Islamophobia In The United States

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

In Europe, Islamophobia emerged together with new anti-Semitism, where the targets are the new immigrants, Muslims, as well as Jews. The reason for that is in France and United Kingdom, Muslims and Jews for the past decade inhabit the poorest neighborhoods. Media, on the other hand, portrays this as an incapability of Muslim immigrants to integrate into European society and susceptibility to the imported Islamist ideologies (Silverstein, 367).

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 within the United States is an ongoing social issue that negatively impacts the Muslim-American community. Muslim-Americans are forty-eight percent more likely to have experienced discrimination and harassment in the past year compared to Protestants, Catholics, and Jews (“Islamophobia,” n.d.), thus confirming the fact that many non-Muslims within America view followers of Islam as worthy of being labeled as scapegoats and foreigners more than the followers of any other religion deemed harmless to American society. With regards to this social problem rooted in discriminatory profiling, this paper examines how the social conflict, structural functionalist, and symbolic interactionist theories can be used to examine the issue of Islamophobia in America.

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

Many feel that media is to blame for the rise of islamophobia after 9/11. In 2010 there was more coverage of religion in mainstream press than any year since Pew Forum began measuring coverage time in the media (Religion in the News: Islam Was No. 1 Topic in 2010

Islam is a monotheistic religion, centered around the teachings of the Qu’ran and serving Allah (meaning God in Arabic). However, this Abrahamic religion has been harshly discriminated against in the United States for years. Most prominently throughout the last twelve years, post September 11th, 2001. Unfortunately, issues such as socialization through the media, power distribution, religious ignorance, stereotyping and visible differences have contributed to the ill attitudes towards Muslims. This paper will examine how Americans have been socialized in islamophobia within the United States.

The agonizing terrorist attacks of September 9th, 2001 left the country in emotional distress. The United States of America decided to prepare for tragic attacks like this and reevaluated its immigration and foreign policies, the citizens of the US also became united and stronger from these attacks. This ideology that the US has become more united after an attack that killed nearly 3,000 people has become mainstream and may be true in some cases, but many people overlook the impact it had on the millions of Muslim Americans. The Muslim generation before us had its own problems dealing with racial discrimination and hate crimes, many people believed it stop their but this contempt was passed on to my generation. The discrimination I have received has caused me to change my aspirations in order to ensure that no one else receives the treatment I had gotten.

In the United States, the fear of terrorism has increased since the attacks on the United States Embassy in 1998 and of the World Trade Center in September 11 of 2001. Because of recurring terrorist activity within the United States and other parts of the world, these violent attacks have been deemed illegal for one simple reason: they impose a massive threat to humanity. In addition, most members who participate in these attacks have been linked to the same organizations; furthermore, recent terrorist activity has been predominantly motivated by radical religious ideology, such as the Islamic radical group Isis. As a result, many people have developed what is known today as Islamophobia, or the fear of Islam or Muslims. As a result of Islamophobia,

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).

Historians, specifically American historians of the 21st century have demonstrated an interest in the Middle East in Islam, due to Americans frequent contact with the Middle East in the early 1960s. Islam and the Middle East have played a remarkable role in Americans discussion and reaction to the events that took place on September 11th, 2001. During this time Americans were beginning to regard the Middle East, Muslims, and Islam as one entity. Americans and the world regarded the Middle East as Islam and Islam as the Middle East. Thus, this correlation between the two made Muslims say Muslim Americans and Muslims in America as less western and more of another, but they were also seen as untrustworthy individuals. Additionally, prior to the September 11th, attacks and an after effect of September 11, was that Muslim men were violent and Muslim women as oppressed individuals. Thus, the perception of Islamophobia and the threat it brings to western society has impacted the discussion of Islamophobia in America.

A current cultural conflict taking place in America today is religious. Many Americans discriminate against the Islamic faith and there have been countless acts of mistreatment of Muslims in the work place, at school, in public, and in the media. Negative feelings and acts toward Muslims have become so prevalent that in 1991 the Runnymede Trust Report coined a term for it. The report defined the “unfounded hostility toward Muslims, and therefore fear or dislike of all or most Muslims” as “Islamophobia” (Defining “Islamophobia”). There has always been some religious cultural conflict with Muslims in the United States, but since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, conflict has escalated significantly.

Before the September 11, 2001, hatred towards Muslims in the United States started in 1923, when Muslims started migrating to the United States, an unlike increased presence. The hatred towards Muslims, also known as “Islam phobia”, was first featured in The Journal of Theological Studies. Many Muslims were targeted, the religion of Islam, Muslims, or any ethnic group perceived to be Muslim were characterized as having “bad faith and cruelty”, according to prejudice Americans.

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

The word “Islamophobia” was first used by Orientalist Étienne Dinet in 1922 meaning, “a useful shorthand way of referring to the dread or hatred of Islam and, therefore, to the fear or dislike of all or most Muslims¨ (Cesari, 2011, p.1). Such dread and dislike have existed in Western countries and cultures for centuries (Trust, 1997). The events of 9/11, which was a prominent act of terrorism in America, have caused a misunderstanding of the religion of Islam. Many Americans are coming to believe that all Muslims are violent and that Islam promotes violence (Zaal, 2012). However, this misunderstanding is causing a clear divide between Muslims and other Americans in communities and schools. To eliminate this issue, one must look at the political, cultural, social implications, which includes how to protect America’s foundation on religious freedom, how to decrease the discrimination against women, and stop bullying in schools and hate crimes against Muslim Americans. Although many believe interference is unnecessary as Muslims are seen as a minority, that there are other ways to decrease the amount of hatred toward Muslims, and teach religion in schools, James Baldwin’s “A Letter to My Nephew” suggests otherwise. He discusses how minorities will never be given the same opportunities as every other American and also argues against the idea that in order to fit into American society, one must change themselves to do so (Baldwin, 2014). Baldwin asserts that minorities such as