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In January 2025, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced Senate Resolution 33, calling for Congress to recognize January as Muslim-American Heritage Month. Though it was sent to the Senate Judiciary, as of January 2026, there is no further recorded advancement of the resolution.
Why Should We Have Muslim-American Heritage Month?
According to the non-profit Justice For All, there are somewhere between 3-4.5 million Muslims in America, which is barely 1% of the national population. However, instances of islamophobia and violence related to it have risen substantially. An article published in the National Library of Medicine states “Hate crimes against Muslims in the United States remain 5 times more common than before September 11, 2001…and although overall hate crimes in America dipped in 2014, anti-Muslim hate crimes rose by 14% over the prior year.”
At the center of the increase in violence is bigotry. Male followers of the Sikh religion wear turbans and beards, and are not Muslim – though they are recipients of anti-Muslim violence. Some reports list anti-Arab violence alongside islamophobia due to the violence against Arab people in general being justified as thinking Arab = Muslim. In reality, just as with any religion, followers of Islam are culturally diverse – Justice for All lists Arab Muslims as only accounting for approximately 25% of the religion’s population, while the two largest ethnicity groups are people of Black and South-Asian decent.
Additionally, the first Amendment to the Constitution states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”, thus protecting an individual’s right to practice their religions.
As the core value of this blog is that education promotes empathy, I believe the best way to combat xenophobia (fear of people from other countries) and religiophobia (fear of other religions) is to highlight the people and stories that we don’t hear as often in the media. Learning about people and the perspectives and worldviews that shape their experiences highlights our similarities more than our differences.
Note: The Radical Agenda believes in supporting independent bookstores over big box stores, so we share book links using Bookshop.org. Click on the picture to order your copy of the books that catch your eye, and thank you for supporting small businesses around the country!
Mama in Congress: Rashida’s Tlaib’s Journey to Washington by Rashida and Adam Tlaib with Miranda Paul, illustrated by Olivia Aserr
I am Muhammad Ali by Brad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos
Maryam’s Magic: The Story of Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani by Megan Reid, illustrated by Aaliya Jaleel
X: A Biography of Malcolm X by Jessica Gunderson, illustrated by Seitu Hayden
