Trump's Anti-Muslim Stance Trashed In South Florida
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COOPER CITY (CBSMiami) – Donald Trump's anti-Muslim stance is being trashed in South Florida.
"We have no idea who's coming into our country. We have no idea if they love us or hate us. We have no idea if they want to bomb us."
With those words of fear and caution, Trump Monday night declared the United States should ban Muslims from not only immigrating to, but even visiting the U.S.
At the Nur-Ul-Islam Academy in Cooper City, an American flag flew out front Tuesday and inside, a suggestion that "The Don" should brush up on the constitution.
"I think that this is unconstitutional, passing these kind of comments to a specific religion or specific group of people," Principal Rubina Tariq said of Trump's proposal.
Some see Trump promoting a throwback to a darker time.
"We don't want a generation of what has happened in the past, the evils that have happened in this country, to reoccur," said Judy Muhammed who is Muslim and teaches English at the academy.
In considering evils of the past, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War Two comes to mind. Viewed as necessary at the time, history has condemned the internment camps.
Trump counters they were created under Franklin Roosevelt, viewed as a great president.
Zach Kertesz is Jewish, teaches at the Islamic academy in Cooper City, and supports a moderate immigration policy.
"We still need to be able to decipher who is a threat in terms of immigration as we move forward in modifying these laws," said Kertesz.
At the Islamic Center of Greater Miami, Imam Abdul Hamid Samra said Trump is playing into the hands of those who promote terror with what Samra views as a radical proposal.
"We really condemn this kind of statement, and we hope that people of wisdom will join us in condemning this," Samra said.
Johan Ali chairs MCCG, Inc., formerly known as the Miami Coalition of Christians and Jews. He has a unique perspective on what he views as Trump's bigoted bombshell.
"It broke my heart. It really broke my heart," Ali said. "Because I come from a mixed background of a Muslim family, a Hindu family, and I am a practicing Catholic.
From Catholics, to Jews, to Muslims, Trump's seemingly extreme anti-Islam position took a pounding.
Those on the side of moderation might take some comfort from history.
In 1964, Republican presidential candidate Barry Goldwater said, "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice."
Democrat Lyndon Johnson went on to rout Goldwater, carrying 44 states and the District of Columbia.