Muslim-American Political Rise Represents Progressive Future Despite Persistent Right-Wing Islamophobia
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/nesrinemalik. "The US right still paints Muslims as the ‘enemy’. But they are fighting for a brighter future for Americans | Nesrine Malik | The Guardian." September 14, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The author argues that even though many on the American right still treat Muslims as dangerous outsiders 25 years after 9/11, a new generation of Muslim-background Americans is rising in politics and culture, offering progressive solutions to problems like the Iraq War's aftermath and economic inequality that the right has failed to solve. She points to Zohran Mamdani's mayoral win and figures like Abdul El-Sayed as proof that anti-Muslim rhetoric hasn't stopped this political and cultural shift.
Conclusion
Progressive politicians of Muslim background, like Zohran Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed, represent a hopeful political future for America, offering solutions to failures the right cannot address, even as the American right continues to demonize Muslims as an existential 'enemy'.
Premises
- A new generation of Americans of Muslim background has gained significant cultural and political 'clout,' moving from marginalized status into mainstream visibility in entertainment, dining, and politics.
- This generation's immigrant background and experience of US military/ideological conflict with their countries of origin has cultivated political cosmopolitanism rather than parochial American exceptionalism.
- Despite this rise, Islamophobia has deepened rather than diminished since 9/11, with Pew data showing the percentage of Americans believing Islam encourages violence doubling from 25% to 51%.
- Prominent right-wing figures (Tuberville, Mace, Trump) explicitly frame Muslim political figures as national security threats or terrorists, revealing enduring 'enemy' framing.
- The right's use of Islamophobia is a deflection strategy to blame foreign culture for domestic failures like the financial crisis and the 'war on terror' quagmire, because the right lacks an effective vision to solve America's actual problems.
- Muslim-background political candidates root their politics in material concerns, unpopular foreign policy critique, and marginalization experiences, allowing them to build broad progressive coalitions across lines of difference.
- Anti-Muslim propaganda has failed to prevent these political coalitions from forming, as evidenced by electoral successes like Mamdani's mayoralty.
Assumptions
- Political cosmopolitanism and rejection of American exceptionalism are inherently positive developments for American democracy.
- The right's Islamophobic rhetoric is primarily instrumental/strategic rather than reflecting genuine (even if misguided) security concerns.
- Progressive politics represents an effective 'answer' to America's post-9/11 failures at home and abroad, as opposed to alternative political frameworks.
- Increased visibility and electoral success of Muslim-background politicians is a reliable proxy for broader social progress against Islamophobia.
- The interests of Muslim Americans and broader progressive coalitions are naturally aligned rather than merely coincidentally overlapping.