ghazala khan – C-VILLE Weekly

Civil discourse: Khizr Khan takes the stage at the Miller Center

Khizr Khan and his wife, Ghazala, emerged onto the political stage during the Democratic National Convention in July when Khizr told the story of their son, Captain Humayun Khan, a University of Virginia graduate, who served in the United States Army and was killed in a suicide attack in Iraq on June 8, 2004.

Many of Khan’s emotional quotes from the convention quickly spread throughout the nation, including direct statements to Donald Trump such as, “Let me ask you, have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy,” and “You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”

On November 1, Khan visited UVA to talk with the Miller Center’s Doug Blackmon.

The conversation began with a clip from First Year 2017, a Miller Center project about unity and democracy, and featured quotes from former presidents Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln.

After the first video, Blackmon introduced Khan with a short biography: He is a Pakistani immigrant, Harvard graduate and practices law here in Charlottesville.

The second clip, which was produced by Lauren Jackson of UVA’s media studies department, centered on the life of Humayun Khan and showed his character through quotes and stories from those who knew him. Sergeant Lacy Walker said Humayun “was the best leader you could possible imagine.”

In the clip, Jackson asked the Khans about memories from Humayun’s time at UVA. According to his mother, two young women got into a bidding war to take Humayun out for a charity date night. “He got the highest bid,” Ghazala proudly said. He eventually decided to take both women out.

After the second clip, Khan was obviously filled with emotion. He composed himself and continued the interview, answering questions from Blackmon regarding some of the attacks he and his wife had received since the DNC.

Khan also addressed the notion that he was paid to attack Trump and to join the Clinton campaign.

“I wish somebody would’ve paid me. That would have made me really happy,” he said as the audience erupted in laughter. “When people speak the truth, some criticism is expected.”

Khan also talked about immigrants as a broader group, saying that “all have gone through difficult times coming to the U.S. —Muslims are not different.” He cited those coming from Italy, Ireland and other places throughout our nation’s history. “Your grandparents caught the earlier boat, I caught the later boat,” he said. “We are all immigrants.”

Counterpunch: The Democrats convene, and Trump plays mean

We simply must begin this edition by saluting Charlottesville’s latest (and most lovable) political luminaries: Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the Gold Star parents whose son, Army Captain Humayun Khan (a UVA graduate), lost his life in Iraq after striding out to confront a suicide bomber in order to save his fellow soldiers.

Khizr’s speech at last week’s Democratic National Convention—in which he, with Ghazala by his side, paid tribute to his fallen son and excoriated Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump for threatening to ban all Muslims from entering the United States—was an extraordinary emotional highlight of the event. Its import has only grown since, fueled by the outrageous attacks of Trump himself, who both implied that the speech was written by the Clinton campaign (it wasn’t) and that Ghazala’s onstage silence was mandated by her faith (it wasn’t). This latter claim was later demolished by Ghazala, who spoke forcefully during an interview with MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, and also penned a Washington Post editorial declaring: “Donald Trump said I had nothing to say. I do. My son Humayun Khan, an Army captain, died 12 years ago in Iraq. He loved America.”

The amazing thing is that the Khans’ affecting presentation was just one of 257 given during the DNC, which was so jam-packed with talent that Politico writer Dan Diamond made a running joke out of tweeting comparisons between the Democratic and Republican conventions. (Our favorite: “Right now at DNC: The 42nd president of the United States. This time last week: The general manager of Trump Winery.”)

But let us not forget the other big stories involving Virginians at the convention. The first, of course, was Senator Tim Kaine’s coming-out speech as Hillary Clinton’s running mate. Now we may be biased, as we’ve always enjoyed Kaine’s goofy demeanor and plainspoken style, but we think he nailed it. His speech was lacerating without being mean, and was delivered in a tone so conversational and unaffected that even those who disagreed with the content couldn’t help but like the messenger. There’s a good reason that the most popular word used to describe Kaine during and after his speech was “dad”—and it’s also a solid indicator that Clinton’s vice presidential choice was the right one.

Finally, we can’t wrap up our convention coverage without acknowledging one of the event’s biggest gaffes: the suggestion by our own esteemed Governor Terry McAuliffe that, if elected, Clinton will once again support the (much-hated) Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal (which she currently opposes). This admission, nonchalantly offered to a reporter from Politico following McAuliffe’s convention speech, was a political bombshell, foolishly reinforcing the caricature of Clinton as an unreliable opportunist who will say or do anything to get elected.

The Clinton campaign immediately came down on the Macker like a ton of bricks, with campaign chairman John Podesta quickly tweeting “Love Gov. McAuliffe, but he got this one flat wrong. Hillary opposes TPP BEFORE and AFTER the election. Period. Full stop.”

Still, even with a completely unforced error (and an ongoing series of disruptions by disaffected supporters of Bernie Sanders), this was a convention that masterfully showcased a powerful, optimistic and patriotic view of America—a view that was sorely missing at the Republican’s dour festival of fear a few weeks back.

And, while one well-produced show won’t suddenly return Clinton to the levels of popularity she enjoyed as secretary of state, it is yet another important step toward the Democrats’ ultimate (and absolutely vital) goal: to cast Donald Trump into the dustbin of history.

Odd Dominion is an unabashedly liberal, twice-monthly op-ed column covering Virginia politics.