His burial site is full of names like Mohammed, Hassan, Zeinab, Kareem, Marwa, and Fawzia, old and young Muslim Americans, who, like my father, migrated to, lived, and believed in the dream America offered. Like mine did on that day, their families congregated atop a patch of dirt—American dirt—to bid farewell and permanently lay loved ones to rest. Those same families continued to pursue dreams on behalf of the departed, and to give birth to new dreams by forming families and having children, building businesses and institutions, achieving professional and academic success. Muslim Americans of all ages, ethnicities, and generations are buried here, alongside my father, joined by millions of other Muslims buried elsewhere in the United States, who helped construct the very backbone of this nation, made immeasurable and irreplaceable contributions to it, and traveled from long distances and ravaged lands to enrich it—and despite what Islamophobia and its predecessor systems propagate by popular view and law, made this country what it is today.

XREF: Counters dominant narratives that frame Muslim Americans as outsiders or threats, echoing the broader Americal immigrant-contribution discourse.

Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Unde…, loc. 535