Texas’ First Muslim Representative to the Texas House Takes Office

TARRANT COUNTY, Texas. State Representative Salman Bhojani is used to being “first”.

In 2018, he made history by becoming the first person of color to hold elected office in Uless, a suburb of Fort Worth.

Now he is once again making history as one of the first two Muslims and South Asians ever elected to the Texas legislature.

And the Democrat who now represents Tarrant County District 92 joined our latest episode. You are all itiki to discuss what he hopes to achieve as a minority member of a minority party in a conservative state.

“I am a Muslim, but there is so much work to be done for the entire community that there is so much more in common. And those are the three things I want to work on, right? Keep developing our economy to make sure we have quality healthcare and access to good healthcare and then we will have world class schools,” he said, outlining part of his plan. “I mean we are the 9th largest economy in the world. If we can’t afford world-class schools, who else can?”

Originally from Pakistan, Bhojani moved to the United States with his parents when he was 19 years old.

He became a naturalized citizen, earned a degree from UT-Dallas, and became a small business owner, running several gas stations and stores. Bhojani eventually completed his law degree at SMU and started his own law firm.

Rep. Bhojani is part of a divided state government full of malice.

And legislatures have not always been kind to Muslims.

In 2007, then-state senator Dan Patrick boycotted the first-ever Texas Senate prayer by a Muslim cleric. Patrick is now the state lieutenant governor who presides over the Senate. And from that moment on, the Republican declared that he was tolerant of all faiths.

In his weeks on the job, Rep. Bhojani says he has yet to encounter any intolerance, negativity or even outright racism.

“You know, everyone was really very warm and cordial. Every state representative. I can’t tell anyone who was really rude to me or rude to me, not even voters. Everyone I spoke to was very cordial. So, it was refreshing. I mean, I can’t tell you that I expected this,” the Democrat said.

But it wasn’t always that way or that easy.

The spokesman tells us that he had a gun pointed at him when he knocked on the door during his campaign. According to him, many others advised him to return to Pakistan.

And that’s why he says it’s important to try to do things right, which is often part of the burden of being first.

He claims it’s important because he knows kids are watching…and imitating.

“And I think I wanted to make a statement to the community and to the many young people in the Muslim community who look at me and say, ‘Hey, you know, he does wear the mantle for us and really represents our community in a positive way,'” he said.

Part of this plan includes relentless outreach.

Rep. Bhojani’s own son helped develop a detailed plan for the lawmaker to take selfies with every representative and senator at the Texas Capitol.

“I think at 141 weight I’m already busy. So, if you go to bojhanifortexas.com, you’ll see all the selfies I’ve taken with every single representative and senator. And so, I have about 40 more,” the Democrat told us. “And the reason I’m kind of joking about it is because it’s really important to build one-on-one relationships with my colleagues. I did it in the Euless city council.

Even the representative of the Quran that Bhojani used to take the oath is historical. To find out why, listen to the full episode of Y’all-itics. To your health!