In the days since President Obama visited the Islamic Center of Baltimore, social media and online news outlets have buzzed with reactions to the visit and to what the president said.
An opinion piece about the visit by journalist Mehdi Hasan on Al Jazeera ran under the headline “Thank You Obama for Your Mosque Speech.”
Clearly, folks in attendance were excited to meet their nation’s leader.
This Girl Scout at Obama's speech has a strong hijab game pic.twitter.com/9r9PicncP3
— john r stanton (@dcbigjohn) February 3, 2016
American Muslims and non-Muslims alike took to Twitter with personal responses.
@bobrobertsjr regardless of political persuasion, it's a speech that should make every #American proud. #MosqueVisit https://t.co/rEU4gjkJWy
— Jena Luedtke (@jlluedtke) February 4, 2016
Thank you @POTUS for reaching out with an olive branch & recognising #Muslim #Americans as equal & welcome! #MosqueVisit #respect #Humanity
— Ahmed Makkawy (@saharafox) February 4, 2016
In Slate, Aymann Ismail wrote that Obama’s remarks left him, as a Muslim American, “feeling excited and understood.” “Obama,” he continued, “exhibited a much deeper understanding of Islam than those who perpetrate war in its name.”
New York Muslim community leaders Imam Khalid Latif and Linda Sarsour drove to Baltimore to hear the president. In a column in The Guardian, they praised his speech and encouraged Obama to do still more to reach U.S. Muslims. While the Muslim share of the population is small, the pair said, “we are multi-dimensional and the most diverse faith community in the country, representing every race, ethnicity and national origin.”
