Reporter Asma Khalid, who is Muslim, described the religious divides she witnessed and experienced during her time covering the 2016 U.S presidential campaign, in an Oct. 4 presentation as part of the University of Delaware’s 2017 National Agenda speaker series.

The annual series, sponsored by UD’s Center for Political Communication (CPC), brings nationally known speakers to campus. This year’s theme, “As We Stand | Divided,” explores religious, political, cultural and other divides in the United States.

Khalid is a radio journalist at WBUR Boston, where she leads a tech team exploring the innovation economy. She covered demographics for National Public Radio throughout the 2016 presidential campaign and drew attention after the election with her essay, “What It Was Like to Cover the Election as a Muslim.”

Khalid prefaced the lecture at UD with information on her upbringing: As a native of Crown Point, Indiana, she and her family were some of the only Muslims in the highly conservative and evangelical town. Despite this, she described it as “no big blip,” to be Muslim in her town, even after 9/11. She said it was common knowledge that she and her family had a God, whether or not it was the same God everyone else had.

Khalid went on to talk about the presidential campaign, noting that it was around the time of the Nevada caucus in February that the trail became toxic.

“I’ve often thought being a Muslim woman is [seen as] less threatening [than being a Muslim man],” said Khalid when asked about her experiences. “If you are petite enough and are well spoken, you can get people to listen to you.”

Despite never feeling unsafe at a Trump rally, Khalid said, she took certain precautions while she was there, such as always leaving one earbud out and interviewing people before rather than after the rally.

She said she was particularly interested in the religious divides on the campaign trail because she had never experienced anything like it growing up, and because they were the starkest divides in the campaign.

Khalid’s essay was released after the election, she said, because she did not believe it would change anyone’s political views if she published it before. It contains more personal stories, including the hardships she faced and trying moments during the campaign.

However, she said, it was important to her that it get published, because she wanted future generations to know that there were extreme religious divides at this point in time. Surrounded by mostly white reporters, she said, she believed that the story of the divides could easily slip through the cracks without documentation.

To see a video of Khalid’s appearance, and of other speakers in the series, visit the National Agenda website for a link to the series YouTube channel.

Oct. 17: Bridging the Divides

The next National Agenda session, featuring former Vice President Joe Biden and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, will be at a special date and time.

The two will speak at 1 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 17, in Mitchell Hall, on “Bridging the Divides.”

All National Agenda lectures are free and open to the public, but a ticket is required for the Oct. 17 presentation. For more information, see the UDaily announcement.