A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

TMND on American Muslim Origins

This is more than a week old, so forgive my tardiness. From The Moor Next Door, a very good summary of the role of Muslims from the beginnings of American history, in response to critics of Obama's Cairo speech reference to Islam having been part of the American story from the beginning.

It's a reminder of the historical illiteracy of many (even well-educated) Americans that they are not aware of the Muslim presence, especially in slave populations, in the early republic. This isn't politically correct re-interpretation; it's history. I'm glad to see him remind us of it.

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