EXCERPT FROM:
This is a time of grief, but it must also be a moment of accountability.
Elected officials must stop treating Islamophobia as a political strategy.
Media outlets must stop laundering anti-Muslim conspiracy theories as legitimate debate.
Law enforcement must take threats against our mosques and communities seriously.
And our communities will continue doing what we have always done.
We will mourn, pray, organize and protect one another.
Amin Abdullah, Mansour Kaziha and Nadir Awad showed our nation what courage looks like by standing between hate and their community.
It’s our turn to decide where we choose to stand.
Hate is learned, and it can be unlearned. It cannot have the final word.
Zainab Chaudry is director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) office in Maryland.