Stephen Prothero & Kecia Ali in BU Today
President Trump: What Will He Do?
BU experts weigh in on portents of 2016 election
Unity
Stephen Prothero, Professor of Religion, College of Arts & Sciences
The election revealed on one level what we already knew—that the country is deeply divided over the culture wars question that has bedeviled us since the beginning of the republic: Who is and who is not a true American? Many white voters turned their back on a Democratic Party that for two decades has turned its back on the working class, staking claim to their Americanness by voting for a candidate who would exile Muslims, Mexicans, and African Americans from the American family. Read more…
Muslim Americans
Kecia Ali, Associate Professor of Religion, CAS; past president, Society for the Study of Muslim Ethics
Trump’s victory bodes extremely ill for American Muslims, not only for what damage he may do while in office, but also for what it says about the majority of white Americans. The conjoining of racism, sexism, and Islamophobia in his campaign rhetoric was unprecedented. By loudly and proudly espousing sentiments, policies, and acts that had previously been off-limits in polite political circles, he opens the way for government officials and private citizens to do the same, with increasing impunity. Read more…