Written by Dimple Abichandani, originally published on Inside Philanthropy.
As I think about where we go from here, I can’t stop thinking about the election.
The 2010 election.
In 2010, there were two dozen states that had anti-Sharia law ballot measures and/or legislation pending. In fact, Sharia law did not pose any real threat to communities, but these ballot measures introduced by conservatives tested whether Islamophobia mobilized voters. On election day in 2010, voters in Oklahoma overwhelmingly voted to amend the state constitution to ban the use of Sharia law in state courts. The vote in Oklahoma confirmed the potency of Islamophobia and the degree to which “othering” and fear turned out voters.
At that time, I led the Security & Rights Collaborative, a donor collaborative at the Proteus Fund fighting Islamophobia. In my progressive philanthropy circles, there were colleagues concerned about the troubling trend, but only a handful of foundations were supporting anti-hate efforts in 2010. And more often than not, when I reached out to funders to invite their support, I would be met with regret that “this is not our foundation’s issue.”
On December 7, 2015, candidate Donald Trump announced a proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States. Where philanthropy ignored the early warnings, he had clearly paid attention. And as we all know, last week, President Trump made good on his promises by passing an executive order temporarily barring entry into the United States of people from seven majority Muslim countries.
Today, we all can see how hate and “othering” helped elect one of the most dangerous and xenophobic administrations in U.S. history. Decades of hard-won progress across so many issues from racial and gender justice to reproductive rights, economic justice, and environmental justice may be unraveled.