Like everyone else, Muslim public officials will get it both right and wrong. They deserve to be treated equally and praised, criticized or held accountable fairly. What they shouldn’t be required to do is give up their identity or wait for permission and approval to participate in our democracy.
The Constitution is the law of our land. It doesn’t ask Muslims to prove whether we belong here. It’s no one else’s right to do so either.
Zainab Chaudry is director of the Maryland office for Council on American-Islamic Relations.