As the news came in yesterday that Joe Biden won the race as new president of the US, Muslims broke into celebrations for ending difficult four years of rising sentiments.
“CAIR congratulates President-Elect Joe Biden on his electoral victory, and for building an inclusive election campaign focused on the unity of our nation,” Nihad Awad, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said in a statement.
“President-elect Biden has pledged to end the Muslim Ban on his first day in office, include Muslims at every level of his administration and address issues of racial and religious discrimination.
“We plan to join other American Muslim leaders and organizations in ensuring that the Biden administration fulfills these promises. We also plan to continue holding our government accountable when it errs.”
📚 Read Also: US Muslims Made History across Several States
The Associated Press called the US presidential election for former Vice President Joe Biden at 11:25 am Saturday.
Historic Results
Biden has surpassed the 270 electoral vote threshold to become the 46th president of the US.
Nationwide, some 78% of eligible Muslims reported being registered to vote in 2020. This is up from 60% in 2016, data from the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) show.
This year, 110 Muslim candidates were on general-election ballots across 24 states, according to Jetpac, CAIR, and MPower Change.
Celebrating the results, many American Muslims urged the Congress and President-elect Biden to fulfill the campaign promises.
Sara Deen, a Muslim from South Bay who worked to educate and encourage her neighbors to vote, told Los Angele Times she hopes they give Muslims’ opinion “an equal weight and equal consideration.”
“Equal agency in driving policy in this country — that’s what I would like to see,” she said. “But I don’t know if we are there yet.”