Mr. MORSHED ALAM (Democratic Candidate): Morshed Alam, I'm running for New York state Senate. Please vote on November 3rd.Unidentified Woman #1: Yeah. Okay.
Mr. ALAM: I'm a Democratic Party candidate
ANISA MEHDI: Morshed Alam campaigns the old-fashioned way, pressing the flesh. His campaign budget is only $25,000, and meeting people on the street is free.
Mr. ALAM: I want to build myself as a bridge between the native-born and the new Americans, and that's very important.Unidentified Woman #2: It's hard to know who to trust, but, you know ...
Mr. ALAM: Changes happen all the time, and I get to be part of them.
MEHDI: Alam came to these shores from Bangladesh 15 years ago. He's been a citizen for 10 and has already been elected to the local school board. Now he's running for the New York State Senate.
District 11 in Queens, New York; many towns and many communities under the umbrella of one State Senate seat. That seat's been held now for 26 years by a Republican. That a South Asian-born, Muslim-American Democrat is vying for that seat says a lot about the changes in our society. All across America, Muslims are introducing themselves to the political system. A month ago, the American Muslim Alliance held its 3rd annual national convention in Hempstead, New York. The AMA is one of half a dozen groups bent on creating an effective Muslim presence in American politics, combating, among other forces, stereotypes and racism.
Mr. GHAZI KHANKAN (National Council on Islamic Affairs): Having realized that they are being marginalized, have been maligned, have been called terrorists -- and people started wondering, what's going to happen to our children if we don't speak out?We are all in the same boat.
Unidentified Man: The same boat, yeah.
MEHDI: Part of the agenda is to inform the electorate, encourage people to vote, because they know the candidates and understand the issues. Another goal is to get Muslims to run for office. The theme for this year's convention is 2,000 candidates by the year 2000.
Dr. AGHA SAEED (American Muslim Alliance): We had 500 people run in 1996. We have given ourselves four years to make that 2,000. And we are not going to run everybody for Congress. We are running people for school board or even precincts.Mr. KHANKAN: When we tell people in mosques, "Register, so that you can vote," he says, "Keep us away from politics because we left old country because of political problems," not realizing that this is a completely different game in America.
MEHDI: Since African-American Muslims have been playing the political game longer, they can share some hard-earned lessons with immigrant Muslims.
State Senator LARRY SHAW (Democrat, North Carolina): There was some thought that they could divide the community, use it as a wedge issue against other faith groups and communities. But by that time, I'd established myself.
Representative DAVID BONIOR (Democrat, Michigan): All Americans of conscience, of every faith, have to continue to speak out.
Former Representative PETE McCLOSKEY: Think of the Jewish lobby today, the most powerful lobby in the United States. In 1945, the Jews have gone through the Holocaust of Hitler. They said, "Never again," and they start -- set out to form a political organization. Well, 30 years later, it became effective. What it takes is the heart, and maybe the courage, for the Muslim leaders to come forward. And that's all it takes.
MEHDI: Slowly but surely, the American Muslim community is coming off the sidelines and onto the playing field of American politics. I'm Anisa Mehdi for RELIGION & ETHICS NEWSWEEKLY in New York.
