-—FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE—-
NEW YORK, NY (January 12, 2016) – The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) welcomes President Obama’s bold and principled stance against using race or religion for political gains during his State of the Union Address today.
ICNA believes that such political rhetoric divides us Americans and undermines what America stands for.
President Obama sent a clear message to politicians, particularly the current presidential candidates, by saying “we need to reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion. This is not a matter of political correctness.” He added “when politicians insult Muslims, whether abroad or our fellow citizens, when a mosque is vandalized, or a kid is called names, that doesn’t make us safer. That’s not telling it like it is. It’s just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals. It betrays who we are as a country.”
ICNA supports the President’s rejection of Islamophobia in the political discourse and hopes that the upcoming Presidential election will be based on finding solutions for our problems and not target our nation’s diversity, one of the very values that makes ours a great country.
