Editorial: Lt. Gov. Dan Forest must speak against Islamophobic North Carolinians

The Editorial Board stands with the Council of American-Islamic Relations in calling for Lt. Gov. Dan Forest to withdraw from an upcoming keynote address for the “North Carolina Renewal Project,” an event from Oct. 3 to 4 which has scheduled several Islamophobic speakers.

The North Carolina Renewal Project is part of the American Renewal Project, a Christian-based policy advocacy group. 

Their recent list of publications includes “Mike Pence Criticized for Praying for Critics” — an article whose author deftly notes that Pence’s remark, “No. 1...spend more time on your knees than on the internet,” was actually referring to prayer, despite being, “mocked on Twitter, with many chastising the VP for his choice of words.” 

But hard-hitting journalism aside, their scheduled speakers at this week's event employ far more dangerous rhetoric, with ramifications extending beyond their Charlotte podium and into the Chapel Hill community.

Among the seven featured speakers at Thursday’s event, William Federer has warned of an Islamic takeover of Europe and the United States. In one instance decrying the LGBTQ+ movement as a, “detaching phase to get us away from our past to move into an Islamic future.” A second speaker, E.W. Williams, said, “The floor of Congress is now going to look like an Islamic republic,” following the election of two Muslim congresswomen in 2018.

By keynoting this event, Forest legitimizes those who spout Islamophobia in the public sphere and into the consciousness of radical supporters. As for every instance of hate-speech, the consequences of Islamophobia are hard for us to ignore. In Chapel Hill, they’re difficult to forget. 

In 2015, three Muslims — Deah Barakat, 23, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, 21, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19 — were shot execution-style in their residence near UNC’s campus. The incident allegedly followed a parking dispute, but the victims’ families believe their murder to be a hate crime. Hate crimes are all too common in North Carolina, with reported hate crimes rising by 64 percent between 2013-2017, outpacing the national increase of 22 percent. 

In a speech last March, Forest said God did not intend for religion to divide North Carolina and the nation.

“And yet no other nation, my friends, has ever survived the diversity and multiculturalism that America faces today, because of a lack of assimilation, because of this division, and because of this identity politics.”

Regardless of God’s intentions, diversity and multiculturalism are significant divides in America because of politicians like Dan Forest that dangle a utopian, homogenous society in front of salivating white voters. We should be grateful for North Carolinians' differences in melanin, beliefs and customs.

Evangelical leaders like Forest deserve a spot in the American discourse and their voices should be heard. However, they cannot continue digging these trenches of religious division for electoral success, nor can they keep feeding us the narrative that respecting others’ beliefs will inherently discredit our own. As long as our elected politicians share their microphone with those at the root of public bigotry, hate crimes in this state will continue to increase, as will the dangers for religious minorities in Chapel Hill and beyond.