Toronto Muslims worry Trump will deliver on 'problematic' promises
'I hope he was just pandering to his voters,' Umair Ali says
Now that Donald Trump is president-elect of the United States, many Muslim Canadians are pondering what his election means for them and whether they're welcome in the country he will lead.
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Trump first caught their attention when he demanded a"total and complete shutdown of Muslims" entering the United States after the San Bernardino mass shooting late last year. And in the summer, as the presidential campaign heated up, he proposed an "extreme vetting" process for people seeking to immigrate to the United States.
In light of comments like that, CBC Toronto asked some local Muslim-Canadians to weigh in.
'A message of hope and dreaming used to be there'
"Now you have a rich, white male as president who is now espousing the values that were espoused 40-50 years ago."
Am I going to have to look over my shoulder when I visit family in Florida and Texas?- Moezine Hasham
Hasham worries the fear of Muslims is wider than anticipated and visiting family in the U.S. won't be easy for Muslim-Canadians.
"Am I going to have to look over my shoulder when I visit family in Florida and Texas?"
He runs a hockey program in Toronto for newcomer Canadian youth. The day after the election he had a group of young Muslim girls on the ice.
"I am just going to listen to them if they have questions and deliver that message of still believing in yourself."
An anti-Muslim rant echoed here at home
Sundus A. — who asked CBC Toronto not use her last name — will never forget the morning a middle-aged white woman sat next to her on the bus and began talking to her.
"She told me that I should get raped and go back to my country," she told CBC Toronto last December.
"There was a bus full of people who did nothing, who said nothing. Not a word."
Almost a year later, she still thinks about how alone she felt that day. Now, she compares that feeling to what close friends of her family who live in Ohio are going through, especially after Trump's victory in that state Tuesday night.
"I worry ... because they are identifiable Muslims as well," A. said.
"He has instilled this fear and people don't feel safe in their own neighbourhoods."
A. says there was a backlash after going public with her story. She says people told her it wasn't a big deal, just words.
"Well, it just goes to show you the power of words because even with Donald Trump, he didn't break any laws. Everything is just verbal but it's so problematic."
'I'm going to put off travel for a while.'
"Right now, the only thing that's on my mind is Trump might introduce the extreme vetting that he's talked about or impose the Muslim travel ban," he said.
"I don't know if he was just pandering to his voters when he said the things he said, but I have faith that Congress will block that bill."