Muslim in Trump’s America

Muslim in Trump’s America is available to watch now:

ITV (UK)
NRK (Norway)

“The truth is, our country’s under attack from within, trying to destroy Christianity in this country. There’s going to come a time when we as a nation are going to stop putting up with it. It will probably require bloodshed.” – ‘K2’, a member of the Georgia III% Security Force militia

“It feels like you are unseen, it feels like you are never going to be good enough. And I have come to the conclusion that the only sense of home that I have ever had is my parents.” – Baktash Ali, a Muslim in America

“If you are trying to make sure that you have free market fundamentalism that enhances the wealth and power of the most privileged people in our society, then how are you going to get the majority of working class white people to go along with it? You’ve got to deceive them, you’ve got to divide them, and you’ve got to discourage them. How do you do that? Well, you say, ‘You people, I’m giving y’all nothing but know this – you are better than them. Those people are Muslims.'” – Keith Ellison, attorney general for Minnesota

In this second of two ITV Exposure films on Trump’s America, Emmy Award-winning director Deeyah Khan investigates what it’s like to be a Muslim in a country where many people feel you don’t belong.

Since 2015, anti-Muslim hate groups, conspiracy theories and hate crimes have all risen. Deeyah meets the family of a Kansas farmer serving 30 years for an anti-Muslim bomb plot, and films with a right wing, armed militia who believe in conspiracy theories that Muslims are trying to take over America.

Filming before and during the coronavirus pandemic and while events following the death of George Floyd unfolded around her in America, Deeyah meets ordinary Muslims whose lives have been shattered by violence and intolerance, along with campaigners who are trying to combat a rising tide of hatred.

They include Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar, who was among four women in the assembly told to ‘go back’ from where they came by President Trump – despite three of them being born in the US.

Deploying her uniquely intimate filming style, Deeyah seeks to get to the heart of the Muslim experience – providing a vivid insight into their experiences of alienation, of rejection, and the daily struggles of keeping faith with both Islam and the American Dream.