Two decades after 9/11, anti-Muslim bigotry and Islamophobia continue to be weaponized for political gain.
In a January Senate confirmation hearing, distinguished attorney Adeel Mangi — the first Muslim to be nominated to a federal appellate court — was repeatedly interrogated by Republican senators, including Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton, about whether he supported terrorism, Hamas and the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
Mangi was even asked if he calls for an “intifada” in the United States, and if he “celebrates 9/11.” Then he was accused of being antisemitic.
These attacks didn’t end with the hearing. An organized campaign against Mangi’s candidacy has published ads in states with senators up for reelection. Extreme right-wing actors are even demanding his nomination be withdrawn.
The attack on Mangi is beyond baseless. The White House calls it a “cruel, Islamophobic smear campaign” and Rabbi David Levy, of the American Jewish Committee, says the anti-Mangi campaign is “taking really serious issues like Israel, terrorism and anti-Semitism, and turning them into tools of a partisan attack.”
Who is Adeel Mangi and why does he deserve to sit on one of the highest courts in the land? Educated at the University of Oxford and Harvard University, Mangi spent nearly 25 years as corporate attorney and partner at a prestigious New York law firm. That alone would qualify him for confirmation, but Mangi also has an impressive pro bono record, including successfully fighting for a New Jersey Community’s right to build a mosque, and representing the family of a Black man incarcerated in a New York state prison who was beaten to death by correctional officers.
Mangi secured a $5 million settlement for the family and an agreement that cameras and microphones would be installed throughout the prison. Mangi’s over 4,000 hours of pro bono service includes fighting for the rights of many religious minorities, immigrants and LGBTQ persons. The American Bar Association rates Mangi as “well-qualified” to be a judge, and his nomination is supported by more than 125 major organizations, including the National Women’s Law Center, the AFL-CIO, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
This should be an easy confirmation — especially for Democratic senators with a 51-49 majority. But the wave of Islamophobic attacks seems to be scaring them off. Three members of the Democratic Senate Caucus — Catherine Cortez Mastro and Jacky Rosen of Nevada, and Joe Manchin of West Virginia — have publicly stated that they will vote against Mangi despite his stellar credentials.
The White House insists that the fight for Mangi’s confirmation is not over. Some moderate Republican senators, including Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, appear open to supporting Mangi’s confirmation. But Mangi’s history-making confirmation still hangs on the thinnest of threads.
That is why we are so disappointed that Sen. Tammy Baldwin remains one of the only members of the Democratic Senate caucus who has not yet indicated whether she supports Mangi’s confirmation. We write this as a public appeal to Baldwin, as longtime Wisconsin residents and as American Muslims.
For us, the campaign against Mangi is, sadly, very familiar. It is part of the culture of suspicion, guilt by association, and outright racial profiling in which all American Muslims have lived since 9/11. American Muslims are regularly called slurs like “sand ni**er” and “towelhead,” and we are often suspected of terrorism for no reason other than our religious identity.
And, as Obama’s presidential campaign demonstrated, even non-Muslims can be pulled into this vortex of unfounded fear of Islam and Muslims. We had hoped that the country was moving past this era. Unfortunately, smearing Muslims continues to be an effective political tactic in this country.
Sen. Baldwin, conventional wisdom is probably urging you to stay silent and avoid expressing support for Mangi. But we believe that conventional wisdom is wrong. We believe Wisconsin voters will stand with you when we see our progressive champion in the Senate take a stand against politicized religious bigotry.
Sen. Baldwin, we urge you to do the right thing. Reject this latest effort to keep members of marginalized and underrepresented communities out of our halls of power.
Vote to confirm Adeel Mangi to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
