what-happened-to-mahmoud-abdul-rauf.com
In March 1996, Mahmoud Abdul Rauf (formerly Chris Jackson), an all-star guard for the Denver Nuggets & an African American Muslim convert, was suspended by the NBA for not standing for the national anthem. Until then, Abdul Rauf had earned national headlines only for his record-setting free-throw shooting game & overcoming Tourrette Syndrome. The sudden NBA suspension & the media interest that immediately followed sparked a national debate about race, politics, religion & freedom of speech with Abdul Rauf at center-stage. The media controversy pivoted on the question of what it means to be American and un-American, particularly for Muslims, and reveals how so many contemporary political anxieties about patriotism, racism, political correctness, freedom of speech & Islamophobia have histories deeper than 9/11 & the War on Terror.