Written by Don Byrd
In his final State of the Union address to Congress, President Obama asked Americans to reject divisive politics. In one segment, the President specifically discussed the dangers of religious scapegoating.
Here is an excerpt from the Washington Post transcript of the speech:
[W]e need to reject any politics — any politics that targets people because of race or religion.
(APPLAUSE)
Let me just say this.
This isn’t a matter of political correctness. This is a matter of understanding just what it is that makes us strong. The world respects us not just for our arsenal, it respects us for our diversity and our openness and the way we respect every faith. His Holiness, Pope Francis, told this body from the very spot I’m standing on tonight that “to imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place.” When politicians insult Muslims, whether abroad, or fellow citizens, when a mosque is vandalized, or a kid is called names, that doesn’t make us safer. That’s not telling it what — telling it like it is, it’s just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world.
(APPLAUSE)
It makes it harder to achieve our goals. It betrays who we are as a country.
…
[A]s frustration grows, there will be voices urging us to fall back into our respective tribes, to scapegoat fellow citizens who don’t look like us, or pray like us, or vote like we do, or share the same background.
We can’t afford to go down that path. It won’t deliver the economy we want. It will not produce the security we want. But most of all, it contradicts everything that makes us the envy of the world.
