North Texas has a growing Muslim community, but it's still a small minority.
So why is it getting so much attention?
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott intervened to stop additional foot-washing stations for Muslim travelers at DFW Airport — even though the airport already has some. Abbott also threatened to pull funding from Grand Prairie unless the city cancelled an Eid celebration at a city-owned water park. The state GOP convention was marked by anti-Muslim comments.
The New York Times chronicled the rise of Islamophobia in Texas. Ruth Graham, a Dallas-based religion reporter for the Times and one of the journalists who worked on that story, sat down with NTX Now hosts Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning.
"It seems like the the vacuum that was left as the border has kind of diminished and retreated in terms of its political potency in the state has really left this opening for a variety of other — for lack of a better term — culture war issues," Graham said.
State lawmakers have proposed banning or regulating certain Islamic traditions during next year's legislative session. Some on the far right have pushed to define Islam as a political movement, not a religion, Graham explained.
"That would be an unprecedented strategy, according to the religious liberty lawyers I spoke to," she said. "I don't think it's likely to succeed. If that moves forward, that's a remarkable attempt to sort of define Islam out of the religious liberty conversation."
Click here to read the full story at the New York Times. You can listen to the full interview above.
Miranda Suarez and Ron Corning are the hosts of KERA's NTX Now. Got a tip? Email Miranda at msuarez@kera.org or Ron at rcorning@kera.org.
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