"I don't know Tupac," I'd say.
"Well have you met him?"
"Nope. I think he might be dead."
"Tupac? No way. You really don't know him?"
When I first came to study for the fall semester on the predominantly Muslim coast of Kenya, I had a feeling the Kenyans I'd encounter, particularly the teenagers and ones my age, would have lots of questions about America, just as I had lots about Kenya. I didn't think, however, most of the questions would revolve around the whereabouts of Tupac Shakur.
Despite all the post-Sept. 11 talk about "Why They Hate Us," in Muslim Kenya one could have an equally interesting conversation about "Why They're Fascinated by Us." Kenyan Muslims are used to living among non-Muslims (though the majority in Mombasa, they make up only 20 percent of the country's population), and, generally speaking, they're not as conservative as their Middle Eastern brethren. There is a heavy influx of American pop culture onto the coast, and for the most part people were interested, often eager, to hear what it's like to live in America. Before coming to Kenya, I figured a majority of my conversations with Muslims my age would be about politics. In truth, they mostly focused on whether or not I had personal connections with Tupac, TLC or Dwayne Wayne (never underestimate the international popularity of A Different World).
That said, Mombasa has plenty of anti-American sentiment, though I get the sense it's less overt than in other parts of the world. The root of this anti-Americanism, in many cases, is the fact that a surprising number of the Kenyans I met were convinced the U.S. was out to destroy Islam.
In conversations with younger Muslims (particularly in the 15 to 20 bracket), once we got past Tupac, a second important question usually arose: "So: are you with Bush or with bin Laden?"
The significance of this question can't be ignored, because it says something important about how Muslim teenagers in Kenya tend to view our "War on Terror." They point to U.S. action in Somalia (which, according to the State Department, is currently 99.9 percent Muslim), U.S. policy in the Middle East and increased war rhetoric against Iraq as only the latest evidence the U.S. is involved in a plot to destroy their faith. Make no mistake about it: If bin Laden's goal is to create a war between "Islam and the West," and if Muslim East Africa is any indicator, Osama is winning the war.
Now, I don't believe George Bush's goal is actually to destroy Islam. It's not feasible, there's not much incentive to him or to us and I can't find any evidence of it. But I can see why many Kenyan Muslims would feel this way. In Kenya, there is no distinction between the American political left and right. The U.S. government is the U.S. government, elected by the people. And right now, what many Muslim Kenyans see is a U.S. government willing to wage war against Islamic countries, while seeking out diplomacy with non-Muslim ones.
What makes the situation worse is that Bush does not seem to understand the problem exists in the first place. And it's not like when Bush makes a speech it's aired in America and not in Kenya. Kenyans have a free press, and when Bush goes off about rounding up evildoers and crushing the bad guys, Kenyans see that, just like Americans do. But while that sort of rhetoric may make sense to us, it seems threatening to a lot of Kenyans, not necessarily because they sympathize with bin Laden, but because they see the U.S. inflicting violence on Muslim nations without adequately explaining what they are doing.
Take the current situations in Iraq and North Korea, for example. Iraq is currently 95 percent Muslim according to the State Department. North Korea is just above 0 percent, if that. While the Bush administration is trying its best to keep the war talk down with North Korea, it's amplifying the battle rhetoric with Iraq. Is this because Bush is out to get Islam? I'd say probably not. Why is it? Well, there's oil, but the administration won't say that, and if they won't say that they better say something, because so far they've done a poor job of convincing me one country is more dangerous than the other, or that military action is suitable in Iraq but not Korea. On a recent This Week on ABC, Colin Powell was asked this very question. His answer, that the administration was trying to solve both through diplomacy, but that Iraq was more likely to use weapons of mass destruction whereas the situation in North Korea wasn't a "crisis," but rather a "serious situation," wasn't wholly convincing.
And if Bush can't effectively persuade his own constituents, I promise you he hasn't effectively persuaded the Muslim community worldwide.
It's worth noting, too, that just like the 15-year-old boys I would encounter on the street, our president insists on reducing the entire "War on Terror" to one unhelpful phrase: "You're either with us or against us." Are you with Bush or with bin Laden?
It's not that I think the United States should ever negotiate with terrorists or even terrorist sympathizers. But if our president is going to simplify a situation like this down to Bush v. bin Laden, he better be prepared to sell our product--American foreign policy--not just to the American voting body, but to the entire Muslim world.
The burden right now is on the U.S. to prove to Muslims worldwide we are not out to get them. And right now, if Kenya is any indicator, we're not doing that. What we see is what they see, and what they see is a cowboy who wants to round up The Evildoers, the Muslim Evildoers. If Bush can't at least attempt to explain to people why we're going to war with Iraq and not North Korea, then we shouldn't be going to war with Iraq, plain and simple.
In the wake of Sept. 11, our president made a concerted effort to reach out to Muslim Americans and to discourage discrimination against them. He now needs to do the same to Muslims worldwide. He needs to articulate precisely what he is trying to do in the Middle East, Iraq and elsewhere, otherwise in the game of Bush v. bin Laden, Bush is going to lose.
For the most part, in my experience, the kids in Muslim Kenya don't hate us and (like most American kids) were more interested in talking Tupac than terrorism. But if Bush continues on his course, if he doesn't begin to treat Muslims worldwide like his constituents, too, Tupac will hit the back burner fast.
Lucas Schaefer is a Trinity junior and an associate editor for TowerView magazine. His column appears every third Thursday.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.