Islamophobias In America

Extremist and terrorist are terms synonymous with Muslim. But who is responsible for this negative, simplified word association? Do we need to cast a critical eye over the role of the media? This is simply because that is how the media typically portrays Islam. They have an influence over our perceptions of many controversial issues such as Islamophobia. But has there been strategies and efforts used to prevent and eliminate Islamophobia?

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

Prior to the attacks of September 11, 2001 most Americans knew very little to nothing about Muslims nor had an opinions towards them. The lack of knowledge quickly changed due to a combination of factors. Terrorist attacks against America have unfortunately persisted for years, the attacks of 9/11 were fundamentally different. Such attacks evoke a response and the response has evolved and transformed Americans attitude. Non-economic factors, such as prejudicial stereotypes, place a significant role in shaping intergroup relations and in influencing public attitudes. Negative treatment of Muslim Americans in the United States after 9/11 was not caused by the 9/11 attacks alone, but by pre existing social constructions that configured them as

This is due to the attacks of 9/1, which was caused by Al Qaeda, an Islamic extremist group. 9/11 has changed the mind of Americans on what they think of Muslims. According to Elaine C. Hagopian of Haymarket Books, “Muslims and Arab-Americans are increasingly under attack as a result of the U.S ‘war on terror’- at home as well was abroad. Since the tragic events of September 11, Arabs and Muslims have faced major assault on their civil liberties.” The 9/11 attacks have damaged the reputation of Muslims. The Muslims are not viewed as everybody else to most people, but something bad. They are being blamed on the actions of other people on a different continent! Additionally, by Christopher Ingraham, “If the incident does turn out to be motivated by anti-Islamic sentiment, it would be one of dozens of such events that happen each year, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports program. Prior to the 9/11 attacks, the program typically recorded between 20 and 30 anti-Muslim hate crimes per year. But in 2001 that number rose more than tenfold to nearly 500. In the years since, annual hate crimes against Muslims have consistently hovered in the 100-150 range, roughly five times higher than the pre-9/11 rate.” Since September 11, more and more people are hating on innocent Muslims because they have the same religion as the group behind 9/11. People are assuming that bad and deserve to be harshly treated. The strive of destroying the Muslim faith has become a problem caused by American grudge against Al

Islamophobia has always been prevalent in the past 50 years in the U.S., and especially NYC. Since 1950, American courts used the excuse of being a Muslim in order to deny people citizenship (Wendeiss, BBC News). Ever since the tragedy of 9/11, Islamophobia has grown rapidly in the past two decades at a pace that has never been seen before.

American Muslims are having their civil rights violated more and more and are constantly being discriminated against. Haddad says that “Post 9/11 American Muslims were linked to enemy others and were expected to prove their loyalty to the nation-state in ways other Americans were not expected to do. The trope of Muslims as enemies within lingers.” The national media still portrays American Muslims as enemies to the United States. These unquestioned beliefs about Muslims leads to Islamophobia and Said says “To most Americans, Islam is nothing but trouble. The use of the label Islam, to either explain or indiscriminately condemn Islam, becomes a form of attack.” Said goes on to say that “Islam is used to define a small portion of extremism instead of the billion Muslims

Due to the current political state of this country, the fear of Islam has been magnified especially, when the president of the United State has an anti-Islamic campaign. Islamophobia is the fear of Muslim identified individuals, this is a topic most people avoid because it is both religion and a political issue. In my time with Housing & Residential Education, I have seen many hot topics and Islamophobia is not one of those topics. The fear of Islam will be around and will not go away until we shed the light on it or bring more awareness. I am tired of feeling like a terrorist because of my identity or getting stopped at the airport because I am young, educated, and a Muslim man. My female Muslim sisters and friends have it worse than I do

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.

What is your first thought when you are walking down the street and you see an Islamic person wearing a classic head piece known as a hijab (Brown)? You may not think anything of it, or you might feel like this person is un-American and needs to leave the country. In the next few years, with a new political regime coming to office, a growing number of people will see this person and automatically assume that they are a threat to national security. These people may see themselves as vigilantes for the United States government and try to bring an end to Islam becoming a growing force in American society. So as more Islamophobic views engulf the United States government, Muslims will face an increase in stereotyping and racial profiling by other

Racism and racial prejudice, considered a relic of obsolete and outdated social systems, is emerging in the depths of ultra-modern Western societies with different characteristics from the past but with a surprising and worrying virulence. These waves of prejudice and racism testify to the many fears that fill the horizons of advanced societies, undermining not only their internal reliability, but also just their democratic settings. This paper presents a critical review of Islamophobia as a racial prejudice, showing that two main definitions are at work: Islamophobi a as xeno-racism or linked to the so-called clash of civilizations. Then, it presents the outcomes

There are so many Muslims in America, about 3.3 million Muslims of all ages in 2015. For some Americans this might be scary to know, because of islamophobia. They see all Muslims as terrorist, without knowing the reality. Islam has always been shown as a religion of violence especially after 9/11. So many news artifacts, social media, and even the tv shows being watched on tv try to show Islam as violence. But it’s not, actually it’s the totally opposite of that. Islam is all about peace, and friendship with one another. In Islam you must even be kind to your enemy. Islam is loving one another and helping one another. Islam is against violence, but so many people just believes what the news has to show or what social media has to say. Or what

Syed Soharwardy asserts that “Media always tried to portray Islam as a religion of terror and all the Muslims as terrorists. The way the talk-show programs and news are produced and presented, it seems that the media has already decided the guilty verdict, regardless what would be the outcome of an investigation” (Soharwardy). So too do members of the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee recognize the media’s predisposition toward bias, as is pointed out in this statement, found on their website: “Key industries of American mass culture, Holllywood and television, for decades have been bastions of anti-Arab stereotyping, and have consistently resisted positive or realistic representations of Arabs and Arab Americans. (Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee).”

After 9/11 has induced negative attitudes towards Muslim peoples who tend to be strongly associated with any act of terrorism. The media has played a colossal role in developing such negative association wherein it constantly portrays Muslim people in combination with violent terrorist acts. It does so in a way that they both go hand-and-hand. In other words, it has made it as though the Islamic religion is synonymous with terrorism. The media has perpetuated Muslim stereotypes over the years that followed the 9/11 incident. Because of this, society has developed, and still has developed, this prejudiced mindset about the Islamic religion and the Muslim communities around the world. People immediately assume that any violent act being

This survey reveals that the problem with the Islam faith is not racial: The Muslim people are welcomed, the Islam faith is not. The violence that has been perpetrated against America, whether executed or planned, has brought to fruition religious persecution not seen since the persecution of the Jews in W.W.II. This “trust no Arab” attitude has brought shame to the Constitutional intentions of freedom of religion intended by our forefathers, and has set religious tolerance back 200 years. Looking at media representation of Muslim Americans prior to 9-11, it shows religious diversity in America, depicting Muslim America as just another religious community seeking to advance and protect their interests, not unlike other Americans. After 9-11 the media portrayed representations of threat and fear, creating boundaries between Muslims and other Americans. Such depiction transforms the identity of Muslims and American religious pluralism (Byng, M. pg. 3).

News has played a significant role in bringing a fear of Islam to the Western world. A worthwhile example of this is the portrayal of Islam after 9/11. The first major wave of hate against Islam in North America hit on September 11th, 2001. Coincidentally I was born on June 17th, 2001, only 3 months before 9/11 happened. My guardians were forced to take care of a newborn child and 6 children in the face of a nation that hated for them. Somehow, even though we had no direct relation to radical Islamic extremists, we took the blame for 9/11 because of the media's broadcasting. My father recalled when my eldest brother got into a fight at school five days after 9/11. My brother came home bloodied and bruised with his right eye turning purple. When my father questioned my brother about how this happened, he justified his actions when he explained that another child called him a terrorist. My father's attitude went from Shocked and angry, to calm and monotone, and he said: