FRISCO, Texas (RNS) — When Aneela Charania approached Frisco’s city council office on May 20, she said she immediately felt fear creep in. Charania, who is Muslim, had come to a public comment meeting about construction projects for a mosque and two Hindu temples.
In the parking lot, Charania, who wears a hijab, texted a neighbor to ask if she could be escorted from her car to the room, as she feared being targeted.
At the meeting, she says she sat through anti-Muslim, anti-Hindu and anti-immigrant comments as speakers debated whether her community belonged in the city at all.
“It really did take me back to after 9/11, to be honest,” said Charania, who moved to the Dallas suburb in February. “I’ve never experienced that level of hatred towards our community.”
The city council meeting was one of many that turned into a public referendum on Frisco’s diverse communities amid a mayoral runoff election pitting Mark Hill, a Republican business attorney, against fellow Republican Rod Vilhauer, a retired construction business owner. Vilhauer campaigned on anti-Muslim, anti-South Asian immigrant rhetoric, while Hill promised to “unite our city and build a future rooted in connection, opportunity, and pride.”
Last week (July 7), Hill was sworn in as Frisco’s new mayor after winning 58% of the vote i …
