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By NPR Staff

Representative Keith Ellison became the first Muslim to be elected to Congress in 2006, and the first person of color elected to represent Minnesota in the national legislature. Along the way he’s confronted questions about his faith, patriotism, and even some unpaid parking tickets that nearly derailed his first campaign. He talks about all that in his new book, My Country, ‘Tis Of Thee: My Faith, My Family, Our Future.

 

Interview Highlights

On the controversy over swearing in with a Quran

It did not occur to me that it would be a problem, you know? I don’t know what that reflects about me, but when I was asked the question, my primary concern was getting voters out to the polls, not what I was going to swear in on. I hadn’t even assumed that I would be swearing in on anything, because the election had not come. [Read more… ]