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#MyMuslimNeighborhood: Muslims' moving response to Ted Cruz

Libby Nelson is Vox's policy editor, leading coverage of how government action and inaction shape American life. Libby has more than a decade of policy journalism experience, including at Inside Higher Ed and Politico. She joined Vox in 2014.

After Ted Cruz called for a program to "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods" — an idea immediately condemned as unconstitutional and ineffective — Muslims on Twitter responded with the hashtag #MyMuslimNeighborhood, a tongue-in-cheek way to push back against the idea that "Muslim neighborhoods" either exist or pose any kind of threat.

Some used it to demonstrate how a Muslim neighborhood is just an American neighborhood:

Or to show that neighborhoods where Muslims live are often examples of interfaith cooperation large and small, and of religion motivating people to do good:

Or to poke fun at the idea of a "Muslim neighborhood" in the first place:

And a few took the opportunity to point out that Islamophobia in the US is a much bigger threat than whatever Cruz imagines is happening in "Muslim neighborhoods":