In an announcement shared first with Scripps News on Thursday, the White House offered more details about its national strategy for combatting Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate.
The Biden administration first previewed parts of this work in October, and Thursday’s announcement includes additional information and areas of action that have already been implemented or can be completed in the next 40 days before President Biden leaves office.
In a statement, President Biden said, “This first-ever National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Hate is a historic step forward to live up to our ideals. It seeks to deepen understanding of these communities and the discrimination and bias they have long faced across a number of sectors.”
The president describes the strategy as “whole-of-government and whole-of-society effort” to combat discrimination, while also “protecting the freedom and safety of other religious and ethnic communities.”
It contains more than 100 executive branch actions, 100 calls to action to “every sector of society,” and focuses on four priorities: increase awareness of hatred against Muslims and Arabs, and broaden recognition of these communities’ heritages; improve safety and security for Muslims and Arabs; tackle discrimination against Muslims and Arabs and appropriately accommodate their religious practices; continue to build cross-community solidarity and collective action to counter hate.
A senior administration official says that beyond the federal government, the recommendations extend to state and local governments as well as the private sector and philanthropy.
The senior administration official told Scripps News that the group tasked with crafting the strategy has been meeting with stakeholders in the Muslim and Arab-American communities for their input, like the Islamic Network Group and the Nation’s Mosque. They also consulted with academics and interfaith leaders. Doug Emhoff, the Second Gentleman was involved in the strategy as well.
Anti-Islamic and antisemitic hate has been on the rise in the United States.
In his statement, the president also noted the murder of six-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi, and his mother Hanan Shahin who was also stabbed and wounded in the attack which occurred at their home in Illinois last year.
“These heinous acts shattered an American family. And they spread a wave of horror and fear across our nation,” he wrote.
The White House had previewed the actions in a press release in October, where they enumerated the executive branch actions like improving safety and security alongside the Department of Homeland Security; tackling discrimination and bias leaning on agencies like the Department of Labor to remind the workforce about legal obligations to protect against religious or ethnic discrimination; and addressing issues related to travel.
In May 2023, the White House released a 60-page national strategy that laid out government actions to counter anti-Jewish hate. It marked the first-ever nationwide strategy on antisemitism produced by the federal government.
Notably, Biden made mention in his statement Thursday of the Trump-era Muslim ban that impacted people from Muslim-majority and African countries from entering the United States: “That ban was a stain on our national conscience and inconsistent with our long history of welcoming people of all faiths and backgrounds.”
One of the senior administration officials said that the strategy is not a direct response to the language of the Trump administration’s past actions, but instead a larger part of President Biden’s legacy.
“This strategy is part of a four-year effort to fight hate wherever we see it, in the in the country,” the official told Scripps News, adding, “It's important for people to know where we left things, what forward momentum there has been.”
President-elect Trump could make the decision not to move forward with the strategy when he comes into office, a fact that Scripps News asked the senior administration official about.
“We do not predict what the future administration will do, but we are proud of having a document that outlines an approach where a government thinks Islamophobia and anti-Arab hate are priority issues," the official said.
