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Catholic Struggle a Guide for African-Americans, American Muslims
There was a time when Catholics were not fully welcomed into the inner councils of closely guarded Protestant citadels of power in this country.
History tells us of a time when Protestant bigots issued warnings about the "Three Rs" -- Rome, Riots and Rum.
But even within American Catholicism there was division. German Catholics asked the Vatican if they could use their own language in services in their own American parishes. At that time Irish Catholics constituted one fourth of the Catholic priesthood in the late 19th century when such a request was made.
Ironically, the German nationalism of those German Americans would collapse soon after World War I when anti-German sentiment reached dangerous proportions. The death of Germanism among German Catholics led to greater Catholic integration into American society, although cultural and linguistic isolation persisted.
The primacy of English led to greater integration into American society. The emergence of what some scholars called "powerful white identity among the European immigrants of diverse national origins" opened a new American where there was little or no room for the No Nothing Movement of the 19th century. This movement was hostile to Catholics, Jews and immigrants.
This Catholic experience does serve as a useful lesson for American Muslims who are presently grappling with a host of cultural adjustment issues that echoed 19th and early 20th Catholic challenges. In my writings I have tried to address the question of "islandization" and clustering among Muslims.
In looking at discrimination of Catholics, the linguistic factor cannot be ruled out for all other persons from areas where little or no English was known. Clearly, the Italians, Poles and others from Europe grappled with these realities. Their contemporary Muslim neighbors are facing similar negotiations among the Somali, Afghan, Kurdish, and other ethnic Muslims.
Besides the linguistic barrier which is not peculiarly American, history tells us that almost all groups would like to use their languages as bridges among "members" and barriers against infiltrations from hostile forces. Accents are some of the best markers!
Those opposed to Catholics in the 18th and 19th century would use language or theological markers such as adoration of Mary to separate themselves from their Catholic neighbors. In other words, hostility to Catholics among those opposed to them was based on language and theology.
For African-American Catholics, their situation before integration and greater African-American religious cooperation and dialogue paralleled present day African-American Muslims.
Their case fits into what one of my Muslim colleagues, Professor Abdul Hakim Rashid at the School of Education at Howard University, called "The triple quandary syndrome." What Rashid is saying is that such Muslims could be the targets of hostile elements from the white society on account of race, from Black American society on account of religion, and from the multiracial society of Muslims, on the bases of both race and sect because of their unique African-American religious experience.
There has been a marked decline in anti-Catholic sentiment.
When Will Herberg wrote in the early sixties about American identity, he told his American neighbors before the election of President John F. Kennedy that to be American is to be Protestant, Catholic and Jew. This articulation of Herberg's was the acceptance and celebration of the cultural and political gains made by both the Jew and the Catholic.
Dr. Martin Luther King, in his famous "I Have a Dream Speech," echoed this growing change in American life and he connected the two dots of race and religion that were never before united within the American circle of human brotherhood and sisterhood.
All religious groups that entered the American experience in the last century owe serious debts to Catholics, Jews and blacks, for their common struggle to be American without losing their religion or their race.
Evidence for this transformation is the historical fact that Catholic jurists now form the majority on the American Supreme Court. To the best of my knowledge, no responsible Protestant has expressed regret or anger over it.
Similarly, the nomination of a Jewish candidate for vice president in 2000 was a major development and his orthodoxy and his standing made it clear that religious bigots are still around, but their hiding places are declining vapidly.
Future American historians and foreign observers hostile to this experience could say that since the election of President Kennedy, American Protestants and other secularly minded groups have not yet climbed the mountaintop to elect once again a deserving Catholic who could lead and inspire the young and old in our country.
If America is to have success on the religious front, the successes of the Catholic must be seen as breakthroughs by Catholics and as hopeful signs to more Americans of other faiths.
By
Sulayman Nyang
|
March 16, 2007; 9:41 AM ET
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Posted by: hcoydxt jaoclut | July 15, 2007 3:34 AM
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i agree ba'al- the genocide in darfur by the arabic jenjaweed is a horrific and shocking abuse.
did you know that the only people in the world who have sent troops there are the banglesdeshi?
(long before george clooney and mia farrow showed up)
were just human and working towards an ideal-
Posted by: victoria | March 19, 2007 1:54 PM
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Victoria
You are right, citing the statistic was not an endorsement.
But my remark about Darfur still stands.
Posted by: Ba'al | March 18, 2007 11:14 PM
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where did i make any statement about arabia being good or bad?
how is a statistic cited likened to a rousing endorsement or round mocking?
its neither- its a statistic by its very nature without judgement or subjectivity
Posted by: victoria | March 18, 2007 7:53 PM
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Victoria writes "islam really is color blind."
Maybe in theory. In practice, Darfur where many dark skinned Muslims are being slaughtered.
Also, if Saudi Arabia is your idea of some sort of paradise, you are welcome to it. I was there once. I wanted to kiss the ground as soon as my airport touched the ground in Paris.
Posted by: Ba'al | March 18, 2007 7:20 PM
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actually mr baines- caling it apartheid is a little dramatic and not accurate-
its segregation-
and the saudi poplation is 99.7% muslim- the >3 remainder being itinerant workers.
one could certainly make the same statement about israel which has actually codified its aprtheid systeminto law.
i still remeber the catholic chusrch conductng its services in latin- but vatican II changed that. (latin is a dead language, not spoken anymore.)
Prayers in mosques are always in arabic- it is one of the unifying forces of islam-
In France they passed a law not allowing any mosques to conduct their sermons in arabic- it would be interesting to see if america could pass such a law forbidding polsih americans or korean christians to conduct their services in english.
i would imagine such interference would be roundly opposed to.
I have friends who can remember the shock when irish catholics started marrying italian catholics in the early 20th century-
notwithstanding the practice of forbidding non-muslims to enter mecca or medina (which springs from attempts to desecrate holy sites by non-muslims) islam really is color blind.
a muslim from sudan and one from brooklyn wouldnt dream of saying out loud they wouldnt marry each other for such excusionary racist ideas, even if it was in their heart.
its truly an egalitarian and non-biased mentality.
Posted by: victoria | March 18, 2007 3:06 PM
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Ted,
what you wrote about is not the topic, though you ask good questions. There is a lot new immigrants could learn from the Catholics and Jewish experience.
Posted by: center | March 18, 2007 9:48 AM
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Does Mr. Sulayman S. Nyang support the Islamic apartheid practiced in Saudi Arabia which does not allow non-Muslims to openly practice their faith, does not allow non-Muslims to enter Mecca or Medina? Will Mr. support the building of churches in Mecca and will he show his support for ending the Islamic apartheid by boycotting the hajj until the apartheid disappears?
Posted by: Ted Baines | March 18, 2007 3:00 AM
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Here is another thing worth noting, which is that a large number of Jews find the policy positions of Joseph Lieberman to be completely insane -- much as I suspect a lot of Catholics wish Bill Donahue would shut up and go away. One could look at that a lot of ways.
Posted by: Ba'al | March 17, 2007 6:16 PM
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