There’s a reason that Jewish groups and leaders familiar with smears about “dual loyalty” are standing behind Dilawar Syed.
By Wajahat Ali
(THE DAILY BEAST) The GOP’s tent that’s got plenty of room for violent insurrectionists, white supremacists, killers, conspiracists and a congressman accused of sex trafficking isn’t big enough to welcome successful brown-skinned Muslims and immigrants.
For the past five months Republican senators on the Small Business Committee have refused to advance the nomination of Dilawar Syed for the No. 2 post in the Small Business Administration, which would make him the highest-ranking Muslim in the Biden Administration.
When I read about these attacks against Syed, I was a bit surprised—not by the GOP’s rampant anti-Muslim bigotry, mind you, which rings loud and clear in each and every ugly Islamophobic attack against Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, but instead by the choice of their latest target. Syed is an immigrant from Pakistan who graduated from Donald Trump’s alma mater, Wharton, took risks, worked hard, and became a successful entrepreneur and job creator, driving inclusive entrepreneurship in under-served regions.
I’ve known Syed for over a decade since we first met at an OPEN Silicon Valley conference when I lived in the Bay Area, where he was active in helping Pakistani American entrepreneurs and mentoring young professionals. On paper, he should be a poster boy for the GOP’s narrative of exceptionalism, where anyone can come here, build themselves up from nothing, and achieve “the American Dream.”
In our conversations, he always described himself as a secular Muslim, who nonetheless strongly identifies with the community. He was always engaged with Asian American and Pakistani American groups, entrepreneurship and civic advocacy rather than overthrowing U.S. democracy and putting a burqa on the Statue of Liberty. The most controversial statement I ever heard him make was an ignorant and misguided comment about a specific Pakistani dish. Other than that, he might be one of the most chill, anodyne, and boring Pakistani uncles around, and I say that as a huge compliment.
