‘It definitely trickles down’: Muslims in Texas suffer effects of Republicans’ hate speech

Teachers guide their students into a classroom building at Houston Quran Academy. Photograph: Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images View image in fullscreen Teachers guide their students into a classroom building at Houston Quran Academy. Photograph: Kirk Sides/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images ‘It definitely trickles down’: Muslims in Texas suffer effects of Republicans’ hate speech Muslims say anti-Islamic rhetoric making everyday life difficult – and threats and harassment not uncommon Following a brutal Republican primary runoff in which Islamophobia took center stage , anti-Muslim hatred continues spilling into public life in Texas. Texans say that the hate speech shared by elected officials is increasingly echoed by people in their everyday interactions, including discussions about education or interactions at a store, in a park, at university and at elementary school. In one case, students at the University of Houston were praying when a man approached them and burned a Qur’an. In other cases, people have been verbally attacked for wearing traditional garments. “It definitely trickles down,” said Naila Syed, a Dallas resident and member of the Islamic Center of North America Council for Social Justice. Syed says her two young daughters have been confronted with anti-Islam “talking points” while at school. A fellow student asked them if they knew that followers of Islam treated women poorly. “To have a kid who has these points ready and memorized like this is just very concerning as a parent,” Syed said. Multiple people said the hatred has made them uncomfortable venturing outside of their own home by themselves. Others requested the use of a pseudonym because they’ve already been the subject of threats and online harassment. Recently, Muslim attendees at the official Texas GOP convention – including some delegates – were told to convert to Christianity or leave the country. About the same time, a woman was filmed verbally accosting two Muslim women in a grocery store. “Islam is a terrorist organization, not a religion,” the woman said. “This is not a Muslim country; this is a Christian country.” A fundraiser for the woman who made the comments has raised nearly $145,000 as of this writing and drawn support from Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace. Mace and other lawmakers, including Brandon Gill, also a Republican, have repeatedly cast Europe as a cautionary tale for what happens when people from Muslim-majority countries are allowed to immigrate elsewhere. Mace and Gill, a fellow Republican who represents Texas’s 26th congressional district, have introduced legislation that would bar or suspend immigration to the US from countries such as Somalia. A recent email from Gill to his constituents was titled “Stop Islamic Immigration Now or Our Children Will Pay the Price”. “I represent DFW,” Gill wrote, referring to Dallas-Fort Worth. “I have watched these communities transform in real time. I know what the trend line looks like, and