Ali said he found out that he was on an FBI watchlist after 9/11 and that, as a black man, anti-Islam prejudice “does not feel like a shock”.
The actor Mahershala Ali, whose performance in the widely acclaimed Moonlight has made him a favourite for the best supporting actor Academy award, has spoken out about the discrimination he has experienced as an African American and a Muslim.
Ali said his wife, the artist and musician Amatus Sami-Karim, had also experienced discrimination and no longer felt safe walking down the street.
Muslims will feel like there’s this new discrimination that they hadn’t received before – but it’s not new for us.”