It was a bright, crisp, mellow morning in April. I, being the untalented and unwilling hair stylist that I am, decided that getting dolled up wasn’t exactly going to slide into my schedule this morning. Instead, I declined the idea and rummaged around for another alternative that was probably buried under a pile of bobby pins and hair combs. Postliminary, I discovered the only item that would shelter my bedhead from onlookers - a fashionable headscarf. Naturally and skillfully, I wrapped my unkempt hair and headed to my National History Day practice that I was already pressed for time for. I’ve always been keen on the idea and look of headscarves, and I’ve always believed that headscarves were admirable and a unique accessory, and seeing that …show more content…
Salespeople at the mall neglected their job of persuading me to purchase their products. Suddenly, the attack and disrespect wasn’t directed towards my headscarf, but directed to me as an individual. I’ve never experienced so much offense in my entire life. The ideology and mindset that people are afraid of others because of cloth is appalling to me. I had to explain to others that I was an American and not a terrorist. There are approximately 1,025,109 words in the English language and none describe the shame and anger I felt having to explain that I’m a US citizen. Dressing a certain way that correlates with a certain religion isn’t an issue until someone makes it one. Islamophobia: dislike of or prejudice against Islam or Muslims especially at a political force. Islamophobia is caused by a variety of aspects, however the leading cause is the common belief of inaccurate facts and the misinterpretation of Islam. Islamophobia skyrocketed in America during the 2000s with the introduction who’s terrorist acts were claimed to be “for the sake of Allah”. Islam is a religion of peace and respect. Islamophobia affects everyone in one way or
Islamophobia, the term that was not very well-known before September 11, 2001, is now known to almost any individual of any age. After September 11th, islamophobia became a part of many Muslims’ daily lives (O’Connor “How 9/11 Changed These Muslim Americans’ Lives Forever.”) Not only did Muslims have trouble going through customs and security at the airports, but they also encountered islamophobia in their daily routine. Since September 11th, terrorist jokes became popular among many non-Muslim Americans who oftentimes did not understand the seriousness and the offensiveness of those jokes. Some found the “Muslim terrorist” stereotype to be somewhat justified and did not consider it to be as insulting as, for example, the representation of Black and Asian Americans in 1920s and 30s cartoons. However, the two are equally abusive and it is horrible to realize that in some ways, the American
Mona also gave experiences from her own life. She applied for a job at Abercrombie & Fetch. The assistant manager talked very high of her, but she was turned down due because she was wearing a hijab, or head scarf, this apparently would violate the company’s “Look Policy.” She also talked about the many of public encounters with people on the street, subway, and in stores. Mona also said that her head scarf also attracts attention in Egypt. She says that she has never experienced any harassment, but friends, colleagues, family members, and even strangers. (El-Ghobashy).
Islamophobia denotes prejudice against, hatred for, or irrational fear of Muslims. Such fear and hostility leads to discriminations against Muslims, exclusion of Muslims from mainstream political or social process, stereotyping, the presumption of guilt by association, and most frequently, hate crimes. In post 9/11 America, Islamophobia has resulted in the general and unquestioned acceptance that Islam does not share common values with other major faiths, that Islam is a religion of violence and supports terrorism, and even that Islam has a violent political ideology. According to a study done in July of 2002 by the Arab American Institute Foundation on profiling, “[n]early one in three Arab Americans say they
Following the terror attacks in The Unites States in 2001, there has been an increase in Islamophobia in the Western World. Following 9/11, respondents indicate that levels of implicit or indirect discrimination in The United States rose by 82,6% and experiences of over discrimination by 76,3% (http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/21/3/317.short). A combination of how Arabs and Muslims are portrayed in the media, with the increase of organized terrorist groups and refugees since the Arabic Spring, makes this a big political challenge today. This bibliography is written to get an overview of why Islamophobia has increased and the challenges that comes with the rise of Islamophobia.
ISLAMOPHOBIA One of the many problems with our health care for Muslim women in the past is islamophobia. It’s the prejudice belief that all Muslims should be feared and looked at as enemies of the state. [Commission on British Muslims and Islamophobia: a
What is and what isn’t Islamophobia? The term is used to describe prejudice against, hatred towards, or fear of the religion of Islam or Muslims. It came into wide usage in 1997, upon the publication of a report by the Runnymede Trust, a nonprofit English think tank. This report described, “closed views” of Islam,
According to the article, "Islamophobia," the author Carl Coon simply defines what Islamophobia in America is. He explains, "Islamophobia is raising its ugly head in the US... it 's beginning to metastasize into a virulent form of xenophobia, an eruption of the atavistic human tendency to pick sides and then if necessary fight to the death for the side one chooses, and to not reason why."
Although Islamophobia stems from religious differences and oppression today's it is present because way too many people have the perception that Muslims and anyone from the Middle East is a terrorist and has an evil agenda. "Although every Muslim is not a terrorist, every terrorist is a Muslim" (Gul,2011). This view of Islamic and Middle Eastern people is present for many reasons. One being how they are being portrayed in the media. Whenever something ISIS related is reported the views of non radical Islamic people are rarely shown and if it is it's a two or three minute segment (Obeidallah, 2014). Of all violent crimes committed in the US each year the crimes of Muslims are bring to public attention more than others yet they only account for 160 of thousands (cite). In most Hollywood movies you will find nothing but Muslims being portrayed as the assailant. Another cause for Islamophobia in our society is how the government portrays people in predominantly Islamic communities. The US is constantly in need of oil and many other natural resources that are in abundance in the Middle East. With someone these countries refusing to share for the proposed prices the US has waged war against them to gain control over these
Since the dawn of human civilization, there has been an unfortunate but natural tendency to marginalize and oppress those belonging to "the other"--those not in power, not part of the most popular group and those who are different. One such manifestation of this fear of the different is Islamophobia--the "dread or hatred of Islam--and therefore [the] fear or dislike of all or most Muslims." Although the exact word "Islamophobia" was brought to public awareness in 1997 after an academic journal from the British Runnymede Report, it has existed for many years prior to the journal, as a term to describe the experiences of the oppressed and discriminated sections of Muslim communities. The simmering prejudice towards Muslims gained ferocious momentum
Islamophobia is defined as the "unfounded hostility towards Muslims, and therefore fear or dislike of all or most Muslims." The first time
Islamophobia is the fear of Muslims, or the religion of Islam, according to BBC (2017). Some people blame all Muslims for terrorist attacks, that are caused by terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda, Isis, and Boko Haram. These organizations allegedly follow Islam, I say they allegedly follow Islam, because if they had indeed studied Islam, they would understand that Islam is a religion of peace, not terrorism. The word “Islam” means submission to God’s will and obedience to God’s law. It derives from an old Arabic word meaning “peace”. (What is Islamophobia? – CBBC News Round. (2017, June 19).
The world is filled with different people, different ethnicities, different religions, and different understandings. A person would think that people would be captivated by the differences and would love to explore, learn and accept these distinctions; it brings more knowledge to the world. However, people would rather be appalled by these differences and rather xenophobic. One of the most notorious phobias’ exhibited in the United States is Islamophobia. Islamophobia is the emotion of prejudice against Islam and Muslims. It is typical for people to feel uncomfortable, at first, when they are surrounded by individuals that are unfamiliar. However centuries later, people are still not accustomed to the ethnic differences the world has to offer. The main problem is that we tend to associate each race with a different trait. Black people are known to be slaves, white people are known to be arrogant, Hispanic people are known to be cheating thieves, and Muslim people are known to be terrorists. It has reached a point where people detest a whole religion, a whole community based on stereotypes and the actions of a minority.
“Islamophobia is prejudice towards discrimination against Muslims due to their religion, or perceived religion, national, or ethnic identity associated with Islam because Muslims have different beliefs and values”. (Islamophobia wikipedia 1) Like anti-semitism, racism, and homophobia. Islamophobia describes mentality and actions that domain an entire class of people. Jews, African-Americans, and other populations throughout history have faced prejudice and discrimination. Islamophobia is simply another reincarnation of this bigotry. According to the Merriam Webster dictionary,a phobia is an exaggerated, usually inexplicable and illogical fear of a particular object, class of objects, or situation. It may be difficult to determine or communicate the source of this fear, but it exists. From this definition we can see how is so unfair to connect the word phobia to Islam specially because the word Islam in arabic means peace and safety. All that means that a lot of people don’t know nothings about Islam and the unknown can easily provoke fear.
Islam is the religion that is followed through Muslims about the teachings through Muhammad by the prophet Allah. Today Islam is considered as one of the most prominent religions followed throughout the world. Though Islam is thought of has one of the most popular religion across the world, many still lack the understanding of what Islam is. Following 9/11, the perception of Muslims changed thus proposing the idea of Islamophobia. Defined by the Oxford English Dictionary Islamophobia is the unfair prejudice or discrimination towards Muslims due to race, religion, or ethnic identity. The idea changed the way that all Muslims were perceived throughout America and the world. Muslims today face discrimination throughout the society. Following 9/11 the Muslim people are being treated unfairly because of their religion by the exclusion of the Muslim culture in American society, Muslims are being targeted and harmed in public, and Muslims are perceived as a terrorist or threat to national security.
In Oxford English Dictionary, Islamophobia is defined as “intense dislike or fear of Islam, especially as a political force, hostility or prejudice towards Muslims.” This term was first used in 20th century and had its’ own definition at 1970s. Particularly, after the 11 September events -which a radical Islamic group claimed its responsibility- in U.S.A. most of the non-Muslims in the world knew the Muslims with violence. The Berkeley Institute on Racism Studies says that Islam is often seen as a religion of violence which supports terrorism and has a violent political ideology. This perception of Islam is enlarging globally more and more because of some reasons such as terrorist attacks in non-Muslim countries, effect of media on the people, misunderstanding of Islam, and lack of the true representative