{"id":526553,"date":"2026-03-16T08:55:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T08:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/526553\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T08:55:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T08:55:16","slug":"what-lifes-like-for-the-muslim-constituents-of-congresss-nastiest-islamophobe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/526553\/","title":{"rendered":"What Life\u2019s Like for the Muslim Constituents of Congress\u2019s Nastiest Islamophobe"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Part of the Little Kurdistan mural in Nashville. (Photo by Lauren Egan)<\/p>\n

Nashville, Tennessee
A SHORT FIFTEEN-MINUTE DRIVE from Kid Rock\u2019s Big Ass Honky Tonk and Jason Aldean\u2019s Rooftop Bar\u2014just two of the many country music celebrity\u2013branded establishments that dot Nashville\u2019s lower Broadway\u2014sits Little Kurdistan.<\/p>\n

To make that trip from downtown is to encounter the American South at its most glorious. There\u2019s a pitmaster working a smoker on the side of the road, a Waffle House packed to the brim, and people perched on lowered tailgates at the Sonic drive-in soaking in the pristine 75-degree mid-March weather.<\/p>\n

Keep driving until you hit Nolensville Road, and you\u2019ll eventually come upon Little Kurdistan. From the outside, it\u2019s utterly unassuming; it looks like any of the other hundreds of roadside shopping plazas found throughout the city. But this one is different. Store fronts are plastered with Kurdish signs advertising halal meat and shawarma. A mural depicting people playing backgammon in the streets of Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, wraps around the side of a building. You\u2019ve reached the cultural hub for the 20,000 Kurds<\/a> who live in Nashville, many of whose families began arriving here in the 1970s after fleeing persecution in Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey.<\/p>\n

Today, Nashville is home to the largest Kurdish population in North America. And the restaurants, supermarkets, clothing stores, and mosques that fill Little Kurdistan\u2019s block-long retail space have become a point of pride\u2014a symbol that the city has transformed from a sleepy state capital into a booming<\/a> international<\/a> destination. On any given day, you can hear a mix of Kurdish and Southern accents chatting over plates of grilled kebabs at Edessa Restaurant, or browsing the pastry case stacked full of flakey baklava at Azadi International Food Market and Bakery.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>(Photos by Lauren Egan)<\/p>\n

For years, this place has been a relatively peaceful, if not sleepy, mosaic; an ethnic neighborhood that blossomed in one of the South\u2019s fastest-growing hubs. But the climate has recently become more tense.<\/p>\n

As it happens, Little Kurdistan falls within the boundaries of Tennessee\u2019s 5th Congressional District, which is represented by one of Congress\u2019s most virulently anti-Muslim members. Republican Rep. Andy Ogles, now in his second term in the House, has spent the past week spewing Islamophobic comments on social media\u2014and then unapologetically doubling down on them when called out.<\/p>\n

\u201cMuslims don\u2019t belong in American society. Pluralism is a lie,\u201d Ogles tweeted<\/a> last week.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In another post<\/a>, he wrote: \u201cIf we don\u2019t cease to import islam, the West falls.\u201d<\/p>\n

He shared images<\/a> depicting<\/a> Muslims as violent criminals and terrorists<\/a> and said that<\/a> \u201cPaperwork doesn\u2019t magically make you American. Muslims are unable to assimilate; they all have to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forty-eight hours ago, he posted<\/a> that he doesn\u2019t \u201ccare about \u2018dangerous rhetoric,\u2019\u201d because the \u201cthreat is dangerous muslims.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anyone thinking that Ogles might be doing this performatively, to cynically reap the political rewards of some sort of anti-Islam backlash from the war in Iran, need only check out his record: The congressman has a history<\/a> of disparaging Muslims. And the LGBTQ community<\/a>. And he isn\u2019t exactly a paragon of decency beyond his rhetoric: He has faced accusations of inflating his resume<\/a> and has been investigated by the FBI<\/a> for violating campaign finance rules. And he hasn\u2019t been able to explain where the nearly $25,000 he raised in a GoFundMe campaign<\/a> for a children\u2019s burial garden went after the garden never materialized.<\/p>\n

Such a record wouldn\u2019t normally fly for a congressman representing parts of his state\u2019s biggest city. But Ogles isn\u2019t actually a Nashville congressman, in the strict sense. His district used to be part of a city-centric seat, which for years was represented by Jim Cooper, a moderate Blue Dog Democrat. But following the 2020 census, Tennessee Republicans sliced up the district to dilute Democratic power, placing various parts of it into neighboring Republican-run areas, including the 5th district, which Ogles won in 2022.<\/p>\n

Join Bulwark+ today for 20% off<\/a><\/p>\n

Because of that gerrymander, it\u2019s not uncommon for Nashvillians to live in one district, send their kids to school in another, and go to church in a third. It has also meant that an overtly anti-Muslim congressman is representing a host of Muslim constituents\u2014and putting them on edge.<\/p>\n

I wanted to know what it was like for them. And so I walked around Little Kurdistan last week speaking to Muslim residents of the 5th district as they popped into markets to buy meats, breads, and labneh for Iftar. No one had any kind words to share about Ogles. They\u2019d all grown fairly accustomed to his anti-Muslim remarks. They told me he was \u201cracist,\u201d \u201cIslamophobic,\u201d and \u201cdangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n

But anger toward Ogles wasn\u2019t the dominant emotion they expressed\u2014rather, it was fear. They told me they were worried that Ogles\u2019s comments would lead to their kids getting bullied in school and provoke federal agents to harass their communities. They recalled the ICE raids<\/a> that took place in their neighborhoods last spring (south Nashville is also home to a large Latino population; across the street from Little Kurdistan is another strip mall called \u201cPlaza Mariachi\u201d) and feared that something similar could happen again. Rather than speaking out against Ogles, many said they didn\u2019t want to draw much attention to him, believing that it would only stoke more anti-Muslim sentiment.<\/p>\n

In a way, I found this even more jarring. It was a reminder that, despite the hope and promise of this country, many Americans feel they cannot move about their lives freely without being targeted by the very people elected to represent them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A historical marker outside of Little Kurdistan. (Photo by Lauren Egan)<\/p>\n

Nearly everyone I spoke to for this newsletter asked that I not print their names out of fear that they\u2019d become a target. Even family friends that I\u2019ve known for a decade didn\u2019t want me to publish their comments, worried that it would make them vulnerable. When I reached out to community organizers, imams, and the only Muslim member on the city council, they directed me to Sabina Mohyuddin, the executive director of the Nashville-based American Muslim Advisory Council, who has become the de facto spokesperson for the city\u2019s Muslim community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis district probably has the largest number of Muslim communities living in it compared to any other congressional district in Tennessee,\u201d said Mohyuddin, who sounded worn out and exhausted by the situation when we spoke on the phone. \u201c[Ogles] doesn\u2019t have any kind of record of serving his constituents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis kind of rhetoric, it makes it unsafe for our community. It further normalizes this kind of discrimination and hateful, painful comments. And it allows for people to feel like it\u2019s okay, it\u2019s an acceptable conversation,\u201d she added. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen an increase in bullying in schools, discrimination, threats against our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Share<\/a><\/p>\n

WHETHER OGLES WILL PAY ANY PRICE for his recent rhetoric is an open question. One price he could pay is with his fellow House Republicans in Washington, D.C. They could decide that they don\u2019t approve of a member of their conference engaging in open bigotry. GOP leaders could tell him to knock it off. They could remove him from committees. Not so long ago, they did just that when another member questioned why the language of white supremacy<\/a> had become verboten.<\/p>\n

But so far, Republicans appear comfortable letting Ogles keep tweeting.<\/p>\n

Another price Ogles could pay would be with voters.<\/p>\n

Last month, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that the 5th district would be one of their top targets<\/a> in the 2026 midterms.<\/p>\n

As Democrats see it, Ogles is an especially vulnerable candidate. He\u2019s struggled to raise money<\/a> for his re-election and he\u2019s drawn a primary challenge from former Tennessee agriculture commissioner Charlie Hatcher<\/a>, a well-connected and respected dairy farmer.<\/p>\n

Much of the establishment Democratic political scene in Nashville has been buzzing with excitement about Chaz Molder<\/a>, a small-town mayor who is expected to be the Democratic nominee for the seat and has the backing of the DCCC. Molder is a Sunday school teacher and father of three who married his college sweetheart and rarely criticizes Trump directly. He\u2019s steered clear of hot-button culture war issues, and has instead talked about the need for fiscal responsibility and being accessible and responsive to his constituents.<\/p>\n

But even in a politically friendly environment, he would have a tough race ahead of him. Donald Trump won the district in 2024 by 18 percentage points<\/a> and the Cook Political Report<\/a> rates the district as R+8. This leaves Molder with a strategic choice: try to win over disaffected Republicans by striking a more moderate posture or try to turn out progressive-minded voters by going hard at Trump\u2014and, by extension, Trumpism. The play-it-safe mentality Molder has chosen to this point has left the district\u2019s Muslim voters feeling underwhelmed.<\/p>\n

In a social media video posted last week, Molder criticized Ogles<\/a> for his tweets\u2014but not for their substance: He framed the problem not as an attack on a religious minority but as a deliberate attempt by the congressman to divert attention from other issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Andy Ogles said today was outrageous,\u201d Molder said in a flat voice. \u201cBut sadly we\u2019ve learned to expect that from him. He wants to distract us from his multiple personal scandals, his vote to sabotage health care for rural Tennesseans, and of course today\u2019s historic rise in gas prices. He\u2019s been a disappointment and an embarrassment. We can do better.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I talked to local organizers, many told me that Molder should have spoken out more forcefully. It was not too much for someone asking for their vote, they said, to defend the fundamental, constitutional idea that they were accepted in America.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a hard thing to say,\u201d said Shun Ahmed, a community organizer born and raised in Nashville after her parents immigrated from Iraq\u2014that \u201csomeone deserves the right to exist and thrive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leave a comment<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The Year I Was Supposed to Die<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sucker: My year as a degenerate gambler<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 The 20 Best Food Scenes in Movies<\/a><\/p>\n