Barack Obama used his first presidential visit to an American mosque on Wednesday to call for writers and producers to create more rounded Muslim characters on television.
The president did not mention any dramas by name but may have had Showtime’s hit series Homeland, starring Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin, in mind when he pleaded for Muslims to appear in series not about terrorism.
“Our television shows should have some Muslim characters that are unrelated to national security because it’s not that hard to do,” Obama told the Islamic Society of Baltimore. “There was a time when there were no black people on television. You can tell good stories while still representing the reality of our communities.”
The president said many Americans do not know a Muslim person and form a “hugely distorted impression” based on TV, film and negative news reports. Since the 11 September 2001, Paris and San Bernardino attacks, he continued, “You’ve seen too often people conflating the horrific acts of terrorism with the beliefs of an entire faith.
“And of course recently we’ve heard inexcusable political rhetoric against Muslim Americans that has no place in our country. No surprise, then, that threats and harassment of Muslim Americans have surged.”
In this year’s Republican presidential campaign, Donald Trump has called for banning Muslims from the US temporarily, and Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio warned of “radical Islamic terrorism”.
Obama has repeatedly condemned the discourse, but the mosque visit was his first on American soil as president. It followed years of lobbying by American Muslims activists. An honour guard made up of Muslim Boy Scouts brought in the US and Maryland flags, before leading the audience in the pledge of allegiance, followed by the recitation of the Qur’an.
Obama’s comments on Muslim characters on TV come in the wake of stars like Viola Davis, Halle Berry and Idris Elba voicing their concerns about the lack of opportunities available to minority actors. For a second year in a row, no actors of color were nominated for an Academy Award this year, prompting the Academy to launch a plan to double the number of women and ethnic minority members by 2020. Spike Lee, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have said they will not attend the ceremony as a result of controversy surrounding the nominations.
TV’s most popular program to feature Muslim characters, Homeland, was recently accused of being “racist” by three graffiti artists hired to add authenticity to refugee camp scenes in an episode from the fifth season. They used their artwork to accuse the show of racism. Slogans painted on the walls of the fictional Syrian refugee camp included: “Homeland is a joke, and it didn’t make us laugh” and “#blacklivesmatter.”
“Now, a lot of Americans have never visited a mosque,” Obama said. “To the folks watching this today who haven’t, think of your own church or synagogue or temple and a mosque like this will be very familiar. This is where families come to worship and express their love for God and each other.”
The president noted that, in the current political climate, women wearing hijabs have been targeted, children bullied and mosques targeted. He said Muslims wrote to him saying they were made to feel like second-class citizens, while a 13-year-old girl from Ohio wrote to tell him she felt scared.
“These are children just like mine and the notion that they would be filled with doubt and questioning their place in this great country of ours, at a time when they’ve got enough to worry about – it’s hard being a teenager already – that’s not who we are. We’re one American family and when any part of our family starts to feel separate or second class or targeted, it tears at the very fabric of our nation.”
There was enthusiastic applause from the audience of about 100 Muslims. Obama continued: “An attack on one faith is an attack on all our faiths and when any religious group is targeted we all have a responsibility to speak up … We have to be consistent in condemning hateful rhetoric and violence against everyone, and that includes Muslims here in the United States of America. None us can be silent. We can’t be bystanders to bigotry. We’ve got to show that America truly protects all faiths.”
Obama rejected the notion of a clash of civilisations between Islam and the west. The best way to fight terrorism, he argued, was to deny organisations such as Islamic State legitimacy. “We shouldn’t play into terrorist propaganda. We can’t suggest Islam itself is at the root of the problem. That betrays our values. It alienates Muslim Americans. It’s hurtful to those kids who are trying to go to school … That kind of mindset helps our enemies, it helps our enemies recruit. It makes us all less safe.”
Islamic leaders are speaking out against extremism, he said, and should continue to offer a positive version of their faith. “Those voices are there. We just have to amplify them more.”
Islam has always been part of America, he noted, as many slaves brought from Africa were Muslim and kept their faith alive even in bondage. Muslim Americans range from scientists and soldiers to sports heroes like Muhammad Ali. “Muslim Americans enrich our lives today, every day … You’re not Muslim or American, you’re Muslim and American.”
Fringe groups have peddled conspiracy theories that Obama is in fact a Muslim posing as a Christian. On Wednesday he noted that founding father Thomas Jefferson had also faced suggestions from opponents that he was Muslim.
“So I was not the first,” Obama said to laughter. “No, it’s true. Look it up. I’m in good company.”