one of the most impactful components of society. What they do on a daily basis affects the lives of Americans on the streets, at airports and borders. How law enforcement officers are trained creates perceptions which are then felt by average Americans who are marginalized and impacted by security policies. For these reasons, it is ever more important that we work with those individuals, even though we may not agree with the entirety of their work, who are allies in pushing back against Islamophobia and the stereotyping of American Muslims in the national security industry.

As we engage in changing perceptions and policies with law enforcement agencies, we understand that there has been a legacy of inequality and disenfranchisement with communities of color. We are not naive to the fact that we are dealing with legacies of marginalization which have been institutionalized and will take a very long time to change. Yet that change must happen and as we engage in that change, we are cognizant of the following:

1) We are aware of violations of civil rights by some law enforcement and our track record illustrates our stiff opposition of police abuse, seeking justice and bringing perpetrators to the court of law. We also have worked to reform certain law enforcement practices, including the treatment of charities at the local and state level including the Suspicious Activity Reporting (SARS), racial and religious profiling and surveillance.

2) Like every sector of society, there is no monolith within law enforcement, and there exists a group who we believe wants to engage American Muslims as partners not suspects and desires to counter negative rhetoric against Islam. The example of former Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca is important to understand in this case as a person with whom we did not provide blanket endorsement of his department, but who became the star witness against Congressman Peter King of Long Island, NY, in his hearing about radicalization in mosques.

3) No community can exist safely while disengaging or alienating an institution such as law enforcement, one which will be called by us to protect our schools, mosques and communities when needed. American Muslims cannot afford to live in isolation of institutions which they may not fully agree with on every issue otherwise, our enemies will take our place at the table of decision-making.

4) We believe the main protection for us and all Americans is founded in the US Constitution, namely civil liberties, racial justice and religious freedom. We will never allow any compromise of the principles embedded in our founding documents. There is no way for us to guarantee the rights of Muslims without guaranteeing the rights of people of color.

5) We invite open discussions with those who want to constructively critique our positions and policies but may be unclear about our engagement policy with law enforcement agencies. Yet we will also not accept being labeled as tools of racism and white supremacy. This type of rhetoric does not help communities move along and only emboldens those who seek to marginalize our institutions from civic and political life.

Sincerely,

Dr. Maher Hathout
MPAC Senior Adviser